42 



BULLETIN 631, Tf. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



These gains seem rather small for calves that were fed as liberally 

 as these, but when the exceedingly droughty summer with the re- 

 sulting poor pastures is considered the calves did very well. The 

 calves of lot 2, which were fed a heavier grain ration than those of 

 lot 1, made the larger gains. 



Table 23. — Calf feeding during the summer 



of 1916 (May 5 to 



Oct. 30, 1 



19 days). 



Item. 







Lotl: 



pasture and 



cottonseed 



cake. 



Lot 2: 



pasture and 



one-third 



cottonseed 



cake; 



two-thirds 



shelled 



corn. 





25 

 179 

 333 

 585 

 252 

 1.41 

 247 



24 



Length of feeding period 



Average initial weight of calves, May 5 



Average final weight of calves, October 30 



Average daily gain per head 



Amount of feed required to make 100 pounds of gaii 



/Cot 

 IShe 



days.. 



pounds.. 



do 



do.... 



do.... 



tonseed cake.. pounds.. 



179 

 340 

 633 

 293 

 1.63 

 126 

 250 







$5.04 

 5.00 



16. 65 

 9.50 

 3.20 



29.37 

 5.02 



S6.58 





5.00 



Cost of calves per head, May 5 



17.00 





16.08 



Cost, of pasture per hearl fnr entire summer 



3.20 



Total cost per calf on Oct. 30, 1916 



36.27 





5.73 







It is seen that the calves of lot 1 required 247 pounds of cotton- 

 seed cake in addition to grass to make 100 pounds of gain in weight, 

 and the calves of lot 2 required 126 pounds of cottonseed cake and 

 250 pounds of shelled corn for producing 100 pounds of gain in 

 weight. When the feeds are charged at market prices and pasture 

 at 50 cents per head for each 28-day period it cost $5.04 and $6.58 

 to make 100 pounds of gain in live weight on the calves of lots 1 and 

 2, respectively. 



The calves were valued at 5 cents a pound on May 5, when the 

 experiment began, the cost per head at that time being $16.65 for 

 lot 1 and $17 for lot 2. The cost of the concentrate fed during the 

 summer was $9.50 per calf for lot 1 and $16.08 per head for lot 2. 

 There was a pasturage charge of $3.20 per head for the calves of 

 each lot for the summer. The total cost per calf in the fall of the 

 year (October 30, 1916) was $29.37 for lot 1 and $36.27 for lot 2. 

 The average cost per hundredweight in the fall was $5.02 for the 

 calves of lot 1 and $5.73 for the calves of lot 2. 



At this time the calves of lot 2 were in much better shape than 

 those of lot 1, but the calves of each lot had been growing consid- 

 erably and were not well enough finished to be marketed at this time. 

 As they were not fat enough for market on October 30 and the 

 grass was very short, it was decided to put the calves in the dry lot 

 and feed them corn silage for roughage and continue the grain ration 

 the same as when the calves were on pasture until they were finished. 



