﻿SHRINKAGE OF WEIGHT OF BEFF CATTLE IN TBANSIT. 21 



SUMMARY OF SEASONS WORK. 



Table 9 is a condensed statement of all the preceding tables. In 

 it are tabulated the shrinkage data on nearly 6,000 head of cattle. 

 It must be remembered that the year in which this work was done was 

 a very dry one, with little grass, which was conducive to a poor fill 

 at origin and a small shrinkage in transit for range cattle. It caused 

 no variation at all with the feed-lot cattle. 



In the first figure column of the table is shown the number of ship- 

 ments made of each class of animals, while the number of cattle in 

 each class is shown in the second column. This number ranged from 

 -175, which were calves in transit over 3G hours, to 1,310, which were 

 mixed cattle from 36 to 72 hours in transit. Column 3 presents the 

 average weight at the point of origin. Columns 4 and 5 present the 

 gross shrinkage, or the shrinkage in transit. This gross shrinkage 

 varies greatly with the various shipments of range cattle. The 

 greatest variation was with cows, the shrinkage of which ranged 

 from 33 to 105 pounds. There was very little variation in the shrink- 

 age of the feed-lot cattle. 



The fill at market was also quite variable with the range cattle but 

 more uniform with the fed cattle. The average fill on the calves was 

 9 pounds on one lot and 11 on the other. The largest fill was taken 

 by range cows and the smallest was naturally taken by the calves. 



The small fill, 11 pounds per head, taken by the fed cattle at market 

 is to be noted. The conditions at market were most unfavorable for 

 a fill on every shipment of these cattle. All of them arrived when 

 everything was coated with snow and ice. 



With two exceptions, the weather was good when all shipments of 

 range cattle were moving to market. Two shipments which were 

 destined for Kansas City were caught in snowstorms and their 

 shrinkage was heavy when compared with the other shipments. 



The variations' in the net shrinkages were quite wide for the differ- 

 ent shipments. The greatest variation was found with the mixed 

 range cattle in transit less than 36 hours, and the next greatest with 

 the range cows. The difference was not so great with the calves, nor 

 with the fed cattle. The variation was greater with the fed cattle 

 which were in transit over 36 hours than with the ones in transit for 

 a shorter period. This was because of the excessive net shrinkage, 

 73 pounds, on a single shipment which would not fill at market. 



The average net shrinkage for all of the range cattle was small. 

 All of the 1,331 calves actually took enough fill at market to overcome 

 the shrinkage in transit, and they gained in weight. The same was 

 true of the mixed range cattle in transit from 36 to 72 hours, while 

 the range cattle in transit less than 36 hours lost 3 pounds each in 

 weight. There was a loss of 11 pounds per head on the range cows. 



