﻿SHRINKAGE OF WEIGHT OF BEEF CATTLE IN TRANSIT. 



61 



miles from the pasture to the loading pens. ;m<l had ;> medium fill. 

 Evidently they failed to fill at the market. 



The 203 head from Colorado, Tex., forming the last item in the 

 table, were all Mexican cows which had been on grass in Texas be- 

 tween (50 and 00 days. They were very poor, just frames, when 

 brought in, and had put on flesh wonderfully fast. They were driven 

 but miles and showed a shrinkage of 46 pounds per head. 



Table 23. — Range cows in transit less than 24 hours. 



Num- 

 ber 

 of 



head. 



Point of origin. 



Time 

 in 



transit. 



Aver- 

 age 



weight 



at 

 point 



of 

 origin. 



Aver- 

 age 

 weight 

 at des- 

 tination 

 after 

 fill. 



Aver- 

 age 

 net 



shrink- 

 age. 



Remarks. 



27 





Hours. 

 23£ 

 21" 

 23 



m 



23 



23 



23J 



16J 



Pounds. 

 989 

 868 

 987 



868 



861 



879 

 876 



606 



Pounds. 

 952 

 809 

 961 



808 



834 



832 

 850 



560 



Pounds. 

 37 

 59 

 26 



60 



27 



47 

 26 



40 





28 



.. d6 



Had grass until loaded. 



520 



...do 



Driven 25 miles in 2 days. Grass until 



31 

 202 



Colorado, Tex 



loaded. 

 Driven 4 miles to loading pens. Had 



a medium fill. 

 Trailed 25 miles to pens. Plenty of 



grass and water. Average fill. 



61 



.... do 



145 



..do 



Trailed 2 davs to loading pens. Grass, 



293 





but no water before loading. 

 Trailed 9 miles. Mexican cows grazed 







in Texas for 90 days. 





Grand average. .. 



22 



860 



826 



34 





The grand average of Table 23 shows the run to be of 22 hours' 

 duration, the average weight to be 860 pounds, and the net shrinkage 

 to be 34 pounds. In other words, the shrinkage on cows of the South- 

 west for an average year Avas found to be 4 per cent of their live 

 weight when they were in transit 22 hours only. 



RANGE COWS IN TRANSIT OVER 24 HOURS. 



In Table 24 are the weights of 17 shipments of cows, totaling 1,383, 

 from Odessa, Tex., to the Fort Worth market. This run should be 

 made within 24 hours, and in Table 23 are shown several shipments 

 which made the run in less than 24 hours, but the time required for 

 the shipments shown here varied from 24| to 33|, hours. These 

 cattle were chiefly grade Herefords and Shorthorns, though some 

 were of common breeding. Practically all of them were in good 

 condition, and some were really fat for grass cattle. The weather 

 was good during the whole fall, though some of the days were hot. 

 No storms or " northers " came during the time these cattle were 

 being shipped'. The animals ranged in weight from 817 to 1,002 

 pounds at the loading point, averaging 007 pounds. The shrinkage 



