﻿SHRINKAGE OF WEIGHT OP BEEF CATTLE IN TRANSIT. 63 



Table 24. — Range cows in transit over 24 hours. 



Num- 

 ber 

 of 



head. 



Point of origin. 



Timo 



in 

 transit. 



Aver- 

 age 

 weight 



at 

 point 



o! 

 origin. 



Aver- 

 age 

 weight 

 at des- 

 tination 

 after 

 fill. 



Aver- 

 ago 

 net 



shrink- 

 age. 



Remarks. 



25 



25 



Odessa, Tex 



..do 



Hours. 



'JX 1 . 



28i 

 25" 

 31 

 29 



24 i 

 244 



24 1 

 27" 



26 



21\ 



244 



24.J 



25 

 33} 



30* 

 33} 



Pounds. 

 1,002 

 876 

 907 

 910 

 973 



974 

 905 

 969 

 885 



895 

 844 



1,001 



885 



817 

 868 



852 

 876 



Pounds. 

 938 

 836 

 903 

 904 

 929 



924 

 866 

 943 

 850 



849 

 828 



950 



845 



774 

 827 



808 

 818 



Pounds. 



64 



40 



4 



6 



44 



50 

 39 

 26 

 35 



46 

 16 



51 



40 



43 

 41 



44 



58 



Trailed 7 miles carefully. 



27 



do 



Had a poor fill when loaded. 



80 



...do 





141 



...do 



Trailed 2 days. Plenty of grass and 



50 



do 



water on road to pens. 



29 



...do 





255 



...do 





29 



do 



Driven 8 miles. Had neither feed nor 



145 



do 



water before loading. 



291 



...do 



Driven 110 miles in 7 days to loading 



27 



do.... 



pens. No feed or water 20 hours 

 before. 

 On road 2 days. Plenty of grazing. 

 Had medium fill. 



56 





27 



.....do 



a good fill. 

 Do. 



60 



do 





87 



do 



medium fill. Poor run to Fort 

 Worth. 

 Trailed 90 miles in 6 days. Medium fill. 



29 



do 







Grand average . . . 







27 



907 



875 



32 





A comparison of Table 23 and Table 24 shows that the shrinkage 

 on cows that received a normal run to market is much more uniform 

 than for those that were delayed in transit or that just made slower 

 time. An average of all the shipments of the cows that were from 

 1 to 10 hours longer in transit than an average good run from 

 the same points shows an increased shrinkage of but 4 pounds, but 

 the shrinkages were much more variable. In some cases, however, 

 a large shrinkage could only be attributed to delayed transportation. 

 The average shrinkage on 983 cattle from Odessa, Tex., in Table 23 

 that were in transit less than 24 hours was 28 pounds per head, while 

 the shrinkage on those over 24 hours in transit was 32 pounds per 

 head. The cattle were practically the same size in each case, and 

 were handled under similar conditions. 



A comparison of the shrinkage of range cows in the Southwest in 

 transit under 36 hours can be made with the shrinkage of range 

 cows in the Northwest for the first period of their journey, averaging 

 36 hours (see Table 21). In the Northwest the shrinkage for the 

 first 36 hours was 39 pounds per head, while in the Southwest the 

 shrinkage was 32 pounds. The shrinkage on southwestern cows 

 for the short runs (Table 23) was 34 pounds. These results are 

 seen to be very uniform when we consider the live weights of the 



