﻿64 BULLETIN 25, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



animals. Thus, the proportion of shrinkage to live weight of the 

 southwestern cows for the short runs (average 22 hours) was 4 

 per cent and for the longer runs (average 27 hours) 3.5 per cent. 

 The proportion for the northwestern cows for the first portion of 

 their journey (3G hours) was 3.82 per cent. The grand average 

 percentage for all is, therefore, practically the same. 



MIXED RANGE CATTLE IN TRANSIT LESS THAN 24 HOURS. 



Ranchmen like to cut out the cattle that are to be shipped in such 

 manner that the different classes will not be mixed in the cars. This 

 can not always be done, however, and animals of the various classes 

 are sometimes indiscriminately thrown together, giving rise to mixed 

 shipments. These consignments of mixed cattle do not alwaj^s ship 

 well, as the large ones squeeze and trample the small or the weak 

 ones, and if the journey is very long there may be several dead or 

 crippled animals in a car when it arrives at the market. The shrink- 

 age on these mixed shipments of cattle may not be greater than on 

 other classes of live stock, but because of the losses in shipping more 

 lawsuits arise from this class of stuff than any other, and conse- 

 quently the railroad companies have an aversion to it. 



In Table 25 are displayed the data from shipments of mixed range 

 cattle aggregating 849 head that were in transit less than 24 hours. 

 All of these cattle originated from near Colorado, Tex., or Odessa, 

 Tex. They, of course, varied in weight more than any other class 

 of cattle, this variation depending largely upon the percentage of 

 calves in the shipment. The average weights of the different ship- 

 ments ranged from 415 pounds for a bunch of Mexican heifers, to 

 93G pounds for a shipment of cattle from Odessa, Tex. The time in 

 transit did not vary greatly, being 17 hours to 22^ hours. 



There is a greater variation in the shrinkage for this class of ani- 

 mals than any other. In the table this ranged from a gain in weight 

 of 2 pounds per head in a shipment containing 17 cows and 23 

 calves to a loss in weight of 71 pounds per head on another lot. The 

 40 cattle which averaged 2 pounds heavier at Fort Worth than they 

 did at Colorado, Tex., were fat, but they had no feed or water before 

 being loaded and were very empty. They took a good fill at market, 

 which more than overcame the light shrinkage in transit. 



The consignment from Colorado, Tex., of 29 cattle which shrank 

 71 pounds each had been pastured but 3 miles from town, and was a 

 mixture of steers and coats. They were taken direct from the pas- 

 ture to the loading pens, and were there given a feed of green kafir 

 coin before being loaded and weighed. This gave the cattle an ab- 

 normal fill and also had a bad effect on them, as is shown by the fact 

 that they were in transit but 21 hours and yet shrank 71 pounds per 



