﻿SHRINKAGE OF WEIGHT OF BEEF CATTLE IX TRANSIT. 75 



When the distance to market is considered, the shrinkage on the 

 cattle from the northwestern ranges was about the same as the 

 shrinkage of Texas cattle during a normal year. The grazing season 

 of 1911 was a normal one over the entire West, so bhe shrinkages of 

 range cattle for that year are directly comparable. 



In Part III the shrinkage on cattle from the Southwest was 34 

 pounds for cows in transit less than 24 hours; 32 pounds for cows in 

 transit from 24 to 36 hours, and 26 to 42 pounds for mixed cattle in 

 transit for the same periods; while in the Northwest the shrinkage 

 for the first 36-hour period was 39 pounds for cows, 39 pounds for 

 steers, and 18 pounds for mixed cattle. In other words the shrink- 

 age in the Southwest was 3.5 per cent of the live weight for cows 

 and 3.7 per cent for mixed cattle, while in the Northwest the per- 

 centage was about 3.3 for an average of all the cattle for the first 36 

 hours en route. 



In Part II the shrinkage for mixed range cattle in transit over 

 72 hours is seen to be 53 pounds per head, or 5.1 per cent of their live 

 weight, while in Part III the shrinkage on range cattle in transit 

 for the same length of time is 70 pounds for steers, 61 pounds for 

 cows, and 21 for mixed cattle, or an average of 60 pounds per head 

 when all are considered. The range cattle used in Part II were 

 shipped from Wyoming and Montana^ while those recorded in Part 

 III were from Montana and the Dakotas. The shrinkage on the lat- 

 ter cattle was 5.9 per cent for the cows and 6 per cent for the steers, 

 which was a little greater than for the cattle recorded in Part II. 

 When all of the cattle from the Northwest are considered which 

 were in transit over 70 hours, the shrinkage ranged from 3.96 to 7 

 per cent, or an average of about 5-|- per cent of their live weight. 

 The shrinkage of all the cattle from the sand hills of Nebraska 

 was about 5.2 per cent of their live weight. 



In Part II is shown the shrinkage data on pulp-fed and silage- 

 fed cattle. The pulp-fed cattle shrank very materially when they 

 were put on dry feeds for 24 hours just previous to shipping. In 

 one case this shrinkage was 32 pounds and in another case 68 pounds 

 per head. Despite these large losses in weight just previous to load- 

 ing, the shrinkage in transit and the net shrinkage at market were 

 greater per head than for any other class of cattle. They did not 

 take as large a fill as might have been expected. The net shrinkage 

 on the pulp-fed cattle was 5.4 per cent of their live weight. 



Some very interesting data are found in the table on pulp feed- 

 ing in Part II. It is shown that the shrinkage on the pulp-fed cattle 

 increased with the length of the journey. The distances and time of 

 shipments in transit from the Colorado feed lots to market were about 

 as follows: To St. Joseph, 520 miles or 57 hours; Kansas City, 580 



