FATTENING CATTLE IN ALABAMA. 7 



Table 1. — Results of wintering steers in 1909-10, December 8 to March 9, 91 days. 



Average 

 daily gain 



( + )or 

 loss (— ). 





Number 



Lot. 



of ani- 





mals. 



1 



23 



2 



15 



4 



23 



Range alone 



Range plus half ration of cottonseed 



meal and hulls 



Range plus half ration of coarse hay. 



Average 

 initial 

 weight. 



Average 



final 

 weight. 



Average 



gain(+)or 



loss (— ). 



Pounds. 

 637 



633 

 651 



Pounds. 

 531 



676 

 579 



Pounds. 

 -106 



+ 43 



- 72 



Pounds. 

 -1.16 



+0.47 

 -0.79 



It may be seen that the average weight of all steers was about 640 

 pounds. In the work previously reported the average weight of the 

 animals in 1908-9 was about 705 pounds, and in 1907-8 about 725 

 pounds. The above table shows that every steer of lot 1, which had 

 no feed in addition to their range, lost 106 pounds in weight during 

 the winter, while the steers fed meal and hulls in addition to the 

 range (lot 2) gained 43 pounds per head. These steers (lot 2) received 

 the same amount of feed per head as those in similar lots for each of 

 the previous years, but as they were smaller animals they gained in 

 weight instead of practically holding their own, as had been done pre- 

 viously. The steers of lot 4 lost 72 pounds each during the winter, 

 showing that while the hay given them helped them to a certain 

 extent they did not receive enough of it. It was estimated that about 

 11 pounds of hay was given each steer per day, but a large amount 

 of this was refuse, which was not consumed. 



The average daily gain or loss per steer was minus 1.16 pounds for 

 lot 1, plus 0.47 pound for lot 2, and minus 0.79 pound for lot 4 during 

 the winter of 1909-10. 



AMOUNT OF FEED CONSUMED. 



In Table 2 is shown the amount of concentrates and roughage fed 

 to the steers of lot 2 during the winter. The steers of lot 1 did not 

 receive any feed in addition to the range. The amount of hay con- 

 sumed by the steers of lot 4 could not be determined accurately for 

 reasons previously mentioned, so no weights are given. 



There is no doubt that the steers of lot 1 needed a greater acreage 

 of range than the steers which received feed in addition to the range. 

 This is shown by the fact that they exhausted their range of 10 acres 

 per head about four weeks before the winter was over and had to be 

 turned out to secure something to eat from the outside. The steers 

 of lots 2 and 4 did not eat all of the feed in their fields before the test 

 was over, although feed became scarce and very poor in quality 

 during the latter part of the test. If a valuation could be placed upon 

 the range, therefore, it is seen that lot 1 should be charged more than 

 the other lots. 



The steers of lot 2 each consumed 221 pounds of cottonseed meal 

 and 808 pounds of hulls during the winter. This was an average daily 



