EAISING AND FATTENING BEEF CALVES IN ALABAMA. 7 



to place. They were raided to an age of 9^ months on this farm at a 

 cost of $3.12 a hundredweight. On a second farm it may cost more, 

 and on a third it may cost less. Each item noted above may not be 

 duplicated upon another farm. The pasture rent, the taxes, the 

 interest, the prices of feeds, and the cost of labor all vary In different 

 localities. 



When these calves had reached an approximate age of 9^ months 

 they had attained an average weight of 460 pounds. While this is 

 not a heavy weight, still it is much greater than that usually attained 

 by native Alabama calves. In the experimental work carried on in 

 cooperation with Mr. Kernachan, of Sheffield, Ala., the calves, at 12 

 months of age, had reached an average weight of only 402 pounds. 

 Those calves, however, were infested with cattle ticks, which no 

 doubt very materially impeded the rate of growth. 



By the time the calves had reached an average age of 9| months, 

 each one had cost $14.36, or $3.12 per hundredweight. These figures 

 include the cost of all the feeds which were given to both the cows and 

 the calves, the rent on the pasture, the taxes, and interest on the 

 money invested in the cattle, the labor required to care for and feed 

 both the cows and the offspring, and 10 per cent depreciation in 

 value of the breeding herd. The cattle were not credited with the 

 manure produced, as there was no way to determine this factor accu- 

 rately. 



THE FATTENING PERIOD. 



The calves were raised to the fattening period, at a cost of $14.36 

 each. On that date they had attained an average weight of 460 

 pounds, s<~ it cost $3.12 a hundredweight to raise them. They were 

 consequently entered in the fattening period at an initial cost of 

 $3.12 per hundredweight. 



There was a total of 64 calves in the herd, but all of them were 

 not fattened for the market. The owner wished to build up the 

 breeding herd, so 15 of the best heifers were kept on the farm. The 

 remaining 49 calves were placed in the feed lot and given a ration 

 of cottonseed meal, corn silage, and broom-sedge hay. The 15 

 heifers which were left on the farm were valued at $15 each. This 

 figure is incorporated later in the financial statement as a credit 

 to the increase in value of the herd. 



The fattening period proper began January 17, 1912, although the 

 calves had been on a ration of cottonseed meal, com silage, and 

 broom-sedge hay since December 21. A short time was necessarily 

 required to get the animals accustomed to their new feeds. The cost 

 of the feeds they ate during the preliminary period from December 

 21 to January 17 was charged against the cost of raising the calves, 

 and not against the cost of fattening. At the beginning of the test 



