BABY BEEF 215 



owner whether they were sold at three or at five 

 years of age, but under farm conditions the rela- 

 tive length of the maintenance period often means 

 the difiference between a net profit and net loss. 

 If the animals can be brought to nearly the same 

 weight at the age of from 15 to 24 months, all of the 

 feed for maintenance is saved, but half the amount 

 of labor is expended and the money represented in 

 the investment is used for but half the period. 

 These are important considerations in growing 

 live stock of any kind. 



This necessity for marketing finished beef animals 

 at the earliest possible date has given rise to a dis- 

 tinct market class which is known as baby beef. 

 Generally speaking, a calf marketed any time after 

 the veal age and under the age of 24 months in a 

 well-fattened and highly finished condition is classi- 

 fied as baby beef. 



FASTER GAINS POSSIBLE 



The feeding of the best type of baby beef re- 

 quires a high degree of skill on the part of the 

 feeder. One of the greatest economies in feeding 

 baby beef lies in the fact that young animals will 

 make gains upon a relatively smaller ration than 

 can be done by older animals. Records show that 

 each succeeding year up to the age of five re- 

 quires nearly 50 per cent more feed for the 

 same amount of gain than was used the pre- 

 ceding year. Tests made at the Illinois ex- 

 periment station show that the cost of pro- 

 ducing gains on yearlings was 2>7 P^r cent greater 

 than on calves, and 18 per cent more on two-year- 

 olds than on yearlings. In these days of high- 

 priced feed, this rapid gain which can be produced 



