FINISHING CATTLE IN THE STALL OR SHED 1 33 



of these methods should be followed is chiefly deter- 

 mined by the conditions under which the animals are 

 fed. These conditions are: (i) Such as relate to 

 climate; (2) to the cost of furnishing shelter; (3) to 

 the cost of labor in caring for the animals; (4) to the 

 individual needs of the animals; and (5) to the amounts 

 of litter called for. 



In climates cold and wet and changeable in winter, 

 unless cattle are closed in sheds when storms are falling, 

 they will, probably, fare better tied in the stall. In win- 

 ter climates, with but little precipitation, they will fare 

 as well, if not, indeed, better, in open sheds with a yard 

 attached on the sunny side and well protected from 

 winds. Where storms are frequent and the cold is in- 

 tense, it is advantageous to have the sheds so that they 

 can be closed at will. Under other conditions sheds 

 made of poles and covered with enough straw or old 

 hay to keep them dry will suffice. In climates not 

 severe and also dry, cattle may be fattened in good form 

 with only the shelter of a grove or a bluff. They have 

 been thus fattened even as far north as Minnesota, but, 

 probably, at a large relative consumption of food. The 

 conditions last named are best adapted to the dry climate 

 of the western mountain country. To attempt to fatten 

 animals thus in cold, wet winter climates is not even to 

 be considered, as it would certainly fail. Experiments 

 have shown that, viewed from the standpoint of food 

 consumption, animals will make as good gains in the 

 dry winter climate of the northwest, when fed in sheds, 

 as when tied in the stalls. 



The cost of materials for shelter is now great, and is 

 constantly growing more. To build stables with stalls 

 and floors is much more costly than to build sheds with- 

 out floors. It is advantageous, in many instances, to 

 have stanchions and some kind of division for stalls, 

 even in sheds, for such feeding, hence the chief item of 

 difference may be only in the cost of a floor, as a hard 



