FATTENING PERIOD 101 



on highly concentrated rations required for quick finish 

 is, of course, more hazardous than the longer feeding 

 period with the more bulky ration. A compromise be- 

 tween the two somewhat radical methods has been 

 practiced with excellent results. This compromise 

 method is as follows: For winter fattening 1000- 

 lb. feeders in a six-months' period, use thirty to sixty 

 days for getting cattle to full grain ration, allowing 

 free access to all the roughage the cattle will take at 

 the beginning and gradually decreasing the amount of 

 roughage as the grain is increased. With two and 

 three-year-old cattle that are finished on grass, 120 

 days of full feeding are usually sufficient to put such 

 cattle in satisfactory marketable condition after they 

 have been carried sixty to ninety days on light grain 

 rations. 



Grade and condition of feeding cattle used: The 

 quality or breeding of the cattle has a direct bearing 

 upon the proper length of the fattening period. 

 Common cattle of the lower grades and plainer sorts 

 are not susceptible to the same high finish that can be 

 given well-bred cattle, hence it is useless to feed them 

 for it. Low grade feeders finish quicker than those of 

 high grade at same weights and in same condition, 

 because they are older. 



Age of feeding cattle used: In ordinary practice it 

 takes three to four months to finish mature feeders; 

 five to seven months, two-year-olds; eight to ten months 

 for yearlings, and ten to eighteen months for calves. 



