BREEDING BEEF CATTLE 169 



WINTER FEEDING OF BEEF BREEDING COWS 



The kinds and amounts of feeds used in the winter 

 feeding of beef breeding cows should be governed to a 

 large extent by the condition of the cows when they go 

 into winter quarters, .The character of the shelter best 

 adapted for cows will be determined by the condition 

 of the .cows and the. feed which, they receive. 



With the factors mentioned, more or less dependent 

 upon each other, it is necessary, in order to discuss this 

 subject intelligently, to assume certain conditions. 

 These assumed conditions will in most instances be 

 those which are most commonly met with, or those which 

 the writer believes to be most characteristic. 



It is assumed that the climate and other conditions 

 necessitate dry lot feeding and some provision for shelter 

 for five to six months. 



The end sought in the feeding and management of a 

 herd of beef breeding cows is, of course, to maintain 

 them in such thrift and flesh as will render them best 

 able to give birth to and suckle well their offspring, with 

 as small an expenditure of expensive feeds as possible. 

 That is to say, the cattle raiser, on the one hand, can not 

 afford to maintain such a herd largely on concentrated 

 feeds having relatively high market value to insure 

 desirable condition, nor, on th« other hand, can he afford 

 to so stint the amount or quality of feeds that they are 

 so emaciated and weak as to give birth to delicate calves, 

 which they can scarcely nourish on account of their in- 

 sufficient flow of milk. 



Cows used for this purpose should be dehorned or 

 natural polls, as they can thus be run in large droves 

 and cared for much more economically than can horned 

 cows. If dehorned, a considerable number of them will 

 run together quietly; and if calves are dropped in the 

 spring, except in the most northern climates, the cows 

 will require no other shelter than a shed open to the 

 south. Such. -cows should go into winter quarters in 

 good, thrifty condition after weaning their calves. By 



