294 



FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



Influence of degree of finish. — Impelled by a hearty appetite, 

 under liberal feeding the steer at first lays on fat rapidly, storing it 

 everywhere within the body. When it has become fairly well-fleshed 

 the appetite loses its edge, and the steer shows a daintiness in taking 

 his food not at first noticed. Every pound of increase now takes 

 more feed than formerly. This is not only because the steer eats 

 less feed per 1,000 lbs. body weight and hence has less available for 

 making body tissue, but also because gains at the close of the fattening 

 period are more concentrated; i.e., contain less water and a larger 

 proportion of fat. The fattening process may be likened to inflating 





Fig. 82. — Championship 2-Yeae-Old Fat Steers at the 

 International 



The great majority of experienced farmers who buy feeder steers to fatten 

 prefer 2-year-olds. Many of those who raise their own feeders on high-priced 

 land find it more profitable to fatten the animals as baby beef. 



a football — the operation, easy and rapid at first, grows more and 

 more difficult until the limit is reached. 



Tho the large markets demand well-fatted steers, to meet the de- 

 mand it is not necessary to carry them to extreme fa'tness, which 

 means exceedingly expensive gains. The wise feeder will therefore 

 watch the market and sell his animals as soon as they are sufficiently 

 finished to meet its demands, unless a probable decided advance in 

 price warrants holding them longer. At this stage sufficient fat will 

 have been deposited between the bundles of muscle fibers to give the 

 characteristic "marbled" appearance and make the meat more tender 

 and palatable. As we have seen in Chapter V, this is the primary 

 object of fattening meat-producing animals. 



Length of feeding period. — The length of the feeding period 



