208 EtEMBNTARY TREATISE ON STOCK FEEDS AND FEEDING 



Snapped Corn. — This is the unhusked ear which is snapped or 

 broken from the stalk. It is the most popular feed in the West 

 and produces excellent results. Some feeders fatten their cat- 

 tle on this feed alone, claiming that the husk and cob furnish 

 sufficient roughage. Farmers who practice this method of feed- 

 ing often leave the stalks in the field allowing the cattle to eat 

 what they wish of them. It is better to harvest the stalks and 

 use them as roughage, for, there is a great deal of waste and 

 loss of nutrients by allowing the stalks to remain in the field. 

 Cattle fed snapped corn sometimes become troubled with sore 

 mouths. In such cases the animal should be fed a mixture of 

 corn and cob meal and wheat bran or some other easily masti- 

 cated grain mixture until the soreness disappears. In feeding 

 snapped corn the cattle should receive some leguminous rough- 

 age such as clover, alfalfa, cowpea, soy bean, etc. 



Shocked Corn. — This is a very satisfactory feed for fattening 

 cattle. The harvester cuts and ties the fodder corn into bundles 

 and the corn is then put in shock at a small expense. It is 

 well preserved for winter feeding by this procedure and the 

 husk prevents the ear corn from becoming too hard for cattle 

 to masticate. Shocked corn is more easily preserved than snapped 

 corn because in storing the latter it is hard to keep up a free 

 circulation of air. This shocked corn is placed in sheltered 

 feed racks with enough space between the racks to permit the 

 animal free use of the head. Sometimes the bundles are scat- 

 tered over a field. The cattle eat some ' of the fodder in this 

 method. Pigs should follow cattle to pick up the wastes and 

 droppings as some of the corn kernels pass through the animal 

 undigested. One pig to one steer is sufficient. This indirect 

 method of selling corn is profitable. The cattle often pay for 

 the corn and the profits are derived from selling the pigs. 



Protein is Desirable. — It is often profitable to limit the amount 

 of shocked corn in a steer's ration and supplement it with corn 

 and cob meal, shelled corn, and some protein concentrate as 

 linseed meal, gluten feed, gluten meal, cotton-seed meal, etc. 

 Sometimes wheat bran may be used instead of a protein con- 

 centrate when the market value is low. When nitrogenous 



