Feeding Beef Cattle 185 
ficiency should be made up by feeding a grain rich in protein, as 
cotton-seed or linseed meal. In addition, the length of the fatten- 
ing period will have an influence on the kind of grain to feed. If 
the period is short, it will be necessary to feed very fattening foods, 
such as corn and cotton-seed meal, from the beginning; whereas 
if the cattle are to be fed 150 days or more, they may be given. 
foods containing less fat during the early stages of the feeding 
period. i 
301. Baby-beef. — By baby-beef is meant fat cattle between 
one and two years of age and weighing from 800 to 1100 pounds. 
First of all, the cattle must be young. They must be well bred 
and of fine quality, as such cattle can be finished for the market 
at a much younger age than the plainer kinds. The cattle to be 
used in the production of baby-beef should not be permitted to 
lose their calf fat. 
302. Feeding for baby-beef production. — If young animals are 
to be made fat, they must be fed liberally on fat-producing feeds, 
particularly grain. Heavier grain feeding is required in the pro- 
duction of baby-beef than of older beef. Calves and yearlings 
have a tendency to grow rather than to fatten, and to overcome 
this they must be fed a heavy ration of grain, a fact not to be lost 
sight of in figuring the cost. In the beginning the calf should be 
fed considerable quantities of dry forage, such as clover, alfalfa, 
or cowpea hay, as such foods have a tendency to increase the di- 
gestive capacity of the calf, thereby enabling it to handle large 
quantities of grain later on. If heifer calves instead of steers are 
fed, they will finish more quickly and hence should be marketed 
earlier. The younger the prime heifers are at the time of the 
marketing, the less discrimination in price the butcher will make 
between them and steers. 
303. Sample rations for fattening cattle. — The following rations 
furnish a guide in determining the kind and quantity of feed that 
should be allowed fattening cattle. They apply to 1000 pounds 
live weight : — 
