Fattening Steers 89 



Oregon, where conditions for curing are for the most part 

 quite unsatisfactory. Thus far, it has not proved possible 

 to produce hay in western Oregon or any other humid 

 district that is good enough to fatten steers without 

 grain. The demand for such hay for dairy and other 

 purposes, moreover, makes the price prohibitive to the 

 steer-feeder. It is argued by some that steers could 

 be fattened on vetch hay, kale, and barley. This could 

 be done, without doubt, but the cost under present 

 conditions would prohibit it. At present prices, the gain 

 which would be put on by such feeding would cost about 

 15 cents a pound, while 10 cents a pound is about the maxi- 

 mum cost which the industry will bear. 



Of the grains which may be used as a supplement to the 

 hay,- either barley, wheat or oats will be satisfactory. 

 These three grains have about the same feeding value, 

 pound for pound, but a mixture of the three has proven 

 superior to either one alone. When grain is used, ten 

 pounds a day is probably the maximum, and five pounds 

 a day the best. These grains may not have quite the 

 same feeding value as corn, but they have never been 

 thoroughly compared under similar conditions, and, at any 

 rate, the difference is slight. Rye is used in a few locali- 

 ties and has a feeding value somewhat similar to that of 

 wheat, although hardly as good and not as palatable. 

 Speltz has been tried rather extensively, and when 

 obtainable at a very low price may be used at a profit. 

 Screenings from the elevators and flour mills sometimes 

 have considerable feeding value, but sheep seem to use 

 these screenings to better advantage than steers, and for 

 that reason they are nearly always used for fattening 

 sheep or lambs rather than fattening cattle, in spite of 

 the fact that they are qtiite satisfactory for the latter 



