300 MANUAL OF FARM ANIMALS 



Preparing cattle for shipment. — Since there are certain foods 

 that have a tendency towards loosening the bowels, such should 

 be withheld for at least 24 hours before shipment. Chief among 

 the foods likely to scour cattle are shelled corn, corn meal, oil 

 meal, clover, alfalfa, cowpea hay, and green grass. In fact, a full 

 grain ration of any kind is likely to loosen the bowels. There- 

 fore, for 24 hours before shipment the cattle should be shut up 

 in a dry lot, fed grain sparingly, but may have all the timothy 

 hay they like. Oats make a very good grain to feed at this 

 time. Water should be withheld four hours before shipment. 



The car in which the cattle are to be shipped should be well 

 bedded with straw. If in addition to these precautions it is 

 not overloaded, the cattle should arrive at the market fresh and 

 clean. Cattle thus treated will make a normal fill. Several car 

 loads of cattle thus treated have been shipped a 36 to 40 hour 

 journey without unloading on only a 3 per cent drift or loss. 



Drifting cattle for the local market. — When the fat cattle are 

 sold on the local market instead of shipping, it is customary in 

 some localities to sell them on a 3 per cent drift, taking the 

 weight at the farm. From the fact that cattle can be shipped 

 40 hours on a 3 per cent drift, this would seem to be the maxi- 

 mum that should be allowed the local buyer, and this should be 

 on weights taken at the farm where the animals are fed. 



SAMPLE RATIONS FOR FATTENING CATTLE 



The following rations are collected from various sources and 

 furnish a guide in determining the kind and quantity of feed 

 that should be allowed fattening cattle. They apply to 1000 

 pounds live weight : — 



