280 MANUAL OF FARM ANIMALS 



the cattle feeder and the butcher, not because such animals 

 will necessarily make more meat from a given amount of food, 

 but because they will dress out better and bring a higher price 

 on the market. 



Good handling quality indicates that the steer is a good 

 feeder. By good handling quality is meant a fine silky hair 

 and a loose mellow skin. These are associated with thrift and 

 the ability to take on flesh rapidly and economically, whereas 

 a heavy stiff hide is considered to indicate slower fattening. 

 The previous care that the steers have received has a marked 

 influence on the hair and skin, and hence on the handling quality. 

 The importance of good handling quality is not to be ovel*- 

 looked if one is to succeed in feeding cattle. 



Uniformity in feeding cattle. — Feeding cattle should be uni- 

 form in age, weight, color, type or form, condition, breeding, 

 and quality. As we have observed, young steers gain more 

 rapidly than aged ones, and, as we shall see, aged steers fatten 

 more rapidly than young ones ; hence it is not likely that a lot 

 of steers of mixed ages would all be ready to market at the 

 same time. If some of the animals are fat, while others are 

 only half fat, they will not command as high a price on the 

 market as though they were uniform in flesh. Not only must 

 they be uniform in flesh, but they must be approximately uni- 

 form in weight if the highest price is to be obtained. Butchers 

 and packers desire cattle uniform in weight, so that the cuts 

 of meat will run uniform, as their trade demands. While uni- 

 formity of color does not add to the animal's capacity to take 

 on flesh economically or to his ability to dress out well, yet 

 the butchers desire such similarity and are willing to pay 

 for it. The cattle should be uniform in type or form. If they 

 vary in type, the weight of the cuts of meat will likewise vary, 

 and to this the butcher objects. The butcher also demands 

 animals equal in condition and quality, to meet the demands 

 of his trade calls. 



