CHAPTER XIV 

 CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF BEEF CATTLE 



The ability to fatten cattle rapidly and quickly is to be 

 increased and strengthened by careful study and experience. 

 All that may be spoken or written will not make one suc- 

 cessful, nor cover his defects, if he does not take kindly to 

 the work. Study, observation, and especially practice add to 

 the ability of the cattle feeder. The ability to carry a steer 

 through a one-hundred-and-eighty-day fattening period without 

 once getting him "off feed" is the end to be attained. 



The importance of regularity in everything that pertains to 

 the management of feeding cattle cannot easily be overesti- 

 mated. This applies particularly to administering feed and 

 water. Cattle anticipate the hour of feeding and become 

 nervous if it is long delayed; they bellow, coax, and become 

 much excited, all of which operates against the economical pro- 

 duction of beef. 



Sudden changes in the food are to be avoided, as the digestive 

 system is unable to accommodate itself at once to such changes, 

 and digestive disorders are likely to follow. Such shifts 

 sometimes result in scours, other times in colic, and in fact may 

 result in various kinds of indigestion. When necessary to 

 change from one food to another, the transfer should be made 

 slowly and gradually, replacing the old with the new. 



Scouring is very disastrous and should be carefully avoided, 

 as a single day's laxness may offset a week's gain. The 

 inexperienced feeder is likely to overfeed because of the 



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