Fattening Steers 81 
AMOUNT OF FEED 
The amount of hay will be no less than all that the steers 
possibly can be persuaded to eat. Eleven hundred pound 
steers will actually eat, with good hay and careful atten- 
tion, about 85 pounds a day. In rare cases thay may 
eat as much as 40 pounds, but this is unusual. More 
commonly they eat 30 pounds or less, but a steer eating 
only 30 pounds of hay a day will not become fat, and will 
be fed ataloss. Assteers will not eat thestems and coarser 
parts of the hay to good advantage, it is necessary to allow 
them to waste part of it, and in order to get a steer actually 
to eat 35 pounds of hay a day, he must be offered more than 
this, 40 or even 50 pounds a day. The stems and refuse 
hay are cleaned out every day, and given to stock cattle 
and horses. Horses will clean up the coarse hay that 
cattle will hardly touch. The amount of hay refused and 
cleaned out will of course depend on the quality of hay, 
but will ordinarily be from five to fifteen pounds a day. 
Tests at the Eastern Oregon Experiment Station indicate 
a daily waste of five to six pounds with choice hay care- 
fully fed. The waste is not a dead loss as it may be used 
for stock cattle or horses and has a value of about one-half 
that of good hay. Hay should be given at least three or 
four times a day. When only a carload of cattle is being 
fed, all of the day’s ration may be hauled at, one load and 
sufficient hay may be put in the racks in the morning to 
last until night; but several times a day it will be neces- 
sary to stir up the hay in the racks, and push it around 
where the cattle can get at it better. Loosening up the 
hay in the racks in this manner is about the same as offer- 
ing new hay, and every time a steer is offered fresh feed 
he will eat a little bit more. Hence the oftener he is fed 
the better. One cannot possibly expect to get steers fat 
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