CAEE AND MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 841 



vantages there is also the risk of loss by injury, and the 

 damage done to timid animals by an aggressive neighbour. 

 Cattle of the same age and size should as far as possible be 

 placed together. 



In the feeding of store cattle, and the same applies to 

 cattle fed for shows, each animal must be fed according to 

 its appetite, so that an experienced and intelligent cattle- 

 man is required. Overgorging must be avoided ; no matter 

 what the food is, only the amount which each animal can 

 consume should be given, food lying in the trough and 

 rejected through repletion is a wasteful practice. 



All feeders of repute acknowledge the above, with regu- 

 larity in feeding, to be the secret of fattening animals, and 

 that the man who is unable to accurately gauge each 

 animal's appetite to a nicety, is unfit for the duty of cattle- 

 man. 



Home bred cattle fed for beef will be from six to nine 

 months of age at the beginning of winter, and in days gone 

 by the idea of regarding these in the light of store cattle 

 would be ridiculed ; but the early maturity movement has 

 insisted on this, and mere calves before completing their 

 first year are regarded in this light, while at eighteen or 

 twenty months old they are fat cattle. 



Early maturity is insisted upon both on economical 

 grounds, and also because young animals put on more flesh 

 per pound of food than older animals do. 



The calves remain at grass as long as it lasts, receiving 

 in addition manger feeding in the form of a few pulped or 

 sliced roots, straw, and a pound or two of cake ; they remain 

 out all day, coming in earlier in the evening as the nights 

 get colder. They are comfortably housed or placed in a 

 well-sheltered yard. Finally, as the weather increases in 

 severity they are completely housed, though this system 

 depends upon the part of the country and the severity of 

 the winter. Shelter during the winter is most important 

 if economical feeding is to be practised, but this shelter 

 does not mean an absence of fresh air. During the whole 

 winter, roots, cake, and straw form the entire winter diet, 

 until the grass comes in the spring. 



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