THE JOURNAL 



OF THE 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



Vol. XVII. No. 3. 



JUNE, 1910. 



BABY BEEF. 

 K. J. J. Mackenzie, M.A. 

 University Lecturer in Agriculture, Cambridge. 



The term "baby beef " is used to indicate as tersely as pos- 

 sible the faculty of early maturity in cattle which are wanted 

 for beef production. For the last hundred and fifty years 

 our breeders of horned stock have constantly endeavoured 

 to hasten the early development of their animals, and the 

 object of this paper is to put before the reader the question 

 of the advisability of taking full advantage of the extra- 

 ordinary power which is possessed in this respect by well-bred 

 cattle of the British "beef" breeds. 



Food Required for Sustenance and for Increase in Weight. 

 — There are two main objects to be attained when an animal 

 is being fed for beef production, viz. : (a) it has to be kept 

 alive, and (b) it should gain in weight as much as possible. 

 In this paper the first of these objects will be referred to as 

 sustenance, while the gain in weight will be spoken of as 

 increase. 



Very little consideration is necessary in order to appreciate 

 what a large amount of material is used up for sustenance. 

 In the first place, much of the food is utilised simply to 

 supply warmth; while another large portion of it is required 

 to supply power in order that all the muscular exertion 

 required by every action of the body may be sustained. 



A large buliock put up to fatten will want about 100 lb. 

 of food a day for sustenance and increase, and of this about 

 .75 lb. will be used for sustenance and 25 lb. for increase. 



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