SHRINKAGE OF WEIGHT OF BEEF CATTLE IIn t TRANSIT. 
23 
have plenty of grass and water before weighing, there will usually 
be a heavy shrinkage. 
2. The shrinkage is not the same for all classes of cattle. It will 
be greater on cows than on either steers or mixed stuff, and smaller 
on calves than on any other class of cattle. 
3. The shrinkage will usually be in direct proportion to the size 
of the animals, where all other factors are equal. 
4. The weather exerts a primal influence on the shrinkage of cattle 
while in transit, and upon the fill taken at the market. 
5. The greater the fill taken at market the smaller will be the 
shrinkage. « 
6. The fill at -market may be influenced by the weather, the time 
elapsed since the cattle were last fed and watered, the time of arrival 
at market, and the feeds given while there. 
7. A big fill of grass and water at the point of origin just previous 
to loading is not desired. The cattle will not stand up well, and 
it may cause them to scour. 
8. The practice of withholding feed and water for from 10 to 25 
hours before loading, in order to make the cattle take a big fill at 
market, is to be condemned. Very frequently the fill is not taken, 
and usually the shipper loses money by this procedure. 
9. In a droughty year the shrinkage of the cattle largely takes 
place during the drive from the ranch to the loading pens. The 
shrinkage in transit may be small and may be completely overcome 
by the fill at market. 
10. The variation in shrinkage of fed cattle is not as wide as that 
on range cattle, and the fill at market of the fed cattle is more 
uniform. 
11. The shrinkage of cattle finished on cottonseed meal, hulls, and 
corn chop is greater than the shrinkage on range cattle. 
12. The shrinkage of cattle is much greater during the first 36 
hours in transit than during any subsequent period of the same 
duration. 
