s 
BULLETIN 905. U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
chance that a calf will be born within 3 or 4 days of the 283d day. 
With sows it is not quite an even chance that birth comes on the 
113th, 114th, or 115th day. The table below gives the most prob- 
able day of birth following service on the first day of any month. 
The date of birth for any other day of service can easily be calculated. 
Probable day of birth. 
Date of birth of young. 
Date of service. 
Jan. 1 Apr. 25 
Feb.l May 26 
Mar. 1 June 23 
Apr. 1 Julv 24 
Mayl Aug. 23 
June 1 Sept. 23 
Julvl Oct. 23 
Aug. 1 Nov. 23 
Sept.l Dec. 24 
Oct. 1 Jan. 23 
Nov. 1 Feb. 23 
Dec.l ; Mar. 25 
Ewe. Cov. 
Mav 31 
July l 
Julv 29 
Aug. 29 
Sept. 28 
Oct. 29 
Nov. 28 
Dec. 29 
Jan. 29 
Feb. 28 
Mai\ 31 
Apr. 30 
Oct. 11 
Nov. 11 
Dec. 9 
Jan. 9 
Feb. 8 
Mar. 11 
Apr. 10 
Mav 11 
June 11 
Julv 11 
Aug. 11 
Sept. 10 
Mare. 
Dec. 7 
Jan. 7 
Feb. 4 
Mar. 7 
Apr. 6 
May 7 
June 6 
Julv 7 
Aug. 7 
Sept. 6 
Oct. 7 
Nov. 6 
FERTILITY. 
There are few problems in practical breeding more important than 
increase in fertility. The losses to livestock farming from failure in 
fertility have been estimated as enormous. There are two phases 
of fertility which must be considered — regularity of breeding and 
number of young at a birth. 
In cattle and horses, in which twins are neither common nor 
desirable, only the first phase is important. It is generally stated 
that twins are born in about 1 birth in 80 in cattle. Triplets and 
even larger numbers are born occasionally. The number of twin 
births in horses is generally stated as much less than in cattle, but a 
tabulation of 3,000 births taken at random from three recent volumes 
of the General Stud Book (English Thoroughbreds) yielded 66 cases. 
However, in 29 cases the foals were slipped, and only 12 of the 132 
were born alive. According to this tabulation, twins are born once 
in 45 births, but only one living horse in more than 200 is born 
a twin. 
Among the factors which affect fertility in both its phases are age, 
heredity, climate, feeding, and disease. As already noted, hogs, 
sheep, and cattle begin to become capable of reproduction when less 
than half a year old and horses at about a year. Fertility is rela- 
tively low at first, both in respect to regularity of breeding and the 
number of young at a birth. There is a rapid rise to a maximum 
and then a gradual decline. 
The productive period usually comes to an end among light horses 
of both sexes between 20 and 25 years of age. The corresponding 
