Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 February 1913 — SHELTER FOR FATTENING CATTLE IS IMPORTANT [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SHELTER FOR FATTENING CATTLE IS IMPORTANT

By F. G. KING,

Animal Husbandry Department, Purdue University School of Agriculture. • Purdue University Agricultural Extension.

A fat steer wears continuously a heavy overcoat. The fat, which is deposited just beneath the skin of the animal, la not highly sensitive because fat is not living matter, acts as a protection to the body of the animal covered with fat Every cattle feeder is familiar with the habit of fat cattle of lying, when the weather is not extremely cold, in dry, sunny spots in an open yard or pasture in preference to seeking their beds in a closed, warm barn. Cattle with a thick covering of fat, that are digesting large quantities of feed and thereby gener-. a ting heat from the food, are as subject to discomfort from being too warm as from being too cold. The shelter required by cattle depends on the climate and the condition of the oattle. In regions where there are not many nights during which the temperature is low, full fed cattle require nothing more than a good windbreak and a roof to ward off rain and snow. A dry shed opening to the south offers almost ideal surroundings for fattening cattle in climates similar to Shat of Indiana. The Missouri experiment station placed one lot of cattle in a barn and another similar lot in an open shed, and full fed both lota jof cattle until fat. It was found that the oattle in the open shed gained faster and made cheaper gains than these in the barn. The trial was repeated for three winters. The aver"’4s*■ , ’‘ "**jy;:

age of the four trials showed that the cattle sheltered by an open shed had made an average daily gain of 1.92 pounds per head and produced 8.24 pounds of gain from each bushel of corn eaten. The cattle houfced in a barn gained 1.70 pounds daily per head and made 4.91 pounds of gain from each bußhel of corn. Modern methods of feeding cattle to maintain the fertility of tne soil has led to the system adopted by many feeders of keeping the cattle constantly under cover in order to prevent loss of manure. But the results of the shelter experiments cited above show that feeder In constructing barns for fattening cattle must bear In mind the needs of the anlmgl and furnish an abundance of fresh air and sunshine.