Gunnison Valley News | 1930-05-29 | Page 6 | Self-Feeders Adapted for Heavy Grain Feed

Self-Feeders Adapted for Heavy Grain Feed Self-feeders for grain have been used continuously for many years by some of the leading steer-feeders In the corn belt. They are especially suitable for feeding heavy rations of grain. In fact, self-fed steers usually eat more and make greater gains than hand-fed steers. Many of us feed hay by the self-feeder method to fattening fatten-ing steers, but we do not call It by that name. In self-feeding grain, great care must be given to starting cattle on feed. To turn a bunch of hungry steers that are not used to grain onto a self-feeder which allows them all they can eat, would be disastrous. Animals of this kind should be hand-fed hand-fed for a month or more In the troughs of the self-feeder until they are completely com-pletely on a full feed of grain. One should start with about one part of grain to three parts of roughage by weight. Then gradually increase the grain until the cattle are getting three parts of grain to two parts of roughage rough-age at the end of the first month. Of course, toward the latter part of the fattening period the cattle will be eating eat-ing about three times as much grain as roughage.