Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station Lafayette, Indiana
Mimeo AS-251 April 24, 1959 (Progress Report)
THE COMPARATIVE VALUE OF HAND FEEDING VS. SELF FEEDING AND OF SHELLED CORN VS. GROUND EAR CORN FOR FATTENING CALVES
T. W. Perry, W. M. Beeson, C. H. Nickel and Donald Webb (Conducted at Lynnwood Farm, Carmel, Indiana)
There are almost as many ways of feeding fattening cattle as there are cattle feeders. Many feeders follow some modification of hand feeding whereas others practice some modification of self feeding. Similarly, some prefer to feed ground ear corn while others prefer to feed shelled corn to their feeder cattle which are on full feed. Therefore, a factorial experiment was designed to compare four such feeding methods in which two lots of cattle were self fed and two lots were hand fed. Also, two lots were fed a full feed of ground ear corn and two lots were fed a full feed of whole shelled corn.
This experiment was designed to study three objectives:
1.	The comparative value of hand feeding vs. self feeding.
2.	Shelled corn vs. ground ear corn on a hand fed and a self fed basis.
3.	The amount of salt necessary to control the intake of supplement fed free choice to cattle self fed on shelled corn and ground ear corn.
Experimental Procedure
Eighty Shorthorn steer calves averaging 465 lb. were divided into four lots of 20 each, on the basis of liveweight and apparent thrift, and were fed a fattening ration of a full feed of corn, 2.5 lb. Purdue Supplement A, free choice hay and minerals. The specific treatments were:
Lot I ----Shelled corn, full feed, hand fed: Supplement A, 2.5 lb.;
hay and minerals free choice
Lot II ---Ground ear corn, full feed, hand fed: Supplement A, 2.5 lb.;
hay and minerals free choice
Lot III---Shelled corn, self fed, free choice: Supplement A with salt,
free choice; hay and minerals free choice
Lot IV----Ground ear corn, self fed, free choice; Supplement A with
salt, free choice; hay and minerals free choice
In lots III and IV the amount of salt in Supplement A is adjusted so that the steers consume approximately 2.5 lb. of supplement per head per day.
In lot III (self fed shelled corn, free choice) the corn was gradually raised to a full feed of shelled corn before the cattle were allowed to have free access to the corn in order to protect them from the possibility of foundering or going off feed. (In future research, cattle will be turned to full feed, free choice, of Purdue Supplement A, shelled corn, hay and minerals).