Forty Hereford steer calves from the same herd were divided as equally
as possible, on the basis of weight and conformation, into four lots of 10 animals each. Two additional steers became available 10 days after the
test started and they were added to lot 3. The daily wintering ration
consisted of 1 pound soybean oil meal, 5 pounds grain, 2 pounds alfalfa
hay, and all the sorghum silage they would clean up. Salt and a mineral
mixture of 2 parts steamed bonemeal and 1 part salt were fed free choice.
The grain used was as follows: Lot 1, rolled sorghum grain; lot 2,
cracked corn; lot 3, finely-ground, pelleted sorghum grain; lot 4, finely-ground
sorghum grain. The fattening ration was the same except silage
was removed after 32 days. An attempt was made to maintain the same
level of grain in all lots.
