Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1845-12-04
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Fatlening Animals.

1t should be made primary object to fltten
animis for sau5hte as rapidly as possible, if
we wish to obtlin the greltest quantity of meat
in proportion to the food consumed. The resaon
is this 1t tlkes a certain amount Of food, daily,
to support life, or to supply the NATURAL waste of
the body. For instance suppose fifteen bushels
Of me1I and five hundred pounds of hay will bring
an animal to a certain degree Of fitness in forty
days that Is allowing peck and half of meal
and ~ 10 lbs. of h'y to be consumed lilly
Now suppose it takes fourth part of his dlily
allowance to sustain life and supply the waste of
the body thea, if instead of FEEDING out our
whole quantity of food in torty days we proIong
the time to an hundred and SIXTY days, the food
would be wasted, and the trouble and labor of
feeding expended for nothing; as the animal
might be in worse condition at the expiration
of TINT time, th,n when we began feeding.
This is a mltter which has been too little re-
glrded and as a consequence, there has been a
useless expenditure Of f'od and labour In the
animal economy, the accumulation of fat and ex-
ira flesh is onlJ deposite of superAuous nutr-
ment, which not being required by the system at
one time, is hid by for future emergencies and
it must be obvious that the larger the quantity of
food which the fWtening animal can be made to
consume daily, with good appetite, or to digest
thoroughly, the greater will be the amount Of
flesh and fit gained, in proportion to the whole
quantity of food consumed.
Another essential point in fattenng animals,
is to keep them in quiet aud comfortable con-
dition, We do not propose to engage at pres
emf in consider alton of the re1tve action of the
different organs of the animal body. Every
farmer has, however, more or less noticed the
connection which the nervous system has with
the digestive and secretlve organs, An animal
may consume a large amount Of food, but if it
is so situated that it is restless AMI Discontinued
the accumulation of fit will be only at slow
and unprofit lhIe rate We have seen hogs and
cattle intended for slaughter, rendered So entire
y uncomfortable from the collncss and tiIthlness
Of thri; sultinn TINT they scarcely throve at all,
til ugh they consumed and wasted much more
food than they would have required,' IF properly
cared fer. Hence the saying, that an animal
will fret off flesh f,ster th,n it can be gained "
Animals should not be confined to wet and
muddy places-above all things they ii, uId not
he obliged to take their food in such places
Cattle and sheep TINT are fed with grain and veg
etabes, should be provided with clean managers
Eating hogs should be fed in clean troughS, OF
on clean dry floors and their sleeping places
should be dry and sufficiently warm They
should not be expected to perform much labor
in the compost yard thlt service should be
rendered while they are in working trim, and not
after they are full fed and are becoming over
loaded with fat. All exerton is attended with
a waste Of muscular tissue, and the mere aborl-
GUS the exertlon, the greater is the expenditure
Hence the increase in weight will be most rapid
by allowing the animal to remain at rest as much
as is consistent with the preservation of its beah
Substances in which the nutrIment is much
concentrated, should be fed with care. There
is danger, especially when the animal is put to
feed, that more may be eaten at once than the
digestive organs can manage. Meal Of Indian
corn is highly nutrtlYe, and when properly fed
causes animals to fatten flster thu almost any
other food. They will not, however. bear to be
exclusively kept on this article for great length
Of time. Meal made from the heaviest varieties
of corn, especially that from the hard ainty kinds
grown in the Northern and Eastern States, is
quite too strong food fer Cattle, sheep or horses.
to be fulfilled upon. Hence one of The adFanta-
ges Of having the cob ground with the corn by
which the nutriment il difTlsed through great
er bulk, lays lighter in the stomach, and is more
thoroughly digested. The effect of pure corn
meal on animals, we suppose to be similar to
that sometimes produced on our own species by