Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-03-06
Feeding Meal to Cattle.

A CORRESPONDENT of the Buffalo Lice
Stock Journal, in describing the process of
digestion Of food in cattle, says:
The stomach Of ruminant animals is a
compound organ. 1t is divided into four
compartments. When grass, hay, or any
coarse food is eaten by the ruminant, it
passes, after partial mastication, down
the esophagus, or meat pipe, and islodged
IN the rumen, or first stomach, more COM
monty called the paunch.
1t is retained in this receptacle or res
ervolr till the animal has leisure to re-
masticate it. It does not lie at rest, but
is constantly stirred up and kept in mo-
ton by the peristaltic action of the
sack that contains it, and is mixed up
and softened with mucus; bv this means,
and by fermentation, preparation is made
for the work of digestion, if it is not in
the strlctest sense actually here begun.
For the purpose Of remastication, accord
ing to Youatt, it is gradually moved into
the second stomach, a honey-comb bag,
and then, by a spasmodic motion, to the
mouth. After sufficient mastication it is
swallowed again; but instead of going
back to the place from which it was
raised, or to the receptacle where it went
the first time it was swallowed, it now
goes, according to the authority Just cited,
to the third stomach, or maniplies, where
1t undergoes further and material
change, and thence to the last division,
or fourth stomach, where the process of
digestion is completed.
Though digestion proper is only carried
on In the fourth division of the stomach.
1t is evident that the action OF the other
divisions of that compound organ is use
ful to the digestive process, or they would
not have been placed where they are.
mat the changes wrought upon the food
IN passing through the several divisions
hasten and perfect the action of the true
tourth) stomach, can hardly be cues
toned.
But the food eaten by cows does not al
ways pass through all the appendages to
the real stomach. This complicated ar
rangcment Of the ruminant stomach was
made for coarse herbaceous food, and not
Tor That which is finely pulverized or very
concentrated, and hence it does not man
age such food alone to the best advantage
"hen meal alone is fed to COWS 1t drops
into the fourth stomach, missing entirely
the other three. 1t does not even ston at
Inc thlrd division, where the food that
mas been made fine by remastication goes
learned this fact by accident some years
ago. f1ndlng, one spring, that | had not
nay enough to carry my cows through
and believing it was cheaper to purchase
gram than hay, l bought corn meal and
mlddllngs for substantial support and
barley straw for bulk. The straw was
well cured and early cut, ana with six
pounds of ground feed per day thew did
well on it, rather better than they did on
nay, and it was cheaper. After a " lille
they seemed to get tired of the straw. and
TO make them eat it up clean, wet Il and
spread the meal over it. AS | expected
the straw was eaten up clean, but | found
IN lew days what did not expect. that
their milk increased little in quantity
ana considerably in richness, the ouantity
OF meal and straw being the same in each
way OF feeding. l changed the mode Of
1eeding several times during the snrino
Wiah the same result every time. The
ol1erence was not very large.
cannot ca now say exactly how much
Inc experiments We're made for nv
own satisfaction only. with no thoupht
OF publishing, and the fignyes
were not preserved AS the diffa1ence
was evidently due to the manner Of feed FEED