Daily Kennebec journal., 1883-11-27
Cattle Eating Bones.

Having been born on a farm. and all
my life a farmer, says correspondent OF
the N f. Farmer, have had good op-
portunity to observe the habits Of cattle
think may safely say that cattle raised
on newly cleared land, where there is a
plenty of ashes and charcoal. and burned
bogs on the pastures, never eat or gnaw
bones, unles the bones have lately been
taken from brine, and have a salt taste,
while cattle that have been raised on old
worn out, or long cleared land have a
strong craving for bones, and when they
cannot find them, will gnaw boards, bark
and other substances not generally used
for cattle food. Reasoning from these OBJ
servations have practised for some years,
cutting bushes and old rubbish in my pas
ture, and burning them when dry, and
they were burned, with the most favorable
results. am fully satisfied that per-
fectly healthy ruminating animal never
Graves bones. They are always uneasy,
nervous cattle, never remaining long in a
place, never eating with a proper relish,
never fat. and rarely ever full and plump.
Calves dropped from cows addicted to this
bad habit. may grow well for a while,
and then begin to fail they rarely grow
to maturity, but often die before they are
year old. I have observed this in my
own herd, and know that the same thing
has happened to my neighbors. How far
the feeding of bone is remedy tor this
bone disease or mania. am not prepared
to say. but | have used it with certain
degree of success.
| once purchased some thirty head oi
Young cattle that were driven from the
dairy farms OF Vermont, and some OF
them were the most inveterate bone eaters
| ever saw; when turned out in the morn
ing. they would not eat a mouthful, but
travel with their heads near the ground
until they had found a bone, and then
they would chew II for hours, if it was toe
large or too hard to be easily broken by
their teeth. This was in the fall of the
year, and though they had the run of a
large field Of most excellent feed, they
would not fat, and when they came to the
barn were dainty. began giving them
bone meal, sometimes from one to two
gills day. and followed the practice
through winter; by mixing a small guam
tity of corn meal or shots with the bone
meal they ate it greedily. In the spring,
when these cattle were turned on to the
bare ground. some of them showed theil
old habit of bone eating, while others
were cured or had forgotten to hunt fol
bones. Some of the heifers / kept fol
cows. and this habit was not entirely cured
until fed them a liberal supply of short:
with the corn meal. and then it was en-
tirelv broken up. This habit is not cor
fined to cows, but it may be found among
cattle of all ages and both sexes. Wheth
er the habit is brought on by an acid in
the stomach, or lack in their food oil
some of the COW forming materials
am not qualified to determine
If my observations are correct, potasl
in some of its forms is very essential te
the health of cattle. as we'll as the phos
pilates. While shorts or wheat bran seen
to be remedy, corn meal has no bene
fetal effect. | Judge that corn fed in tn,
ear may be cure, from facts brought t.
nv notice by the practice of some of m,
neighbors. of feeding their cattle during
the winter an ear or two of corn daily un
til they are turned out to grass. BON
eating was unknown among these cattle
they were usually pastured in new pas
| lures. with large range OF WOODLAND
and plenty OF pure water. Though tn,
feed in winter was low ground or meadow
hay, and the small amount of corn hav
mentioned, they always came home "a
the next TALL.
! Now. Mr.. Editor, il have succeeds