Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-01-29
WINTER FEEDING.

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WINTER FEEDING.
Good Jadkment Necessary In CARING For
At this time of the year the daily de-
mand upon our winter feeding stores
begins to be seriously felt III those
stores happen to be barely sufficient to
last over winter of average duration
and severity. and the weather prove
exceptionally Indictment, or the spring
late one, the stock owner must exer-
else his best skin In management, and
for all that he can do he may eventual
Is suffer considerable loss. Anxiety, at
least, must be his, unless he have the
stole mind or an exceptionally sanguine
temperament. If, on the other hand,
the stores are ample, that is no reason
why they should be wasted. Waste Is
always dead loss, and success In the ag-
gregate is made up of gains in detail.
When put together and seen In the
lump, rich are the rewards of care in
minutiR. Small losses, from want of
care, make all the difference between
success and failure. The keep of
single animal may be accounted mat
ter of little moment, and the question
whether that animal clears up its food
or leaves part ofeach feed supplied to
it. may seem Insignificant. but the cost
of keep of awhole stud, or herd, or flock,
is not small item when the yearly
balance Is drawn out. and that cost is
but the sum total of the cost of single
animals. The cost of each animal de-
ponds upon the intelligence and care
of the feeder Although these remarks
may be applied generally to all classes
of live stock, we take, for example, the
feeding of cattle during the winter
months, combining the attention to one
class of stock, with the object of avoid
ing reference to the different circum-
stances under which horses, cattle,
sheep and pigs are fed during this sea-
son.
The great point in feeding, as in
every other Department. of management,
is that the care-taker should always
have his eyes about him. Eyes or no
eyes! that is the question, and the an
swer makes just the difference between
competent and an incompetent man.
A slovenly herdsman, who either does
not see that a cow or steer fails to eat
all the food given, or seeing. takes no
heed, but goes on stupidity. giving the
same quantity to each, or more or less
food to each at random, is sure to
waste daily a quantity of food which.
at the end of the year, amounts to no
little bulk, and the value of which
swells considerably the general
expenditure account in which
it is hidden. Besides this, inn
proper feeding Injuries the animal, and
so the owner loses in both ways. The
animal which would thrive if its appe-
tite were studied, is perhaps losing In
stead of gaining flesh. It loathes the
tossed and trampled food, sprinkled
with its own saliva, and when the old
is removed and the new portion brought,
has no zest for its much needed susie
nance. Some animals, moreover, are
very fanciful about their diet; others,
the scavengers of the herd, win eat up
anything that mortal man can lay be-
fore them. These animals are useful in
clearing up the leavings of the others,
for they are not nice ON matters of
cleanliness, and never stop to snuff at
their food in order to ascertain whether
it is doing first or second service, is
fresh from the store or has been licked,
tossed and trampled by q companion.
As rule, however, cattle are dainty
and particular in their feeding, and.
unless induced by hunger, they will
seldom touch food with the smell of
other cattle's breath upon it. An ami
NAL possessing the instinct of civiliza-
ton viii often bear the pangs of hum
ger consequently wasting food and
losing condition) when feed polluted
by leavings has been served to it. A
herdsman, therefore. should well know
upon which animals he can depend as foul
feeders to clear of any remains from
previous feelings; but if he has paid
due attention to the ways and appe-
titles of the animals under his care, he
viii not be much troubled about the
disposal of leavings, for there will not
be any except in the event of sickness,
and then in the rare fact of food re-.
naming uneaten, he has the advantage
of an early indication of something be-
ing amiss, and can treat the ailing ami
NAL in the usual way without loss of
time. One or two little weaknesses of
the bovine race, besides the opposite
characteristics of a gross and fastidious
appetite, must also engage the attend
ants notice When cattle are fed
sngly, the apportionment of food is
comparatively easy, but when in num-
bers together, as when food is taken to
them out-of-doors, or given in yards,
covered or open, or in buildings where
they live together, the stronger or more
pugnacious animal will get the better
share, and often act the part of dog-in-
the-manger to its companions after its
own cravings are satisfied. Even where
they are kept two in a stall, we have
seen an adroit thief drop ON her knees,
and with outstretched neck and elon-
gated tongue, snatch a large part Of
her staIl-fellow's feed before touching
her own.-NationaI Lire Stock Jour
nal