The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1885-09-05
THE COLT.
The Necessity of Proper Care of the Grow
ing Animal.

Horses are a kind of live stock which ,
are left largely to take care of them
selves in a certain sense. We busy our
selves about our cattle, sheep and swine.
How shall we feed-what shall we do to
make the calf, the lamb and the pig
more valuable? we ask time and
time again. But the colt comes,
grows and reaches maturity, under
about the same treatment that has been
common for hundreds of years. True
enough the system of management that
is generally adopted is not bad one.
At all events it answers. But that is not
quite enough in these days when we
wish to produce perfection as nearly as
possible. Are our horses as good as
they might be if the growing
animals were fed at all times upon a
strictly scientific basis? None of us
will give an affirmative answer to the
question, if we properly understand the
effect of feeding. The horse is valuable
in proportion to the development of its
muscle. 4 weak horse is very poor
property-a strong horse is good prop
erty. Consequently the food given the
colt and young horse, and in fact the
mature horse, needs to be largely of the
muscle forming character. Their food
does not need, and must not contain, so
large proportion of the carbonaceous
elements as do those which are fed to
tlesh-producing animals. In the latter
case u CONSPICUOUS part of the object in
feeding is fat, while in the former case,
we want to produce only moderate
amount of fat and great deal of mus
Gle. Very often the horse is fed entirely
too much corn. As portion of the
horses food, and even of the colts,
corn is good, but to feed colt too much
of this specially fat-producing food, is
ruinous. And IN order to keep the mat
ter steadily before the reader, we again
call attention, in this connection, to the
necessity of Keeping the muscular and
bony systems up, in all animals and at
all times. This applies even to fatten-
/ ing animals.
Now when the colt is getting its food
from the dam, it is getting the following
/ elements, which is the composition of
mares milk Casein, 3. 40 per cent; but
ter, 2.50; milk sugar, S,52; ash, SO, and
water 9OO5 per cent. In mares milk
the dry matter, that is food, is about ten
per cent, 9.95 per cent. TO be exact, and
something more than one-third of this is
casein. The milk of the mother of the
colt, therefore, furnishes one part of
muscle, forming food to two parts of the
1 carbonaceOus elements. With this les
SON of nature before us we make mis-
take when we feed too largely a food
which contains so large a proportion of
starch, as corn, barley, etc If the dam
gives sufficient milk the colt will need
nothing else for six months. But if the
mare should give an insufficient quantity,
it must be supplemented with something
else, for we think it must be stated as a
fact whether it is always observable or
not, that a colt that is insufiiciently
nourished during the first six months Of
its life. never RECEIVERS what it thus loses.
Its slownesS of growth, under such cir.
cumstances, is not the worst of it. 1t;
digestion becomes weakened. Tit
stomach of the young animal, unless ex
tended by sufficient quantity of food
becomes contracted, and so when it il
weaned, it does not hold enough t
furnish the system with what it needs
Young animals, it must be remembered
cannot grow on nothing. It's their fooC
that gives them growth, and the more
food they utilize the more rapid will b(
their growth
Ii the dam, after generous feeding K
that end, does not give enough milk t.
satisfy the colt, the ration should be in
creased by giving cows milk, which i
nearly the same in composition 10 tina
of the mare. We advise giving fresl
milk first, under such circumstances, bu
skim-milk may soon be given, and tina
contains precisely the elements whicl
the growing system most stands in Nee
Of Two quarts day, given in tn
morning and at night, is about tn
proper amount for colt two month
old. Some sweeten it little, and it i
good plan, although but very littl
sugar should be added. The colt ma
be allowed to eat oats US soon as it will
and before it is weaned, we would Civ
it little linseed meal with oats, ant
thus teach it to eat it. Linseed meal j
excellent food for colt One breede
writes that he gives to a colt egh
months old, a half pint of flax-see
4 boiled in four quarts of water, and the
g two quarts of bran or oat meal boile
{ with it, fed twice day in equal parts
The St0ckn,dn.