The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1906-08-04
FARMER AND PLANTER
FEEDING WORK ANIMALS.
A Few Suggestions ~ 10 Feeding and
Caring for Animals During the
Busy Season.

A Few Suggestions 40 10 Feeding an
Caring for Animals During the
Busy Season.
Now that the season q planting
cultivating and harvesting. and latel
on Of gathering and housing. h viii
u.s. 1t may not be out of place to say
something as to how farm xnimall
should be fed during this busy season
OF hard work and hot suns.
1t may be safely stated In the out
set that more than three-fourths Of the
deaths of farm horses, not counting
old age, are caused from ipjudicious
feeding that produces collie, or some oil
the sympathetic diseases of like ma
ture, caused directly or indirectly
either by the manner Of feeding or
the quality of the food given. II the
plowman win feed his horse Tor mule)
as he feeds himself 1t would be prst,
ty safe rule to go by, for neither man
nor beast feels like or is capable Of
doing hard work Immediately after
eating full meal. It IL cruel 10 require
q horse to perform hard work on an
empty stomach. and 1t IL dangerous to
make him do 1t when his stomach IL
full. 1t Is even more dangerous to him
than 1t Is to the man, for his stomach,
In proportion to his size, is smaller
than the mans. A farm horse Tor
mule) In the working season should
be fed regularly three times q day,
morning. noon and night. His break
fast and MONDAY meals should be of
concentrated food, such as will give
him the greatest strength in the least
volume. and there Is nothing better for
this than corn and oats, corn preferably
because 1t 10 cheaper, and II he is fed
In the morning two hours before going
to work. he might be given little hay,
for while 1t takes corn only two hours
to digest, 1t takes three for hay, and
for this reason It should not be fed to
them at noon, which should be the
lightest meal Of the day. At night no
should be given q full feed OF corn or
oats. with all the hay he will clean up.
1t Is an evil practice some farmers
have OF combining the night and
morning feeds into one by putting IN
enough corn and hay at night to an
swer for the morning feed also. This
Is an indolent, extravagant and dam
gerous habit. 1t may give the man an
hour or two more sleep in the. morn
Ing, but he pays dearly for Il In the
waste Of feed. for much of the hay that
Is not eaten is mouthed over and In hot |
weather partially soured by morning.
30 that the horse. having gorged him.
self the night before, win not eat Il,
goes to work without his breakfast,
and at noon Is In condition to bolt his |
'ocd like half-starved man. without |
chewing 1t. followed by indigestion
Ind collie. and a horse that once has
'olic is more susceptible to n after
Yards than one never affected IN this
way.
AS a rule no hay should be fed at
II at noon, but an excellent substi-
ute is bundle Of fodder. II is lixht
ooifng and refreshing, not bulky In
he stomach. and most acceptable to
he animal on hot days. No horse
hould be fed when he is ve-y hot. II
as liable to cause Indigestion as he
to founder when allowed to dn him
elf with cold water under the same
onditions. There should be an In
erval Of twenty or thirty minutes b.
ween the time he stops work and get
ng his feed. which should be Given
him at regular intervals. |,
II farm horses are properly fed and
ared for there Is no reason Why they
hould not keep In good condition I
,roughout the season, for there is NO
ork on the farm sufficiently hard to
sduce them in flesh II they am, given I
roper attention: but a. q rule, when
le season 10 over they are very low In
esh. with unsightly sores on should
. and backs. presenting a marked
'ntrast to the city draft horse whose t
'asons are never over, who works {
1ery day, Sunday excepted. rain or 4
line, year In and year out, doing
lrder work and moro Of It, yet al
avs in good, hard flesh. with Z sleek, ID
ossy hide, and not scar en- him. le
ne reason for this difference between
e two animals is one gets proper t
ed and attention at the proper time I
I'd the other does not. One Il &C. n
tainted with curry-comb and brush, e
e other would run away at the sight
either. One is owned by = mer. 9
ant who bad to buy his horse and q
y his feed; the other IL owned by = v
rmer who raised his horse and raised
feed and does not count the cost Of z
.her.-Southern Agriculturist. s
Paste This In Your HIST.
Buy farm. young man. No matter "
w snail IL NAV be- buv n farm and A,