Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1906-06-23
FARMER AND PLANTER
FEEDING WORK ANIMALS.
A Few Suggestions as to Feeding and
Caring for Animals During the
Busy Season.

Now that the season Of planting
cultiyating and harvesting, and later
on Of gathering and housing, is with
US, it may not be out of place to say
something as to how farm animals
should be fed during this busy season
Of hard work and hot suns.
It 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 iDiudicious
feeding that produces collie, or some Of
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 will feed his horse (or mule)
as he feeds himself 1t would be pret-
ty safe rule to 90 by, for neither man
nor beast feels like or is capable OF
doing hard work Immediately after
eating a full meal. 1t is cruel to require
a horse to perform hard work or an
empty stomach, and it is dangerous to
make him do it when his stomach is
full. 1t is even more dangerous 10 him
than it is to the man, for his stomach,
in proportion to his size, is smaller
than the mans, A farm horse (or
mule) in the working season should
be fed regularly three times a 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 it is cheaper, and If he is fed
in the morning two hours before going
to work, he might be given a little hay,
for while It takes corn only two hours
to digest, it 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 he
should be given a full feed Of corn or
oats, with all the hay he will clean up
It 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 dan
gerous habit, 1t may give the man an
hour or TWO more sleep in the morn
ing, but ho pays dearly for it in the
waste Of feed for much of the hay that
is not eaten is mouthed Overland in hot
weather partially soured by morning,
so that the horse, having gorged him.
self the night before, will not eat it,
goes to work without his breakfast,
and at noon is in condition to bolt his
food like a half.starved man. without
chewing it, followed by Indigestion
and collie, and a horse that once has
collie is more susceptible to 1t after
wards than one never affected in this
way.
AS a rule no hay should be fed at
all at noon, but an excellent substi-
tute is a bundle Of fodder. It is light,
cooling and refreshing, not bulky in
the stomach, and most acceptable to
the animal on hot days. No horse
should be fed when he is yeyy hot. 1t
is as liable to cause indigestion as he
IS to founder when allowed to fill him
self with cold water under the same
conditions. There should be an in
teryal of twenty or thirty minutes be-
tween the time he stops work and get
ting his feed, which should be given
to him at regular intervals,
If farm horses are properly fed and
cared for there is no reason Why they
should not keep in good condition
throughout the season, for there is nc
work on the farm sufficiently hard to
reduce them in flesh If they are given
proT er attention; but, as a rule, when
the season is over they are very low in
flesh. with undghtly sores on should
ers and backs, presenting a marked
contrast to the city draft horse whose
seasons are never over who works
every day Sunday excepted rain or
shine, year in and year out doing
harder work and more Of It, yet al
ways in good, hard flesh, with a sleek
glossy hide and not a scar ON him
The reason for this difference between
the two animals is one gets proper
feed and attention at the proper time
and the other does not. One is ac
quainted with a curry-comb and brush
the other would run away at the sIghr
of either, One is owned by q mer
chant who had to buy his horse and
buy his feed; the other is owned by 6
farmer who raised his horse and raised
his feed and does not count the cost oI
either.-Southern Agriculturlst