Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1910-06-21
Success In Feeding Animals.

Success In Feeding Animals.
Success is broad term. 1t is Otter
regarded as complete if the desired en'
of a given effort is attained. But this il
much too limited view. Success ths
is fully worthy of the name involve
more than the mere securing of results
however valuable those results may be
When one attains success in full meas
ure he not only gets results, but b,
gets them without making too great al
outlay.
This is as true of feeding animals as
it is of anything else. A man may hav,
: the largest and fattest hogs in the coun
try in which he lives and yet fall fa
short of being the most successful feeder
This, because other men, with the same
care and the same quantity and qualit,
of food, have fed larger number o
hogs which made a considerably largel
quantity of meat and gave larger per
centage of profit on the investment
While this is not necessarily the case, II
is always among the possibilities, and il
is not infrequently what occurs. To be
a really successful feeder of hogs, man
must not only convert his grain into
pork, but he must get as large quan'
tity of pork as the grain can be made to
produce. The same principle fully ap-
plies to feeding all classes OF domestic
animals.
| Now success in any line of effort is
not gratuity. 1t does not come of it.
self, and it is seldom obtained by any
thing approaching what is called chance.
On the contrary, it must be planned and
worked for. The plans must be made
intelligently, and the work must be
directed wisely. The man who is TO
have any well-grounded hope of achiev-
ling success in feeding farm animals
must plan and work along the following
lines: l. What to feed. 2. When to
feed. 8. How to feed. These points
merit consideration in the order in which
| they are stated.
l. What to feed. A great many
farmers do not give this item sufficient
consideration because they want to use
the material which they now have on
hand and which they have provided for
this special purpos Q. As long as they
have plenty of feeding stuff which they
have raised on their own farms they do
not see the need of getting any thing more,
as far as the materials are of the proper
composition, il is eminently wise to use
what have been produced at home.
But, unfortunately, on many farms the
ratious that can be made up from the
homegrown feeds will be badly unbal-
anced and. consequently, if no addition
is made to them, they IN ust be fed at a
considerable loss. To some extent there
can be substitution of one element,
or of one group of elements, for another;
but this can be profitable only within
narrow limits; and it is not possible on
an extensive scale. IL an animal is
obliged to depend on protein for warmth
instead of the much cheaper carbohy-
drates, there is direct loss, while If the
feeding material is deficient in protein,
as homegrown feeding stuffs often are,
the younger animals can make compare
lively little growth, aud there will be
only a low rate of production by the old
or ones.
II the materials on hand are hopeless
ly out of balance in respect to their nu-
tritive ratio, it is certain that the best
results land it is probable that even good
results) cannot be obtained from their
use. 1t then becomes a question wheth-
er the feeder should stand the inevitable
loss that its use will bring or should
purchase concentrated feeding stuffs by
the addition of which to his present ma
teral he can supply its deficiencies. In
many cases an exchange of some OF the
coarse fodder on the farm for concentrat-
ed material could be effected. Either
purchase or exchange will involve some
expense. Which, if either of them,
should be chosen must be decided by
the circumstances of the individual
farmer. This will settle the matter for
The present feeding season, but it will
be wise in future for the owner to try to
produce a larger proportion Of protein
crops on his own land.
8. When to feed. On this point there
is a wide difference in opinion and prac-
tice. A good many farmers feed their
animals early and late, and between
times, while many others supply food
only at considerably longer intervals.
Neither of these extremes can give as
good results as a medium course. Ant
mails that have food almost constantly
before them will inevitably waste great
deal. They naturally sort out the best
when the fodder is put into their man.
gers and leave the less palatable portion
until hunger leads them to eat again.
| In the meanwhile, they breathe on what
remains in their managers and thus make
| il less appetizing than it was at first.
They have learned, too, that new sup
plies of fresh fodder will soon be forth
| coming, and they thus get into the habit
4 e lao a Aaal nf nS
which is ultimately wasted. Then, too,
than is best for them If they have II
constantly before them.
This involves a double loss. One Of
| these losses is caused by the eating OF
more food than can be digested. The
other comes from the debilitating effects
on the digestive organs which are GER
tain to appear if over-feeding is long con-
tinued. With horses, the case is much
| worse than it is with cows or young cat
tie. For if horse has hay pretty con-
stantly before him he will eat an excess
i've quantity and will so distend his
stomach that when he is used for driv-
| ing or draft his lungs will not have suf-
ficient room in which to do their work.
This causes him great discomfort, and
case of heaves is very likely to be de-
veloped. Many good farm horse has
been seriously injured through the mis-
taken kindness of his owner in giving
him an excessive quantity of bulky fod-
der. Yet, while too frequent feeding
brings evils of various kinds, IL is de-
cidedly Improbable TO go to the other
| extreme and feed only at very long In
tervals. If the feeding is too long de-
layed the animals become unduly hun
| CRY, and they also become so impatient
that when food is supplied they eat too
rapidly. In the same way, though per
| haps not to the same degree, haste in
| eating is harmful to animals as it is to
men. 1t is greatly for the interest OF
the owner, and for the benefit of his ami
mails, that the feeding be attended to
regularly and at intervals which, while
long enough for the cleaning up OF the
food that has been given and for the re-
curreuce of the appetite, are not so long
as to cause worry or faiptness for want
of food
8. How to feed. This, also is mat
| ter of Importance, as has often been
shown by the widely varying results OF
different methods of feeding. Some men
get more growth, or larger production,
from animals of the same class, by the
use of certain quantities and qualities OF
food. than others obtain under wha,
appear to be precisely the same con,
ditions. This is sometimes due In part