The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1911-12-01
THE BALANCED RATION.

, Feeds are divided into two great
, classes-those that are concerned
with growth and are used to build ur
muscular tissue, and those that are
used to pro luce heat and energy and
are the principal sources of animal
fat. The former are called nitroge-
nous feeds, the latter carbohydrate
feeds. Examples of the former are
soy bean meal, oil meal, bran, shorts,
alfalfa, clover and other legume
hays, tankage, field peas cotton
seed meal, wheat, barley, rye, root
crops, silage, straws, etc. Oats are
more nearly heterogeneous.
Animals differ widely as to the
kind of feeds they Gun use to best
advantage. Young and growing ami
mails need to build bone, muscle and
tissue, and therefore require rather
high proportion of digestible nitro
gen. Fattening animals have to a
great degree accomplished the neces-
sary growth of bone and flesh and
are ready to utilize feed adapted to
the storage of fat. Carbohydrate
feeds are better suited to this pur-
pose. Dairy cows require feed for
maintenance of the body functions
and for supplying the fat and nitro
genous matter found in the milk. In
addition to grains and pasture, hogs
need supplementary feeds such as
charcoal, wood ashes, tankage, etc.
In short, a feed must be fitted or
adapted to the needs of the animal.
When ration is so fitted or adapted
| it is called balanced" A man feed
ing corn alone to growing pigs is not
feeding economically. The young pig
cannot use to advantage a ration so
strongly carbohydrate and will of
necessity fail to develop fully in vigor
and strength of bone and muscle.
uC Hol oCAldu WIZ lctuS dlldlld udy,
and alfalfa alone, to his brood mare
Is feeding too high proportion of
nitrogen. To handle and eliminate
through the kidneys this unusually
large quantity of nitrogen is too Sc
we're tax on pregnant mare and is
liable to result in the foaling of a
defective colt. The brood mare needs
a variety or balanced ration. In the
same way the steer, the sheep, the
brood SOW and in fact all classes of
animals require rations adapted or
balanced to their needs.
A pig five months old requires one
pound of digestible heterogeneous feed
to five pounds of digestiDie carbohy-
drates. A ration can be so balanced
by using pounds of shorts, pound
of corn, three-fourths pound of bar
ley, and one-fourth pound of tankage
A pure bred Poland China barrow so
fed on the University Farm weighs
265 pounds at seven months.
A 1000 pound dairy COW requires
seven-tenths pound of digestible pro-
TEN, seven pounds of digestible car
bohydrates, and one-tenth pound of
digestible fat for maintenance. When
producing 25 pounds of 3 per cent
milk she needs in addition to her
maintenance requirements one pound |
of digestible protein, four and three
fourths pounds of digestible carbo-
hydrates, and four-tenths pounds di-
gestible fat for sustaining the milk
flow. This result can be accom-
plished by compromising ration of
four pounds of ground corn, 3
pounds of rolled barley, pounds of
alfalfa hay, and 81 pounds of corn
silage.
By similar processes balanced ra-
tons can be calculated for other
classes of animals. Standard and
modern books that fully explain the
nature and value of the various feed
stuffs in common use and that fully |
explain the compromising and balanc-
ing of rations are as follows.
Profitable Stock Feeding" by
Prof. H. r. Smith.
''The Feeding of Animals" by
Prof. w. H. Jordan.
Feeds and Feeding" (revised edi-
tion) by Prof. w. A. Henry.
Feeding Farm Animals" by Prof.
Thomas Shaw.
Elementary Treatise ON Stock
Tceds and Feeding" by Prof. j. e.
Halligan. CA new book
Farmers Bulletin % on the
Feeding of Farm Animals" contains
a discussion of feeds ana reeding and
extensive tables for use in balancing
rations. This publication can be OBJ
tanned by writing to the U. s.
of Agriculture, Washing
ton, D. c. e. J. IDDINGS,