Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1915-11-19
THE BEST WAY TO FEED
OUR LIVE STOCK
(By James l.. Moontagus, County

(By James l.. Montague, County
Demonstration Agent.)
1t is neither evidence that an animal
is well fed because it has all it can
eat, nor that it is properly fed because
1t c-ss all that has been given it. The
primary object animals have in eating
is to maintain life: the second object
is 10 lay on flesh or fat, and the third
use to which food is put is to produce
energy. for work and locomotion, as
and wool with the sheep. If COW is
poorly fed, she nourishes her body
first and if there is an excess of nu-
trients over this, it is used to make
milk or lay on fat.
One of the first things to do in feed
ing our animals is to learn their
requirements. Each individual is a
problem for every feeder-as human
beings cannot do well on the same
quantity or quality of food, neither
can animals.
Some animals, on account of their
great storage capacity, require and
can handle large amount of rough
age, while others with less storage
room demand more concentrated food.
The horse and pig are examples of
thlS latter class.
The nutrients of feeds are divided
into two main classes: protein and
carbohydrates. The former produces
blood, muscle, milk, wool, and horny
tissue. 1t also produces small
amount of fat. The carbohydrates
produce heat, energy, and fat, but
none OF the first named component
parts except fat.
From thic II ,c oh,,;ou, ,L,4 A..
animal producing milk or wool, or the
young growing animal needs q ration
which is high in protein, while the
steer on maintenance ration, or the
work horse needs a ration containing
more carbohydrates. When a cow in
milk is fed ration containing mostly
carbohydrates, she is forced to draw
upon the tissues of her body in order
to supply the necessary protein for
her milk. This accounts for many
cows coming out of the winter i'm a
poor condition, when they have ap-
parently been we'll fed
Protein is high priced nutrient,
but nature has been kind to us by pro-
vlding an abundant supply iii such
plants as clovers, cowpeas, soybeans,
and alfalfa. These plants not only do
away with the purchasing of high
priced concentrates, but they improve
the soil as WELL
The present price of cottonseed
meal may cause many farmers to
doubt the propriety of buying this con-
centrate. In few cases it may be
economy to make n ration of only
home grown products. Especially is
this true for the farmer who is a long
distance from the railroad and has
haPn nnnncrh m In, ,cl-x -
grow an abundance of clover or alfal-
ia. However, if the animals are
growing ones, some concentrates
should be used.
But the farmer who has silage, or
corn fodder, and only timothy hay
or straw, and corn for a concentrate
cottonseed meal can be economically
fed even if it costs $40 a ton or
more, because in case of this kind
it is equal in feeding value to twice
it's weight in corn. 1t would be good
business to trade some of the corn
for cottonseed meal.
BY feeding excessive amounts of
fodder, straws, timothy, silage, and
some corn, matured animals may
come through the winter in fair shape
but if three cents a day had been
spent on each animal for cottonseed
meal, it would have saved double it's
value in corn, hay or silage. Unless
legume hays or protein concentrates
are fed to young animals, they have
to eat such a large amount of the 9TH
er feed to get a sufficient supply of
protein that digestive troubles arise,
and when spring comes, half the an
imals may be dead, or they are in
such a pot-bellied condition that they
only increase the misery by gorging
themselves on grass.