34 



COOKED AND RAW FEED. 



Boussingault compared oats and an equal volume of rye boiled until 

 the grain burst. The results were not favorable to cooking the feed. 

 According to another of his tests 30.8 pounds of mashed steam pota- 

 toes could not replace 11 pounds of hay. The potatoes were mixed 

 with cut straw and fed cold. 



It is often claimed that cooking feed increases its palatal)ility and 

 digestibilit3^ The general conclusion drawn from tests with farm 

 animals is that this belief is not warranted and that the cost of cooking 

 is not made up for by the increased value of the ration. Prof. W. A. 

 Henry '^ states that boiled feed is useful for colts, brood mares, and 

 stallions if fed two or three times per week, and that draft horses 

 which are being prepared for sale or for exhibition may l)e given 

 cooked feed once a day. In his opinion an excellent feed for horses 

 is made by boiling barley and oats in a kettle with considerable water 

 and pouring the mass over chaffed hay, allowing the whole to stand 

 until the hay is Avell softened. Bran, roots, and a small quantity of oil 

 meal may be added also. 



DRY AND SOAKED FEED. 



It is often said that soaking feed, especially hard grain, renders it 

 more easily masticated and improves its digestibility. It is doubtful 

 if the matter is as important with horses as some other classes of farm 

 animals. According to Wolff' ^ healthy horses with good teeth digested 

 dry beans and corn as well as the same materials which had been soaked 

 in water for 24 hours. 



Soaking or wetting feed may sometimes be of importance as regards 

 the health of horses. According to the experience of an English 

 feeder '^ chaffed straw, which was fed on account of a shortage in the 

 hay crop, gave better results when soaked than when dry. The dry 

 material caused colic and constipation. It was also observed that the 

 horses relished soaked grain (corn and oats 1:1). 



It is believed that the dust in hay causes heaves, and to avoid such 

 trouble both long and cut hay, especially clover, is very often damp- 

 ened before feeding to lay the dust. 



GROUND AND UNGROUND FEED. 



Opinions differ as regards the advantages of grinding grain. In 

 Professor Henry's'^ opinion, for horses which are out of the stable 

 during the da}' and worked hard, all grains, with the possible excep- 

 tion of oats, should be ground, and for those at extremely hard work, 

 all grain should be ground and mixed with chaffed hay. For idle 



«Loc. cit. cLive Stock Jour., 39 (1894), p. 30. 



^ See footnote, p. 60. 



