Computing Rations for Farm Animals 



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to furnish energy to the animal for various uses. First, the temperature 

 of the animal body must be about ioo° F. and, while the temperature of the 

 surrounding air may vary all the way from — 20 to + 90 F., this body 

 temperature must be kept practically constant, requiring considerable 

 energy in the form of heat; second, energy is required to keep up all the 

 changes in the body in preparing food for use by the body, to take that 

 food where it is needed, and to carry out waste matter from the body; 

 third, energy is needed to manufacture products such as milk, wool, eggs, 

 and the like; fourth, energy is needed to enable the animal to do work, 

 as in the case of the horse. 



All the uses to which the matter and energy of food are put are summed 

 up in the following table: 



1. To support life 



Uses of the Matter and the Energy of Food 



a. To maintain body temperature 



b. To repair waste tissues 



c. To form new tissues 



d. For the muscular activity of the 

 vital processes 



2 . To reproduce life 



3. To yield some product. 



4. To perform labor 



a. Stored up as fat or flesh in the 



tissue 



b. Secreted in the form of milk or 



wool 



Requirements of the body for water 

 In addition to the requirements for maintenance of tissues and for 

 energy the body requires a supply of water daily, in order to keep up 

 the water content of the body and to provide a medium for the transfer 

 of the food material from different parts of the body to other parts and 

 for the elimination of waste matter. 



How the food fulfills these requirements 

 Like the body, the common coarse foods, grains, meals, and feedstuffs 

 in general used for animals are made up of the following groups of con- 

 stituents : 

 Water 



Dry matter 



Ash 



Nutrients 



Protein (nitrogenous) 



Carbohydrates (fiber, nitrogen-free extract) 



Fats 



