20 SCIENTIFIC FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



similarity of these movements to those of a worm 

 they have been called the vermicular movements, 

 and they serve to further disintegrate the food and 

 mix it with the digestive juices. 



From the above description it will be seen that 

 the ruminants possess a much more perfect arrange- 

 ment for the grinding of food than do animals with 

 a simple stomach. Cattle, sheep, and goats, thanks 

 to their compound stomachs, are better able to 

 utilise the coarser and harder food-stuffs than are 

 horses and pigs in which the first three stomachs 

 are absent. Horses usually chew their food with 

 care, but if they are rapid eaters chopped hay 

 should be mixed with the food to ensure proper 

 mastication. If this is not done, then considerable 

 quantities of the corn pass unused through the 

 alimentary canal of the animal and so their nutritive 

 value is lost. Molasses feeds and similar articles 

 which are usually eaten quickly should be treated 

 in the same way and mixed with chopped hay, 

 or else given after the corn has been eaten. Animals 

 with faulty teeth ought to have their corn either 

 crushed, coarsely ground, or soaked. Pigs chew 

 their food very slightly and should therefore get 

 all hard or coarse feeding materials in a soaked, 

 steamed, or boiled condition. 



When an animal masticates a hard food-stuff 

 containing a large quantity of crude fibre, it has 

 to perform a considerable amount of work. As 



