FARM ANIMALS 57 



the amount necessary as a maintenance ration 

 for horses. In some localities in the winter it 

 has been found that for this purpose from fourteen 

 to sixteen pounds per day is sufficient without 

 grain. In some localities it has been found that 

 after alfalfa has been fed to dairy cows the coarse 

 stalks left by the cows are readily eaten by the horses. 

 The amount of such material necessary for main- 

 tenance is higher than when first class alfalfa is fed. 

 In Utah it was found possible to maintain horses 

 in good condition upon thirty-two pounds of alfalfa 

 daily. Better results were obtained, however, 

 when the amount of alfalfa was not more than 

 twenty pounds, and when some corn was substi- 

 tuted for the remainder of the alfalfa. 



Horses like all other animals frequently get off 

 their feed as the common saying is when fed 

 carelessly or without regard to a suitable balancing 

 of the ration or variety of feeds. In order to avoid 

 the loss of appetite and the actual development of 

 digestive troubles considerable attention should 

 be given to the proper compounding of the ration. 

 A slight loss of appetite may be due to a lack of 

 variety and this occurs most often when the same 

 grain ration is fed for a long period, particularly 

 if the grain ration is composed exclusively of one 

 variety of grain. Some improvement is always 

 obtained in such cases from the feeding of mixed 

 grains as well as a coarse fodder. Loss of appetite 

 may, however, be due to overwork, lack of ex- 

 ercise, or to the defective condition of the forage 

 as well as to lack of variety. In cases of loss of 

 appetite horses may be fed a mixture of crushed 

 oats, corn meal, and linseed meal with small quan- 

 tities of silage added and in persistent cases with 

 the addition also of a spoonful of sulphate of iron 



