SECTION XXII. 



FEEDING STANDARDS. 



The amount of digestible protein, digestible fat and digestible 

 carbohydrates required per day for animals of 1,000 Ibs. live 

 weight, for different purposes, is called the "Feeding Standard/' 



The table of feeding standards is based on the work of foreign 

 investigators and is arranged after Armsby. American investi- 

 gators think that these standards call for more protein than is 

 required for our conditions and hence a reduction is sometimes 

 recommended to secure the best results. However, the prices 

 of protein and carbohydrates, which will be taken up later, have 

 a great deal to do with the make up of a ration. 



Henry in his valuable book on "Feeds and Feeding," says: 

 "Standards are arranged to meet the requirements of farm 

 animals under normal conditions. The student should not accept 

 the statements in the standards as absolute, but rather as data of 

 a helpful nature, to be varied in practice as circumstances suggest. 



"The statements in the column headed "Dry Matter" should 

 be regarded as approximate only, since the digestive tract of the 

 animal readily adapts itself to variations of 10 per cent, or more 

 from the standard of volume. 



"The standards are for animals of normal size. Those of 

 small breeds will require somewhat more nutrients, amounting in 

 some cases to 0.3 of a pound of nitrogenous and 1.5 pounds of 

 non-nitrogenous digestible nutrients daily for 1,000 pounds of live 

 weight of animals. 



"Narrowing the nutritive ratio in feeding full grown animals 

 is for the purpose of lessening the depression of digestibility, to 

 enliven the temperament, or to increase the production of milk 

 at the expense of laying on fat. 



"The different standards given for the same class of animals 

 according to performance illustrate the manner and direction in 

 which desirable changes should be made. 



"In considering the fattening standards the student should 

 bear in mind that the most rapid fattening is usually the most 



