184 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



for young pigs, skim milk is unsurpassed as a supplement to the car- 

 bonaceous grains. The money value of skim milk for swine is discussed 

 fully in a later chapter. (957-60) This dairy by-product is also ex- 

 cellent for foals which do not secure enough milk from their mothers, 

 and for poultry. (521) When other animals are not available to con- 

 sume all the milk, it may be profitably fed to horses. (607) 



Especially in feeding pigs and poultry, it must be borne in mind that 

 skim milk is low in the fat-soluble vitamine, since the greater part is 

 removed in the butter fat. Therefore, unless other feeds in the ration 

 supply plenty of this vitamine, poor results will follow. For example, 

 for young pigs not on pasture, white corn with skim milk is decidedly 

 inferior to yellow corn and skim milk. In fact, white corn with skim milk 

 will even kill young pigs if they get fat-soluble vitamine from no other 

 source. (104, 202, 939, 957-8) 



267. Buttermilk. This by-product differs little from skim milk in 

 composition, and trials have shown that it has substantially the same 

 value for pigs. (962) Some use buttermilk successfully in rearing calves, 

 especially after they are well started in growth, by gradually accustoming 

 the calves to it, and practicing extreme cleanliness. (695) In eastern 

 Prussia and in Holstein-Friesia suckling foals are fed buttermilk. 1 If 

 allowed to ferment in dirty tanks it is a dangerous feed. 



Recently, semi-solid buttermilk and dried buttermilk have been placed 

 on the market. These have given very good results in feeding swine and 

 poultry, but are often uneconomical at the prices asked. (962) 



268. Whey. In the manufacture of cheese practically all the casein 

 and most of the fat go into the cheese, leaving in the whey the milk 

 sugar, the albumin, and a large part of the ash. Whey is more watery 

 in composition than skim milk, containing only about 6.6 per ct. dry 

 matter. It contains about 4.8 per ct. milk sugar and 0.3 per ct. fat, 

 with only 0.8 per ct. protein, the nutritive ratio being 1 :6.8, much wider 

 than that of skim milk. However, due to the fact that the protein in 

 whey is of a superior quality, barley and whey alone form an excellent 

 ration for fattening pigs over 150 Ibs. in weight. 2 (963) Whey is usually 

 fed to pigs, for which it has about half the value of skim milk. As good 

 results have been secured with whey slightly soured, as with sweet 

 whey, but whey which has been allowed to decompose in filthy vessels 

 is not suitable for stock. Skimmed whey is worth slightly less than un- 

 skimmed whey. Whey can be successfully fed to calves only when 

 strictly fresh and when fed with scrupulous care and cleanliness. (695) 



269. Spreading disease thru dairy by-products. Since milk from dif- 

 ferent farms is mixed at the creamery and cheese factory, the. germs of 

 bovine tuberculosis and other diseases may be widely spread from a dis- 

 eased herd in the skim milk, buttermilk, or whey. The readiness with 



'Pott, Ernahr. u. Futter., Ill, 1909, p. 475. 



2 Morrison and Bohstedt, Wis. Buls. 319, p. 70-1; 323, pp. 8-10. 



