312 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



thru using the latter is apparent. Corn stover and corn fodder should 

 usually be shredded or cut, to reduce the wastage. (305) 



501. Straw. Owing to its large content of fiber and consequent low 

 value for the production of work, but little straw can be fed to hard- 

 worked horses, for their digestive tracts are not so constructed as to 

 utilize such feed well. (35) On the other hand, horses doing little or no 

 work and having ample time for chewing and digesting their feed may 

 be wintered largely on bright straw or corn stover, instead of costly hay. 

 Farm horses should not be wintered in the barnyard on straw and corn 

 stover only, without grain, for they will then be in no condition for the 

 severe work of spring. It must be borne in mind that straw is very 

 low in protein, and some protein-rich feed should always be used to 

 balance the ration when straw is fed. In Europe nearly all rations for 

 horses contain straw, those hardest worked receiving the least. In feed- 

 ing value the straws rank in the following order : Oat, barley, wheat, rye, 

 the last-named having but slight value. (328-9) 



502. Corn stover and straw reduce feed bills. The saving which may be 

 made thru the use of such cheap roughages as corn stover and straw in 

 place of a large part of the timothy hay, and of substitutes for oats is 

 well illustrated in a trial by Norton at the Michigan Station 43 in which 

 2 lots, each of 6 farm horses doing moderate work, were fed the follow- 

 ing rations for 10 weeks in winter: Lot I was fed exclusively on high- 

 priced timothy hay and oats (with a light feed of bran once a week). 

 These horses received 11 Ibs. of oats and 20 Ibs. of timothy hay a head 

 daily. The roughage fed Lot II consisted of 8.6 Ibs. shredded corn stover 

 and 4.3 Ibs. oat straw, with only 4.2 Ibs. timothy hay. Only 3.1 Ibs. 

 oats was fed these horses, the rest of the concentrates being 4.2 Ibs. ear 

 corn and 2.6 Ibs. of a mixture of equal parts of bran, dried beet pulp, 

 and linseed oil cake, with 4.2 Ibs. of carrots for succulence and as an 

 appetizer. 



During the trial the horses in Lot I, fed the ration of timothy hay and 

 oats, costing 29.6 cents a day, each lost an average of 11 Ibs. in weight. 

 On the other hand those getting the cheaper but well-balanced ration 

 gained 14 Ibs. each at a feed cost of 17.7 cents per day a saving of 40 

 per ct. in the feed bill. 



503. Carbonaceous roughages require supplement. It should be remem- 

 bered that hay from the grasses, corn fodder, corn stover, sorghum and 

 kafir forages, and straw are all low in protein. Therefore, when these 

 roughages are used exclusively, protein-rich concentrates should be fed 

 to balance the ration. This fact, which has already been brought out 

 (476), is also shown in other trials by McCampbell 44 in which horses fed 

 only corn and prairie hay did not thrive as well as others fed corn and 

 oats, or corn, bran, and linseed meal with the prairie hay. 



Mich. Bui. 254. "Kan. Bui. 186. 



