FEEDING AND CARING FOE HORSES 327 



5,198 Ibs. oats, 4,673 Ibs. alfalfa hay, 528 Ibs. corn stover, and 576 Ibs. 

 straw, with rather scant pasture in summer. They gained .96 Ib. per 

 head daily on this oats-alfalfa hay ration. The other lot, fed no oats, 

 each consumed 3,639 Ibs. corn, 1,300 Ibs. bran, and 260 Ibs. linseed meal, 

 with the same amounts of roughage as the first lot. Their gain was 

 slightly greater, being 1.02 Ibs. per head daily, showing this concen- 

 trate mixture to be entirely satisfactory as a substitute for oats. The 

 entire cost for feed and other expenses for the 2 years, including labor 

 and veterinary services, was $128.84 per colt for the first lot and $117.90 

 for the lot fed no oats. Adding to this the sum of $50.00, which was 

 estimated as the cost of a colt at weaning time from mares used for 

 farm work, the total cost of a colt at two and one-half years was $178.84 

 and $167.90 for the respective lots under pre-war conditions. At the 

 close of the trial the station was offered $200.00 a head for the colts. 



525. Feeding no grain after the first winter. That colts may make 

 fair gains when fed no grain after the first winter is shown in a trial 

 by Snyder 16 at the North Platte Station, Nebraska, in which 3 lots of 

 foals were fed for 3 years after weaning. During the first winter all 

 lots were fed 4 Ibs. grain per head daily. Lot I, fed alfalfa hay in 

 winter and grazed on alfalfa pasture in summer, made an average gain 

 of 678 Ibs. Lot II, also fed alfalfa hay in winter, but grazed on native 

 pasture in summer, gained 611 Ibs. per head. Lot III, fed prairie and 

 sorghum hay in winter, with native pasture in summer, gained only 

 540 Ibs. per head. Snyder concluded that it paid to feed alfalfa hay 

 in winter instead of prairie or sorghum hay but under his conditions it 

 did not pay to pasture alfalfa in summer. 



526. Cost of raising horses. The data presented previously show the 

 amount of feed consumed by heavy drafts colts from weaning to 2 or 

 2 1/2 years of age. From this the feed cost may readily be found, taking 

 feeds at local prices. To this must be added the cost of the colt at 

 weaning and the other expenses in addition to the feed cost. Using the 

 Illinois and Kansas data and taking 1921 prices, it will be found that 

 the total gross cost will be $150 to $200. From this should be deducted 

 the value of the manure produced. At a very conservative estimate, this 

 should be worth $30 on most farms. This would make the net cost of 

 these heavy draft colts from $120 to $170 at 2 to 2 1/2 years of age. 

 While there should be a reasonable profit in raising draft colts of good 

 breeding, little or none can be expected from "farm chunks" under 

 present conditions. 



In investigations from 1909 to 1918, with a total of 66 colts, chiefly 

 pure bred and high-grade Percherons, Harper of the New York (Cor- 

 nell) Station 16 * found that up to weaning they consumed 180 Ibs. of 

 concentrates on the average ; from that time to 1 year of age, 1,214 Ibs. 

 concentrates and 1,594 Ibs. hay; during the second year 1,507 Ibs. con- 

 centrates and 2,525 Ibs. hay; and during the third year 1,898 Ibs. con- 



19 Nebr. Bui. 130. 16 N. Y. (Cornell) Bui. 403. 



