328 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



centrates and 2,790 Ibs. hay; making a total of 4,746 Ibs. concentrates 

 and 6,804 Ibs. of hay eaten per head up to 3 years of age. The average 

 birth weight of the colts was 116 Ibs. and their average weight when 3 

 years old, 1,270 Ibs. 



The average cost of raising these colts to 3 years of age was as fol- 

 lows: Feed, $123.64, with concentrates at $28 a ton and hay at $12 a 

 ton (cost of concentrates, $67.18 ; hay, $41.46 ; pasture, $15.00) ; care 

 and shelter, $20.00 ; service fee, $15.00 ; inconvenience, and time lost by 

 mare, $10.00; mortality risk and insurance, $16.85; veterinary ser- 

 vice and supplies, $2.00; total gross cost, $187.49. Deducting half the 

 cost of the third year ($29.15), as colts commonly earn their keep at two 

 and a half years of age, brought the net cost of the 3-year-old colt 

 to $158.34, with no credit allowed for the value of the manure pro- 

 duced. 



The average total cost of raising colts on farms to the age of 3 years, 

 according to estimates received from over 10,000 farmers in various 

 sections of the United States by the Bureau of Statistics, United States 

 Department of Agriculture, 17 was $104.06, under pre-war conditions. If 

 we deduct the value of the work done by the average colt before his third 

 year, the net cost without giving any credit for the manure produced 

 was $96.54, or 70.9 per ct. of the estimated selling price, $136.17. This 

 cost was considerably less than the cost of raising the colts in the 

 Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Kansas trials, owing to the fact that the 

 colts were undoubtedly mostly not of heavy draft type. The cost in 

 different states varied from $69.50 for New Mexico and $71.59 for 

 Wyoming, to $149.98 for Connecticut and $156.60 for Rhode Island. 

 The average cost was distributed as follows: 



Cost of raising colts to 3 years of age under pre-war conditions 



First year Second year Third year Total cost 

 Dollars Dollars Dollars Dollars 



Service fee 12 .95 12 .95 



Time lost by brood mare 10 .06 .... 10 .06 



Breaking to halter 2 .22 .... .... 2 .22 



Care and shelter 4.98 5.36 6.35 16.69 



Cost of grain fed 4.98 7.14 9.56 21.68 



Costofhayfed 4.14 6.61 8.48 19.23 



Cost of pasture 2.56 5.41 6.21 14.18 



Veterinary and miscellaneous .... .... 7 .05 



$104.06 



II. THE STALLION 



527. Importance of exercise. In the care of the stallion nothing so vital 

 to his well being is more generally neglected than proper exercise. (Ill) 

 Often his time is spent in idleness, in a poorly-ventilated box stall, away 

 from his kind. Under such conditions, it is no wonder that he may con- 

 tract vices, become unruly or even vicious, and get only a small percent- 



17 Gay, Productive Horse Husbandry. 



