626 



NUTRITION OF FARM ANIMALS 



340 kilograms (750 Ib.) and receiving per day 3 kilograms of 

 oats and 2 kilograms of hay, obtained the following results : 



TABLE 183. PERCENTAGE DIGESTIBILITY OF OATS BY A HORSE 



While the results just cited are more or less variable, and 

 while the small differences in the digestibility of the nitrogen-free 

 extract in Gay's experiments seem peculiar, the results as a 

 whole clearly show an increased digestibility by swine and 

 horses as a result of grinding, while they also show that the 

 difference is apparently not very great less perhaps than 

 would have been expected. 



Gay also reports the following results of similar experiments 

 upon a sheep weighing 81 kilograms and eating 500 grams of 

 oats and 750 grams of alfalfa hay: 



TABLE 184. PERCENTAGE DIGESTIBILITY OF OATS BY A SHEEP 



With the exception of the ether extract, whose digestibility 

 it is difficult to determine accurately (165), the percentage 

 digestibility is practically identical in the three cases. So far 

 as a single experiment goes, therefore, it indicates that there is 

 no advantage in grinding oats for sheep. Experiments upon 



