204 A STUDY OF FARM ANIMALS 



horses, in reporting on feeding growing fillies, makes the 

 following pertinent statement relative to feeding growing 

 colts on Mississippi valley farms:* 



"Alfalfa hay fed with corn and oats gave results of a character 

 which indicates that there is little or no need of feeding purchased mill 

 feeds to growing horses when alfalfa can be grown on the farm. JVhen 

 alfalfa hay is the roughage used, a considerable proportion of the grain 

 ration may safely be corn. In this experiment the proportion was one 

 half by weight." 



Feeding the work horse. Horses engaged in draft work 

 should be fed a limited amount of roughage and sufficient 

 concentrates to meet all needs. Of course the amount to be 

 fed will depend upon the size of the horse and the work he 

 is doing. It is recommended to feed from two to three 

 pounds of food for each 100 pounds live weight, the amount 

 of concentrates ranging from one half to two thirds of the 

 total, according to the severity of the work. Hard working, 

 farm or dray horses are usually fed roughage at morning 

 and night, with concentrates at noon. The heaviest feed 

 should be given at night, because the horse is then having 

 his most restful period during 24 hours, and so should eat 

 and digest his food to best advantage. Standard foods, 

 common to the locality, and suited to horses, should be used. 

 Oats meet with most favor in the stables of drayage com- 

 panies, while on the farms of the South and Central West, 

 corn is very generally used, supplemented in many cases 

 with oats and a weekly bran mash. In reporting on feed- 

 ing work horses at the Kansas station,! Dr. C. W. McCamp- 

 bell states that the following daily rations were exceptionally 

 well adapted for horses at hard work that weighed about 

 1,150 pounds: 



(1) Oats 4 Ibs., corn 6 Ibs., bran 4 Ibs., timothy hay 12 Ibs. 



(2) Corn 6 Ibs., bran 3 Ibs., linseed meal 1 lb., prairie hay 14 Ibs. 



(3) Oats 2 Ibs., corn 8 Ibs., alfalfa hay 10 Ibs. 



Fattening horses. In some sections of the country, 

 especially in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, thin horses, 



*Bulletin 192, Illinois Agr. Exp. Station. Feeding Pure-Bred Draft Fillies. 

 fBulletin 186 Kansas Agr. Exp. Station, 1912. 



