CHAPTER XIX 

 ANIMAL FEEDS 



I. PACKING-HOUSE FEEDS 



The packing-house products used for feeding livestock are 

 dried blood, tankage, meat scraps or meat meal, and bone meal. 

 These feeds are especially valuable for feeding pigs, poultry, and 

 other animals that require a considerable supply of nitrogenous and 

 mineral components in their feed, and do not object to the animal 

 odor of these feeds. The packing-house products are high-protein 

 feeds, and those containing much bone, like meat scraps and tank- 

 age, are rich in mineral matter, especially phosphoric acid and lime. 



Dried blood or blood meal contains over 80 per cent of protein, 

 sometimes as high as 86 per cent, of which about nine-tenths is 

 digestible, and the small amount of fat present therein has been 

 found wholly digestible. Blood meal (blood flour) is used to some 

 extent in feeding calves, being given in the skim milk, about a tea- 

 spoonful per feed. This is considered an excellent source of protein 

 for calves, and is also of value on account of its tonic effect. Other 

 young stock may receive about one-fourth pound per day per 100 

 pounds, and older animals one to two pounds per head daily. The 

 price of the blood meal stands in the way for its more general use 

 for older animals, however. It must also be fed mixed with other 

 concentrates to such animals, as stock object to the animal odor of 

 both blood and meat products. Digester tankage, meat meal, beef 

 scraps, and similar feeds vary considerably in composition, accord- 

 ing to their origin and the amount of bone which they contain. 

 They should always be bought on definite guarantees of protein 

 and fat contents. 



Tankage makes a valuable swine and poultry feed. It is made 

 from fresh meat scraps, fat trimmings, and scrap bones. These 

 are thoroughly cooked in large steel tanks under live steam pressure, 

 by which method the tallow is separated. The steam is then turned 

 off, and, when the mass has settled, the tallow is drawn off. The 

 residue is kept agitated and dried till it contains about 8 per cent 

 water, and the tankage is then taken out, allowed to cool, ground, 

 and is ready for shipment. Tankage is generally sold under a 

 guarantee of 60 per cent protein and 6 per cent fat, while meat 

 204 



