ANIMAL FEEDS 205 



meal or beef scraps contain 40 to 50 per cent protein, 8 per cent or 

 more of fat, and about 25 per cent ash, largely phosphate of lime 

 (bone). 



An important use of meat meal and similar feeds is in' poultry 

 feeding. Experiments at Geneva (N. Y.) and other stations have 

 established the superior value of animal proteins in feeding poultry, 

 especially ducks. It is likely that this value depends, to a large 

 extent, on the mineral matter supplied in these feeds, and not 

 especially on the protein which they contain; better results are 

 generally obtained, however, by feeding both classes of nutrients 

 combined in the same feeding stuff rather than separately, as, e.g., 

 grain feeds with ashes or bone meal. 



Fish meal, or fish meat meal, contains amounts of protein, fat, 

 and mineral matter similar to good grades of meat meal, and may 

 be considered of about equal value to this feed, pound for pound, 

 for feeding poultry or swine, when manufactured from fresh fish 

 refuse by modern sanitary methods. Besides being a valuable 

 poultry feed, fish meal may be fed to horse and cattle in a limited 

 way where an extra supply of protein in the rations seems desirable. 

 In northern Europe it is occasionally fed to dairy cows in amounts 

 of one to two pounds per head daily, mixed with other concentrates, 

 and is considered an economical feed, well adapted for this purpose, 

 although the cows at first object to its peculiar odor. 



Bone meal or ground bone is likewise used for feeding poultry, 

 and, in a small way, with Indian corn for pigs, in order to correct 

 the lack of ash materials in this cereal (p. 341). One-half ounce 

 ground phosphate rock (floats) may be given daily to calves or 

 pigs for the same purpose. 1 



II. DAIRY FEEDS 



The dairy products form a most important group of feeds for 

 livestock. Owing to the value of whole cows' milk as a human food, 

 and as the raw material for the manufacture of cream, butter, 

 cheese, etc., it is only used for stock feeding in the case of beef 

 animals, and for dairy and breeding animals during the early life 

 of the calves. It is, therefore, not necessary to describe in this 

 place the chemical or physical properties of all milk, beyond a few 

 observations as to its value for young stock. 



Colostrum Milk. Immediately after calving a thick, viscous 

 liquid, known as colostrum, is secreted by the cow; in the course 



1 Wisconsin Research Bulletin 1. 



