284 PRODUCTIVE FEEDING OF FARM ANIMALS 



a common practice to give horses all the hay they can eat, but the 

 results of careful investigations tend to throw doubt on the wisdom 

 of this practice. In experiments at the Montana station 6 in which 

 timothy and clover hay were fed to work horses in different amounts, 

 it was found that the horses receiving two-thirds as much hay as 

 they would have eaten if given all they wanted had more life and 

 perspired less than those that were not limited in their hay. When 

 not more than 10 pounds of clover hay per 1000 pounds live weight 

 was fed, it proved as satisfactory as timothy hay. It was also found 

 that early-cut timothy hay was relished more and eaten in larger 

 quantities than late-cut timothy,, and that horses doing light work 

 can be carried through the winter on 7^2 pounds hay and 5 pounds 

 of grain daily per 1000 pounds. 



Horses should not be fed more hay than they will eat up clean 

 at each feed ; this is usually less than 20 pounds and, on an average, 

 about 15 pounds per day per 1000 pounds live weight. The eating 

 of too large quantities of coarse feed taxes the digestive apparatus 

 of the horse unduly and is responsible for the disturbance of the 

 respiration of the animals known as heaves, especially when over- 

 ripe and dusty hay is fed. The Utah station reports 7 that there 

 was not a single case of digestive trouble among its horses when 

 the amount of alfalfa hay was limited, and states that " many valu- 

 able horses and thousands of dollars could be saved annually if the 

 amount of coarse fodder fed to horses could be reduced one-half." 8 



Work horses, which are the animals primarily considered in this 

 discussion, should, in general, receive about two pounds dry feed 

 for each 100 pounds of live weight; of this amount, one-half should 

 be concentrates and one-half hay or its equivalent of succulent feeds 

 when a medium amount of work is done ; as the work increases, the 

 concentrates are increased and the amount of hay decreased. 



Hay for Horses. Among the rough feeds, timothy hay is con- 

 sidered especially valuable as a feed for horses, but other kinds of 

 dry forage, like clover, alfalfa, prairie hay, cowpea hay, grain hay 

 (wheat, barley, or oats), corn fodder, millet, and others, are all 

 valuable horse feed when well cured and free from dust, and are 

 used in different parts of the country. 



Alfalfa Hay. There is a prejudice against legume hay, and 

 perhaps especially against alfalfa, among many horsemen, as it is 

 believed to make the horse soft and unfit for heavy work. A number 



6 Bulletin 95. 



7 Bulletin 77. 



8 See also Illinois Bulletin 150. 



