.v^" 







Section II 



Principles of Nutrition and Feeding 



A. General Matter 



The character of feeding influences the development, serviceableness 

 and resisting power of the animal body. Insufficient nutriment prevents 

 the proper development of the organs of the body. Muscles and glands 

 (udder) lose functioning power and the body as a whole becomes stunted. 

 A poorly nourished body is more susceptible to disease, suffers more 

 from the effects of fevers and requires a longer time to recuperate. Dur- 

 ing starvation the body is nourished by its own tissues, particularly the 

 fat (95 per cent may be consumed). Muscles and glands are also drawn 

 upon (40 to 50 per cent) ; the bones suffer less (12 per cent), and the 

 nervous system least (2 to 3 per cent). Reduction to one-half of the 

 body-weight of an animal in good condition results in death. Overfeed- 

 ing should also be avoided. Excessive amounts of feed cannot be di- 

 gested; they decompose, ferment, and may give rise to disturbance of 

 appetite, gastrointestinal catarrh, overloading, constipation, colic, etc. 



Feed (nutriment) is composed of the various feeding stuffs, and the 

 latter, on their part, are composed of nutrients. 



The various nutrients, with the exception of water and common salt, 

 are practically never ingested separately, that is, as such, but in combina- 

 tion with other nutrients and indigestible matter, which latter serves 

 chiefly to give volume or bulk. Nearly all feeding stuffs consist of mix- 

 tures of this kind. Only a few feeding stuffs, however, contain the 

 nutrient elements required for the proper nourishment of the animal 

 body, in mixtures of proper proportion (so-called complete feeding stuffs, 

 like milk for sucklings and grass for herbivora). As a rule, a mixture 

 of several feeding stuffs is required, so that an excess of a certain nutri- 

 ent in one will balance a deficiency in the other, and vice versa. Feed- 

 ing stuffs which, though not necessarily constituting complete rations in 

 themselves, constitute the greater part of the ration, are referred to as 

 basal feeding stuffs, like hay for herbivora and potatoes for swine. Feed- 

 ing stuffs which, owing to their chemical composition or other character- 

 istics, are fed in smaller quantities, like potatoes for horses, chaff and 

 pods for swine, are referred to as supplemental feeding stuffs. Basal 

 and suplemetital feeding stuffs should not be confused with correctives 

 or by-feeds, which are characterized by their unbalanced composition 

 and are therefore used for correcting deficiencies of certain nutrients. 

 Correctives frequently have dietetic and stimulating effects on digestion 

 (young thistles in the spring of the year for horses) or specific action on 



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