56 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



obtained as follows : The fat is reduced to its car- 

 bohydrate equivalent and added to the digestible 

 carbohydrates. The sum of the two, representing 

 the non-protein, is then divided by the figure or fig- 

 ures representing the quantity of protein. The 

 resulting figure is the second factor, which means that 

 for each pound of protein in the feed or ration there 

 are so many pounds of non-protein or carbohydrates. 



Reducing Fat to Carbohydrates. The non- 

 protein constituents of a feed starch, fiber, fats, 

 etc. are used to develop heat, energy and fat in 

 the animal body. Their efficiency for this purpose 

 has been ascertained by numerous experiments, 

 which show that a pound of fat will develop as 

 much heat energy as 2.3 pounds of starch. Hence, 

 this more concentrated energy must be taken in 

 consideration in combining the carbohydrates and 

 fat as a single unit group if a definite, accurate value 

 is to be obtained with reference to any feeding stuff. 

 In all calculations from now on this higher efficiency 

 of fat will be given its proper weight. 



Determining the Nutritive Ratio. In a previous 

 table the digestible nutrients in 100 pounds of corn 

 were shown to be as follows : Protein 7.8 pounds, 

 carbohydrates 66.8 pounds and fat 4.3 pounds. The 

 fat first is reduced to its carbohydrate equivalent by 

 multiplying the number of pounds representing it by 

 the authoritatively taken factor 2.3; which being 

 done, shows that 4.3 pounds of fat equal 9.9 pounds 

 of the carbohydrates in producing heat and energy. 

 The fat, now having been reduced to a carbohydrate 

 basis, can be added to 66.8, the amount of carbo- 



