60 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



the stall. They showed, also, that a dairy cow giv- 

 ing little or no milk does not require nearly as large 

 a quantity of food as one in full flow of milk. Of 

 course, every farmer knows this ; but these investi- 

 gators prepared a guide giving the quantity of 

 digestible protein, carbohydrates and fat so as to 

 meet the maintenance needs of the dry cow. 



The dry cow does need daily a certain amount of 

 each of the food nutrients. She must keep her body 

 warm, maintain the regular blood supply, repair the 

 broken-down tissues and meet all the requirements 

 of life and health. These things are obtained from 

 the food. If more food is provided than necessary 

 to meet these daily demands, the animal will increase 

 in weight. If too little food is given, then the re- 

 verse will happen, the animal will lose in weight, 

 and, as popularly expressed, will become thin in flesh, 

 or poor. Working from this point, these nutrition 

 investigators carefully prepared standards for cows 

 giving various quantities of milk, for steers at dif- 

 ferent stages of fattening, for horses doing little or 

 much work, and for hogs and sheep at their various 

 periods of growth and fattening. 



Standards for Farm Animals. These feeding 

 standards as guides indicate for feeders what 

 amount of each nutrient is required in the body, not 

 only for maintenance and support, but also for milk 

 or beef, wool or mutton, and labor. A different 

 standard is provided for different animals and con- 

 sistent with the purposes for which the animals are 

 fed. A cow giving little milk, according to the 

 standard, is to be given smaller quantities of food 



