66 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



Mixed Foods. Best results are always secured 

 when these two methods are merged : when the 

 country cow is given concentrates in addition to the 

 farm-raised roughages, and the village cow gets hay 

 and stover in addition to the feed-store mill feeds. 

 It is not enough to secure grain as concentrates for 

 the country cow either; the selection must be made 

 on the basis of the composition ; and, since the coun- 

 try cow's ration is already out of proportion because 

 of the excess of carbohydrates and fat, it would not 

 help the matter any by a purchase of a grain food 

 also low in protein. 



In practice many feeders buy corn meal as a dairy 

 concentrate; instead of improving the ration this 

 makes things worse, because corn meal added to 

 the grass hay, corn stover, straw ration only in- 

 creases the cost without supplying any appreciable 

 increase of protein. The way out of this difficulty 

 is to study the available concentrates and select one 

 or more that contains protein, and not starch and 

 fat, in greatest abundance. 



How a Ration is Made. Rations are usually com- 

 puted on the basis of 1,000 pounds live weight for 

 the animals. If the animals weigh more, a propor- 

 tionate increase of food is allotted; if less, a pro- 

 portionate decrease. 



The first step in computing a ration is to consider 

 the feeding standard for the class of animals to be 

 fed. If it is assumed that a ration is wanted for a 

 dairy cow giving 22 pounds of milk daily, the table 

 of standards is to be consulted. For dairy cows 

 giving 22 pounds of milk the standard calls for 29 



