CHAPTER III 



FARM ANIMALS 



There are different classes of animals on the farm such as 

 ruminants, carnivora, omnivora, etc. Ruminants are animals 

 like cattle and sheep, which eat large quantities of coarse 

 feeds and have a place to store away this coarse and bulky 

 material. After they have finished eating, as a rule, they lie 

 down, bring this food back to the mouth, and chew it thor- 

 oughly. After ruminating or chewing this material a second 

 time, it goes back to the last compartment of the stomach to 

 be digested. The large part of the stomach where the food 

 is stored is called the paunch. In addition to the two parts of 

 the stomach mentioned, ruminants have two other compart- 

 ments, four in all, which makes it a very good kind of animal 

 because it can eat coarse feeds such as corn fodder, hay, straw, 

 grass, etc. 



Carnivora are animals like the dog and cat that eat meat 

 largely. Omnivora or omnivorous animals arc those like the 

 hog which eat almost anything. The omnivora eat foods 

 that might otherwise go to waste. 



Nature of the Farm Animal. — From the structural stand- 

 point the animal body is made up of bones, lean meat, fat 

 meat, glands, hide, hair, horns, hoofs, etc. The bones arc 

 hard substances to give the body form, furnish protection 

 to some of the organs, and to allow the animal to walk. The 

 lean meat is made up of muscles attached to the bones, which 

 by means of their power to contract under control enable 

 the animal to move about. Fat meat is simply a store of 

 material for future use as food in case the regular food supply 

 is shut off. The hide, hair and horns give protection and the 

 hoofs give it a wearing surface upon which to walk. 



From the functional standpoint the body is composed of its 



51 



