Feeding Farm Animals 289 



Fat, when taken into the body as feed, acts the same as 

 carbohydrates ; that is, it produces heat and energy and makes 

 fat. A given quantity of fat will produce about two and a 

 quarter times as much heat and energy as the same quantity 

 of carbohydrates. 



157. Balanced rations. The term ration is used to in- 

 dicate the quantity of feed supplied to an animal in a given 

 time. A balanced ration is one that supplies all the con- 

 stituents in the best proportion to serve the needs of the animal 

 for the purpose for which it is kept. For example, a balanced 

 ration for a dairy cow contains the food compounds necessary 

 to maintain life and to make it possible to produce milk up to 

 the limit. Experiments and practical tests have shown that 

 animals will do more work and more profitably when fed a 

 balanced ration than when fed an unbalanced one. 



The terms maintenance ration and productive ration are 

 used in connection with animal feeding. A maintenance ration 

 is one that supplies the needs of an animal at rest with no 

 loss or gain of weight. A productive ration is one that supplies 

 the needs of the animal in excess of maintenance and makes 

 possible a production of milk, a gain in weight, or power to 

 pull a load, and the like. The terms nutritive ratio, wide 

 ratio, and narrow ratio, also need defining. The nutritive 

 ratio is that of the digestible protein in a feed or ration to the 

 digestible carbohydrates and fat. (See paragraph 163.) To 

 compute the nutritive ratio of a feed or ration, the amount of 

 the digestible fat is multiplied by 2| and added to the amount 

 of the digestible carbohydrates and the sum divided by the 

 amount of the digestible protein. The ratio is expressed as 1 

 to the quotient. For example, suppose a ration furnished 2.6 

 pounds of digestible protein, 13 pounds of digestible carbo- 

 hydrates, and .6 pound of fat ; the nutritive ratio is calculated 

 as follows : 



(.6 X 2J + 13) -r- 2.6 = 5.5 + 



The nutritive ratio is, therefore, 1 : 5.5. 



