HORSE PRODUCTION 123 



Silage is not a success except in the hands of a careful feeder with an eye 

 to the thrift of the animal. 



Under no circumstances should spoiled silage, either moldy or rotten, be fed 

 to horses or mules. 



Suitable Grain Mixtures for Horses. Oats are the most common and the 

 safest of all feeds for the horse. They are improved upon for horses doing heavy 

 work by the addition of other feeds. Nine parts of oats and one part of bran 

 by weight with two to four ears of corn thrown in with the mixture at each 

 feeding time, form a suitable feed for horses doing heavy work. Thin horses may 

 be given six ears of corn in addition to the oats and bran. 



Corn is commonly fed in the middle and southern states and, when fed 

 with judgment and balanced by feeding it in combination with clover or alfalfa 

 hay or other concentrates relatively high in protein, it may be regarded an excel- 

 lent feed. Fed on the cob or shelled are usual methods of feeding it. Experi- 

 ments as well as the practice of the Paris Omnibus Company, indicate that corn 

 and cob meal finely ground is equal to corn alone. The ground cob renders the 

 corn meal less likely to form a heavy mass in the stomach of the horse and thus 

 produce colic. 



Corn fed with timothy or prairie hay is best fed in combination with bran 

 and oil meal. A mixture of six parts of shelled corn, three parts of wheat bran 

 and one part of oil meal, proved equal to a ration of oats in trials conducted at 

 the Kansas Experiment Station. 



Barley is used on the Pacific Coast for horses. Feeding trials indicate that 

 a slightly greater quantity of barley is required than oats to produce the same 

 results. 



Careful judgment on the part of feeders will make it possible to feed a great 

 variety of grains and grain by-products. Care should be exercised in getting 

 combinations that are bulky like oats or the other combinations suggested and 

 that will balance the ration with reference to starchy feeds like corn or barley 

 and nitrogenous feeds like beans, bran and oil meals. 



Amount of Grain to Feed. Farm work horses at hard labor should re- 

 ceive from one and one-fifth to one and one-third pounds of grain per 100 Ibs. of 

 live weight per day. This amount will ordinarily maintain their weight. Ad- 

 ditional amounts will have to be fed at the discretion of the feeder to increase 

 the body weight if it is desirable to do so. The grain should be fed in three equal 

 feeds morning, noon and night. 



Precautions in Feeding Grain. Horses should be gradually accustomed 

 to grain and the amount governed according to the work and condition of the 

 horse. The grain feed should be reduced one-half on Saturday nights and on idle 

 days, until four days have elapsed, or until the horses have again been put to 

 work, when an increased amount may again be fed. "Monday Morning Diseases," 

 (Lymphangitis) and Azoturia are prevented by carefully adhering to this rule. 



Avoid letting horses eat their grain too rapidly by mingling chaffed hay with 

 it or compelling them to nose it out from between round, smooth rocks that have 

 been placed in the feed boxes. 



