FEEDING BULKY FOODS TO SHEEP 253 



useful for feeding to " hoggs " which are receiving roots. 

 The roots are cooling and laxative, and the hay tends 

 to counteract the latter effect. It is very interesting to 

 find that the hoggs regulate their diet instinctively. 

 E.g., in the 1904-5 experiments of the Edinburgh. 

 Agricultural College, where approximately \2\ Ibs. 

 roots per head per day were allowed to each lot, with 

 hay ad lib., it was found that those lots receiving " roots 

 and hay alone," and " roots, hay, and linseed cake," both 

 of which are fairly laxative rations, consumed approxi- 

 mately double the amount of hay of those receiving 

 concentrates high in fibre (Bombay cotton cake or 

 Bombay cotton cake and dried grains), with the same 

 allowance of roots. This is an important practical 

 point to keep in mind when compounding rations for 

 sheep. 



Oat straw may be used to economise the hay, but 

 it is more usual to feed it chaffed and mixed with 

 meals. 



The allowance of hay per head per day varies from 

 \ Ib. to i-J Ibs. A good average would be I lb., and 

 in reserving hay for hoggs on roots, it is generally 

 sufficient to allow I ton for every acre of roots to be 

 fed off. If hay is scarce, it may all be chaffed and 

 fed in troughs. The hay chaff and cake need not be 

 mixed together at all, as the former can be fed in 

 special troughs with backs on, and the latter in the 

 usual kind of trough. 



Concentrated Poods. 



The primary object in feeding concentrates to sheep 

 is to supply sufficient nutrient material to provide for 

 an adequate surplus over what is required for mainten- 



