240 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



To cattle of any kind, buckwheat has not been much 

 fed, but may be so fed when it can be spared for such a 

 use. Being low in protein and rich in starch, it is better 

 adapted relatively for fattening than for milk production. 

 When fed for the latter use, it should be with grain or meal 

 rich in nitrogen, as for instance, bran. For fattening uses, 

 it is preferably fed with some coarse meal, as ground oats, 

 since as meal it is dense in character and inclined to be 

 clammy when moistened. It is seldom that it may be prof- 

 itably fed so as to make more than half the ration. 



For sheep. Although not much used for the purpose, 

 buckwheat may be satisfactorily used in feeding sheep kept 

 for breeding or that are being fattened. For a breeding 

 flock, the aim should be to feed the buckwheat with such 

 grain as oats, the oats preponderating in the ration, but in 

 fattening sheep the buckwheat should rather preponderate, 

 especially as the fattening period is advanced. 



For swine, buckwheat is more used than in feeding cat- 

 tle, sheep and horses. To swine also it ought to be fed as 

 a grain factor rather than as the sole grain food. In ex- 

 periments conducted at Ottawa, Canada, more rapid 

 growth and gains were made from feeding buckwheat as 

 half the ration than when wheat was similarly fed, but to 

 make 100 pounds of gain, called for feeding 6 per cent 

 more buckwheat. The other half of the ration was meal 

 mixed in character. The result shows a relatively high 

 feeding value in buckwheat for swine, but it should be re- 

 membered that it is rather adapted to feeding for fat than 

 for growth. The meal should be well soaked before feed- 

 ing it to swine. 



For horses, it has been fed as a conditioner rather than 

 for sustenance and growth. It has proved fairly satisfac- 

 tory for such a use, as it not only improves the flesh when 

 it makes any considerable proportion of the grain ration, 

 but it also exercises a marked influence on the glossiness of 

 the coat. 



