4O6 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



and well cured. The grain should be rich in protein. 

 Equal parts of bran, oats and corn or barley make a good 

 grain ration, and it should be fed nearly to the limit of the 

 capacity of the dams to consume it. Field roots sliced or 

 corn silage are excellent, especially the former. The 

 roots may be fed with much freedom, but usually not more 

 than 3 or 4 pounds of silage are fed daily. 



The lambs are started on such food as sifted ground 

 oats and oil cake or oil meal. This food and that which 

 follows it, is fed inside a creep, which the dams may not 

 enter. Ere long the lambs will take unground oats, cracked 

 corn and oil meal, and these properly blended aid in pushing 

 them rapidly. Corn may usually be profitably fed to the 

 extent of making half the grain ration, as quick fattening 

 is wanted. The other factors may be fed in equal propor- 

 tions where the prices will admit of such feeding. 



As winter lambs are usually sent to a market that 

 furnishes meat for a special and high class trade, they 

 are frequently ordered as wanted. To fill such orders with 

 dispatch, it is essential that the shipping facilities shall 

 be of a reasonably high order. This means that winter 

 lambs can be most profitably reared in proximity to rail- 

 road stations. 



Growing bacon. To grow bacon of high quality, the 

 following requisites are essential: (i) The animals must 

 be possessed of correct form; (2) they must be managed 

 on correct principles and (3) they must be grown on foods 

 that will secure the end sought. The question of form is 

 discussed elsewhere. (See p. 153). 



Correct management calls for feeding that will secure 

 the requisite growth within a reasonable age, for steady and 

 continuous rather than fitful development, for that amount 

 of exercise that will insure the requisite amount of muscle 

 in the carcass, and for that degree of finish that gives the 

 desired firmness and thickness to the carcass without ex- 

 cess in either of these. 



