CHAPTER VIII 



ECONOMY IN FEEDING LIVE STOCK 



I. Selecting Economical Rations 



To secure the largest returns, the stockman must, first of all, under- 

 stand the fundamental principles governing the feeding of the various 

 classes of live stock, discussed in the preceding chapters. He must 

 next study the possibilities of his farm for crops, paying attention to 

 both their probable yield and their value for feeding to stock or for 

 sale. It is also necessary to consider the feeding value and compare 

 the prices of the many feeds v^hich can be secured on the market. 

 With this knowledge he is in a position to plan his rotations so that 

 from the crops raised, supplemented by purchased feeds when it is 

 economical, well-balanced rations may be provided at the least expense. 

 As a rule it is wise to raise all roughage on the farm. Owing to the 

 demand for the cereal grains for human consumption, it is often eco- 

 nomical to sell more or less of the farm-grown grains and replace them 

 with purchased concentrates which may economically supplement the 

 feeds raised on the farm. 



Market prices not guides to value. — The market price of a feed is 

 often no index of its value to the individual stockman, as a few 

 examples will illustrate : In the northeastern states timothy hay is 

 generally higher in price than clover hay, tho much inferior for all 

 animals except the horse. In the South cottonseed hulls usually cost 

 more than the sum for which an equivalent amount of corn silage, a 

 much more palatable feed, can be produced on the farm. Owing to 

 their popularity, some feeds, such as linseed meal and wheat bran, are 

 often high in price compared with other concentrates which are entirely 

 satisfactory substitutes. At the other extreme, low grade concentrates, 

 such as trashy corn and oat feed, cottonseed feed, and inferior mixed 

 feeds, often sell for as much or but slightly less than high grade con- 

 centrates. 



How to select feeds for economical rations. — Many attempts have 

 been made to assign a definite money value to 1 lb. of digestible crude 

 protein, digestible carbohydrates, and digestible fat, and then compute 

 the value of different feeds on the basis of the amount of these nutrients 

 they contain, similar to the manner of arriving at the money value of 



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