176 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



II. Straw and Chaff 



As plants mature, the nutrients which have been built up in the 

 green portions are in large part transferred and stored in the ripening 

 seed, thus largely exhausting the stems and leaves of easily digested 

 nutrients and leaving in them the resistant woody fiber, or cellulose. 

 All straws are, therefore, worth much less than the same plants cut for 

 hay before maturity. The feeding value of each class of straw may 

 differ widely, depending on the stage at which the crop was cut, the 

 care with which it was cured, and the amount of the more nutritious 

 grasses and weeds present. 



Straw and chaff of the cereals. — Being low in protein, nitrogen- 

 free extract, and fat, and high in fiber, straw furnishes less digestible 

 nutrients and much less net energy than good hay. Accordingly, it 

 should not form any large part of the roughage for animals at hard 

 work, fattening rapidly, or giving a large flow of milk. On the other 

 hand, a considerable portion of the roughage for idle horses and ani- 

 mals being carried over winter without gaining materially in weight 

 may consist of straw. When much straw is fed, the additional protein 

 needed should be supplied in other feeds. Growing steers, wintered 

 on good straw as the only roughage, with 1 or 2 lbs. of cottonseed meal 

 per head daily, will more than maintain their weight. A small amount 

 of straw satisfies the desire for dry roughage of steers fattening on 

 com silage, corn, and cottonseed meal just as well as will clover hay. 



In Canada and Europe pulped roots and meal are often mixed with 

 cut or chaffed oat straw, and the moist mass allowed to soften. It is 

 then readil}^ consumed by cattle and sheep. In many districts of 

 Europe horses are fed cut straw mixed with their concentrate allow- 

 ance, small amounts being thus utilized even for horses at hard work. 



Oat straw with its soft, pliable stems is the most nutritious, followed 

 by barley straw. "Wheat straw, being coarse and stiff, is not so readily 

 eaten, and rye straw, harsh and woody, had better be used for bedding. 

 The chaff of wheat and oats contains more crude protein than does the 

 straw, and is a useful roughage when not loaded with dust, rust, or 

 mold. 



Straw from legumes and other plants. — Straw from the legumes 

 contains more crude protein and less fiber than that from the cereals, 

 and is more digestible. Field pea straw, with its fine stems and often 

 carrying some seed, has a higher value than the coarser straw from 

 field beans or soybeans, tho even these are better than oat straw if 

 well cured. Clover straw may be fed to cattle or sheep, but is too 

 dusty for horses. 



While not especially desirable, flax straw may be fed in the absence 



