MANGEE-FEEDiNO.] MODEEN VETEEINAEY PEACTICE. [manqer-feediko 



Ho 



to occur ; and even if a portion of it escape the 

 grinders, it will be partly prepared for dii};es- 

 tion by the act of bruising. Tlie prejudice 

 against bruising the oats is, in so far as regards 

 the slow draught horse, entirely unfounded. 

 The quantity of straw in the chad" will always 

 be sufficient to counteract any supposed pur- 

 gative quality in the bruised oats. Animals of 

 quicker draught, unless they are naturally dis- 

 posed to scour, will thrive better with bruised 

 than with whole oats ; inasmuch as a greater 

 quantity of nutriment will be extracted from 

 the food, and it will be easy to proportion the 

 quan' ity of straw or beans necessaiy to coun- 

 teract any mischievous consequences to the 

 bowels of the horse. The principal alteration 

 that should be made in the diet of the post or 

 stage-coach horse, should be to increase the 

 quantity of hay, and diminish that of the straw. 

 Two trusses of hay may be cut with one of 

 straw. It is remarked by Professor Stewai-t, 

 that " many horses swallow their corn in great 

 haste ; and when much is eaten, that habit is 

 exceedingly dangerous. The stomach is filled 

 — it is overloaded before it has time to make 

 preparation for acting on its contents — the 

 food ferments, and painful or dangerous colic 

 ensues. By adding chafl" to his corn, the horse 

 must take more time to eat it, and time is 

 given for the commencement of digestion be- 

 fore fermentation can occur. In this way 

 chaff is very useful, especially after long fasts." 

 This system, however, is not well adapted to 

 either the hunter or the race-horse; because 

 their food must be in smaller bulk, in order 

 that the action of their lungs may not be im- 

 peded by the distention of the stomach ; still 

 many hunters have gone well over the field, 

 which have been manger-fed, the proportion of 

 corn, however, being materially increased. 



Eor the agricultural and cart-horse, eight 

 pounds of oats and two of beans should be 

 added to every twenty pounds of chafi". Thirty- 

 four, or thirty-six pounds of the mixture, will 

 be sufficient for any moderate-sized horse, 

 even with hard work. The dray and large 

 •waggon-horse may require forty pounds. Hay 

 in the rack at night is, in this case, to be 

 omitted altogether. The rack, however, may 

 remain, as it is useful for the sick horse, or to 

 contain tares, or other green meat, w^hich may 

 occasionally be given. 



rses take great delight in this provender- 

 but damaged straw should not bo ' 



UBcd for 

 g cliali; as the corn it contains may tempt 

 a horse to eat, even if it bo not good. Moro 

 injury is done by eating damaged hay or 

 musty oats, than is generally imagined. There- 

 fore the advantage of this system of manger- 

 feeding, will, as a matter of course, be entirelv 

 counteracted, if it be made the vehicle fo*r 

 the consumption of unwholesome materials. 

 One of the most important advantages to be 

 derived from manger- feeding is, that the ani- 

 mal, by the union of eating nutritious matter 

 with the more bulky kind (hay-chafl"), his 

 stomach is filled the sooner, and has, con- 

 sequently, more time for rest — a very con- 

 siderable consequence to a horse on the road. 



Where the manger system of feeding is not 

 adopted, or where the hay is still given at 

 night, and chaff and corn in the day, there is 

 no error into which the farmer is so apt to 

 fall as that of giving an undue quantity of 

 hay, and that generally of the worst kind. If 

 the manger system is good, there can be no 

 necessity for hay ; or if there is, only for a 

 small quantity of it; but if the rack is over- 

 loaded, the greedy horse will be eating ai! 

 night, instead of taking his rest; and when 

 the time for the morning feed arrives, hh 

 stomach will already be filled. He will theri, 

 from the want of sleep, be less capable of 

 work, and from the long-continued distention 

 of the stomach rendering it impossible for his 

 food to have been properly digested. 



It is a good practice to sprinkle the hay 



with water in which salt has been dissolved, 



as it is more palatable to the animal. Indeed, 



the horse will leave the best unsalted hay 



for that of an inferior quality which has been 



moistened with brine ; and there can be no 



doubt that the salt very materially assists the 



process of digestion. The preferable way to 



use the salt is to sprinkle it over the diflerent 



layers as the rick is formea. From its attrac« 



tion for water, it would combine with that 



excess of moisture, which, in wet seasons, is 



I the cause of too rapid and violent fermentation, 



and of the hay becoming mow-burnt, or the 



I rick sometimes catching fire, and it would 



' become more incorporated with the hay. The 



j only objection to its being thus used is, that 



1 the colour of the hay is not so briixht; but 



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