Hygiene of Fattening, 475 



HYGIENIC KTJLES FOR THE FATTENING OF ANIMALS. 



The farmer and stock raiser will economize his food 

 supply, and have his stock ready for market sooner, by pay- 

 ing attention to the physiology of the fattening process and 

 the chemistry of food. It is not a j)art of our present task 

 to enter into a discussion of these questions, but there are 

 certain points relating to the preservation of the health of 

 animals at such times which we shall touch upon, and which 

 it is of essential importance for stock owners to consider. 



Regularity in the hours of giving food is one of the secrets of 

 success in economically fattening animals. The digestive 

 organs become accustomed to doing their work at recurrent 

 intervals, and they enjoy a period of repose between these 

 periods, which fits them the better to perform their function 

 when called upon. The English rule in fattening oxen is to 

 feed four times a day, usually at 7, 10, 2 and 6 o'clock. 



Regularity in the quantity of food is another secret. 

 About the same amount of labor should be demanded of the 

 stomach at each daily period of feeding. To fatten an ox, 

 the English estimate is, that he requires, at first, five, and 

 later four per cent, of his weight of cured hay or mixed food 

 per day. This amount should be divided equally in four 

 meals. 



Abundance of fresh air and moderate exercise should not 

 be neglected. We are aware that many of the farmers of 

 the Eastern States, celebrated for their stall-fed cattle, chain 

 them in dark stalls for months at a time, without paying any 

 attention to the precepts we speak of. It is also true that, 

 thus shut up, the animals lay on fat faster than they would 

 if allowed ihQ range of the barn yard. But it is also a fact 

 that experience has over and over proven that such animals 

 are peculiarly liable to fatal contagious disorders, and the 

 extra loss so entailed will more than counterbalance, in the 

 long run, the food economized by this j^lan. 



