905 



PART III 



.OVER HAY VS. ALFALFA HAY AS ROUGHAGE FOR 

 FATTENING LAMBS 



The desire for information concerning the feeding value of 

 fa hay induced this station to begin a series of trials to de- 

 ine this question. A trial conducted in the winter of 1913-14 

 ed higher feeding value for clover hay than for alfalfa hay. 



The trial was repeated with the results reported in the following 



table. 



TABLH III. Clover Hay vs. Alfalfa Hay as Roughage for Fattening 

 Lambs, November 5, 1914 to February 3, 1915 



Lot 3 



Lot 4 



The clover hay was of fair quality while the alfalfa was ex- 

 cellent quality of fine second cutting, baled dry from the mow. 

 Both lots of lambs were started on feed as noted for Lot 3 on page 

 901. During the entire experiment each lot of lambs was fed 

 exactly the same quantity of feed each day. The grain and hay 

 consumed were exactly the same in both lots. The appetites of the 

 lambs were remarkably uniform. It will be noted in Table III 

 that the average feed for the entire period showed the feed con- 

 sumption to be i. 08 pounds of grain daily per head and 1.81 pounds 

 of hay daily per head. At the end of ten days on feed the lambs 

 were receiving 24 pounds of grain and 50 pounds of hay daily per 

 lot. At the end of the feeding period they were receiving 32 pounds 

 of grain and 42 pounds of hay daily per lot. 



The lambs in Lot 3 fed shelled corn and clover hay gained 27.4 

 pounds per lamb in ninety days as compared with 25.7 pounds per 

 lamb in Lot 4 fed shelled corn and alfalfa hay. The feed required to 

 make a pound of gain was slightly less in Lot 3 than in Lot 4. The 

 cost of each hundred pounds of gain was $8.62 in Lot 3 fed clover 

 hay as compared with $9.80 per hundred pounds in Lot 4 fed alfalfa 

 hay. The lambs receiving clover hay were valued at $8.60 per 

 hundred pounds and returned a profit of 64 cents per lamb. The 

 lambs fed shelled corn and alfalfa hay were valued at $8.50 per 

 hundred pounds and returned a profit of 26 cents per lamb or a 



