244 FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT 



for winter feeding lias a great advantage over the man who 

 does not Skim-milk, buttermilk, and alfalfa hay may also be 

 made to perform a useful part in giving variety and aiding the 

 digestive organs to perform their functions properly. 



Quantity of Feed. The test of the skill of the feeder is 

 his ability to keep just slightly within the appetite of the 

 animals under his charge. He must watch the animals closely 

 and see that they clean up with apparent relish all that he 

 gives them. Feed left in the trough is a sign that something 

 is wrong with the methods employed, and to have to cut back in 

 the quantity of feed means a loss of time. The quantity should 

 be so gauged that there is a gradual increase as fattening 

 advances, and radical changes, either in quantity or kind, 

 should be avoided. To be 'successful, the feeder must learn 



V 



the lesson that all changes should be made gradually, and that 

 undue haste in fattening may mean serious delay in the process, 

 together with a waste of feed. 



Regularity and Comfort. Kegularity in time of feeding 

 is necessary to regularity in the appetite of the animal. The 

 animal which is fed at the same hours every day will take more 

 feed with less danger of surfeiting than the one fed at any time 

 to suit the convenience of the feeder. 



Dry, comfortable quarters, and sanitary conditions generally 

 in pen or feed lot, are important factors in securing satisfactory 

 gains, and in avoiding disastrous loss through disea'se. 



Cost Increases with Age. Prof . Henry, in " Feeds and 

 Feeding/' gives a very instructive table, compiled from results 

 from numerous experiment 'stations, showing the feed con- 

 sumed per 100 pounds gain by hogs of different weights. Fol- 

 lowing is an abbreviation of the table as given in Prof. Henry's 

 book: 



