THE FEED REQUIREMENTS OF FARM ANIMALS 155 



or by mixing it with ground alfalfa hay. From these and 

 other experiments the Iowa Station concludes that the pig's 

 own appetite, with free choice of feeds before him at all 

 times, seems to be the best feeding standard for swine. 



For Cattle. — Self-feeders are perhaps more generally 

 used for fattening cattle than for any other class of live stock. 

 In a census taken by Mumford and Hall at the lUinois 

 Experiment Station ^ among the larger cattle feeders of 

 Illinois, it was found that 28 per cent of them were using 

 the self-feeder. If one includes the smaller feeders perhaps 

 it would be found that a smaller per cent than this are using 

 the self-feeder. 



The objections to the use of the self-feeder for cattle are 

 as follows : 



1. It cannot be safely used to start cattle on feed. Thus 

 they should be hand-fed until they are on full-feed, or the 

 hay may be ground or cut finely and mixed with the con- 

 centrates until they are on full-feed. Unless considerable 

 care is taken in getting them on full-feed there ^vill be danger 

 of founder. 



2. Even under the most favorable conditions cattle re- 

 quire shghtly more feed to produce a pound of grain when 

 self-fed. 



3. It is difficult to furnish the nitrogenous concentrate in 

 the self-feeder and it often is fed by hand. 



4. The feeder is liable to become careless and not pay 

 enough attention to the cattle. An old German adage states, 

 *' The eye of the master fattens his cattle." 



5. Unless the feeder is properly constructed there will be 

 a loss of feed by slobbering or mussing over it. 



1 Cir. 98. 



