168 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



and mineral matter. However, wheat alone is not a satis- 

 factory ration for growing animals. At the Wisconsin 

 Experiment Station,^ wheat and mineral matter were not 

 sufficient to produce normal growth in pigs. However, the 

 addition of a small amount of milk produced satisfactory 

 growth. Thus, wheat should be fed to immature animals 

 with other feeds, particularly those high in protein. 



For calves and young cattle, ground wheat is an excellent 

 feed. The addition of oats up to 50 per cent of the concen- 

 trates usually improves the ration. For colts, wheat should 

 be ground and mixed with bran or oats. It is not satisfactory 

 when fed alone. For young pigs, wheat is superior to corn. 

 It should be ground and fed in a slop with water or, prefer- 

 ably, with skim milk or buttermilk. Wheat is also excel- 

 lent for lambs. It need not be ground for them, however. 



For Fattening Stock. — In general, wheat is somewhat less 

 valuable for fattening than corn. However, it produces a 

 carcass superior to that of corn-fed animals. 



For fattening cattle, ground wheat is not quite equal, 

 pound for pound, to ground corn. A mixture of the two 

 grains is better than either when fed alone. Wheat-fed 

 steers have less fat and more bright-colored lean meat than 

 corn-fed steers. For fattening hogs, corn and wheat are 

 about equal, but the quality of the meat of the wheat-fed 

 hogs is superior. A mixture of ground wheat and corn is 

 better than either fed alone. Wheat-meal should be fed 

 in a slop with either water or milk. It was found by Bliss 

 and Lee at the Nebraska Experiment Station ^ that grinding 

 increased the value for hogs about one-third. Soaking 

 either ground or unground wheat made no appreciable differ- 



1 Jour. Biol. Chem. XIX, 1914, p. 373. « Bui. 144. 



