310 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



was shelled and soaked in water 12 hours before feeding. 

 King,^ at the Indiana Experiment Station, concluded that 

 with young hogs there is practically no difference in the re- 

 sults obtained from ear corn and ground corn. However, 

 after the hogs reach a w^eight of about 150 pounds, ground 

 corn is sHghtly more efficient. Grinding usually increases 

 the efficiency of wheat, barley, rye, emmer, and oats for 

 beef cattle, for dairy cattle, for hogs, and, with the excep- 

 tion of oats, for horses. Grain never should be ground for 

 sheep except in the case of very young lambs. It is a com- 

 mon saying among sheepmen that a sheep that cannot 

 grind its own grain is not worth keeping. 



Cooking does not increase the efficiency of the ration 

 except in the case of potatoes and beans when fed to swine. 

 On the contrary, cooking usually decreases the efficiency of 

 the ration. The same is true of steaming the ration. 



Soaking corn may be advantageous, especially when it 

 becomes dried out, hard, and flinty. All grain that is diflfi- 

 cult of mastication should be either soaked or ground. 



Chaffed (or finely cut) hay or straw may be more efficient 

 than whole hay or straw under certain conditions, as for 

 horses at very hard work, or for heavy-producing milch cows ; 

 l)ut, in general, the practice is not recommended. Also there 

 is no advantage in shredding corn stover, except that it is 

 stored and handled more easily and makes better bedding. 



The species of animal has a marked influence upon the 

 efficiency of the ration. Thus cattle ordinarily require 

 about 8 pounds of concentrates and 5 pounds of roughage 

 to produce one pound of gain, sheep require about 5 pounds of 

 concentrates and 5 pounds of roughage to produce one 



1 Proceedings of the American Society of Animal Production for 1913. 



