DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



the chemistry and effect of foods. Brains 

 and skill in feeding bring results and 

 save money. 



Stock raising a science — The man 

 ■who understands the principles of feed- 

 ing and the nutritive value of feeding 

 stuffs will be able to compound rations 

 for mere maintenance, for growth, for 

 fattening or for other special purposes. 

 Stock farming is not a trade but a 

 science combined with practical skill. 

 The brain work is far more important 

 than the manual labor. 



Farm soils are not inexhaustible. Re- 

 moving crops year after year is like draw- 

 ing checks against your bank account. 

 When the account is exhausted in either 

 case you can draw no more. Now, the 

 ideal way of cropping the soil annually 

 is to carry farm animals up to the limit 

 of the farm's capacity and raise legumes, 

 which in turn are effective in stock feed- 

 ing as well as in maintaining the fertil- 

 ity of the soil. When the farmer hauls 

 his hay and grain to market he is haul- 

 ing away his farm ; but when the annual 

 surplus of farm animals is sold the farm 

 and its fertility remain. 



A system of bookkeeping { s strictly 

 necessary in stock raising. Otherwise 

 the farmer must work in the dark, for he 

 has no other means of knowing whether 

 certain methods are paying or losing 

 propositions. There should be a record 

 of the performance of every animal. 

 Then all barren ewes can be fattened 

 and sold for mutton and unproductive 

 cows can be disposed of. The stock 

 raiser is thus in a position to detect and 

 stop leaks in his profits. 



A very important requisite f the 

 successful stockman remains to be men- 

 tioned. There must be a liking of the 

 business and a love of animals. The 

 farmer need not be fond of all kinds of 

 live stock. In fact strong prejudices may 

 exist against sheep, hogs or some other 

 animal simultaneously with a special 

 fondness for horses or cattle. Cattle- 

 men may hate the sight of sheep and 

 sheepmen of cattle. The successful 

 stockman, however, is fond of his ani- 

 mals. He has names for all of them. He 

 knows all their peculiar habits — when 

 they sleep, when they drink, what and 

 how much they eat. He therefore recog- 

 nizes instantly when one of his animals 

 is "off feed" or ailing in any way and 

 promptly attends to its wants. In other 

 words he knows his stock as individual 

 animals, not as a herd. The peculiar 



requirements of each animal are thus 

 considered in farm practice. Farm ani- 

 mals differ as much in temperament and 

 habits as man. In the same herd very 

 different dispositions are to be observed. 

 When these differences are taken into 

 account in the rations and daily treat- 

 ment of different animals the best re- 

 sults are obtained. 



Farm animals must continue to fur- 

 nish us with food, clothing and many 

 other necessities, and our indebtedness 

 to them will increase rather than dimin- 

 ish. There is accordingly a glorious op- 

 portunity for all stock raisers to improve 

 the quality of their animals and an 

 equally fine opportunity for the great ex- 

 tension of the business to meet the ever 

 increasing demand for animal products. 

 CLASSIFICATION OF FARM STOCK 



More or less serious attempts have been 

 made to tame or domesticate for some 

 use almost all known animals including 

 even snakes, crocodiles, turtles and in- 

 sects. Only a comparatively few species, 

 however, have proved suitable to man's 

 uses. Naturally almost all of our impor- 

 tant domesticated animals are herbivo- 

 rous, and the most useful mammals be- 

 long to the order of ungulates or hoofed 

 -animals. 



This order of animals includes the 

 horse, ass, zebra, camel, llama, alpaca, 

 goat, sheep, buffalo, bison, zebu, cattle, 

 hog, etc. Ungulates are commonly di- 

 vided into two groups, the odd-toed and 

 the even-toed. The group of odd-toed 

 ungulates includes, the horse, ass, quagga, 

 zebra, tapir, and rhinoceros. Other 

 ungulates, except hyrax and the elephant, 

 are even-toed. The even -toed or artio- 

 dactyl ungulates include the hippopot- 

 amus, swine and ruminants which group 

 in turn embraces musk ox, cattle, sheep, 

 goats and antelopes with hollow horns 

 which are not annually shed, and the 

 deer family with solid horns which are 

 shed annually and regrown. 



Eabbits and the Belgian hare belong 

 to the family Leporidae of the order of 

 rodents which includes also rats, mice, 

 squirrels, prairie dogs, etc. 



The majority of our domestic fowls 

 belong to the order Gallinacese, which in- 

 cludes the domestic hen, turkeys, guinea 

 fowl and pea fowl in addition to the 

 various species of grouse, pheasants, and 

 quail, some of which are raised in a 

 state of semi-domestication. 



Ducks, geese and swans are the repre- 

 sentatives of three families of the order 

 Lamellirostres. 



