60 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



there is abundant heat in the body to 

 warm up the water drunk if taken in 

 small amounts and the animal can do it 

 more cheaply than it can be warmed in 

 a boiler with coal or wood. When given 

 large draughts of water at one time or 

 fed large quantities of cold fodder like 

 frozen silage or beet pulp, there is re- 

 quired a larger amount of heat to raise 

 the temperature of the material to the 

 temperature of the body. In such cases 

 the energy may be drawn from that used 

 for productive purposes in which case it 

 is a direct expense in food materials be- 

 sides being dangerous to health. Fresh 

 water at a temperature of 60 to 70° F. 

 is likely to prove most satisfactory for 

 all stock. 



Pure water — The drinking water of 

 animals should be as pure as that used 

 by man. It should be colorless and odor- 

 less with a fresh agreeable flavor, 

 Brooks, wells or ponds which receive the 

 drainage water of the barnyard or other 

 surface drainage should not be used as 

 the source of the drinking water of farm 

 stock. The presence in water of any 

 such material as ammonia, table salt, 

 nitric acid, etc, indicates contamination 

 and impure water. 



Farm animals prefer soft running or 

 standing water to hard water, acccord- 

 ing to Kellner. They can accustom 

 themselves however, to unusually hard 

 water without serious digestive disturb- 

 ances. Horses and sheep are more easily 

 injured by impure water than other 

 animals. Cattle and swine are less 

 demanding in this respect. Since, how- 

 ever, impure water is a carrier of dis- 

 ease, every effort should be made to place 

 before all farm animals a permanent 

 supply of soft, pure, fresh, agreeable 

 water at all times. 



MINERAL MATTER FOR ANIMALS 

 As we have seen when the bodies of an- 

 imals are burned a small quantity of ash 

 remains. The amount of ash is greatest 

 in old lean animals and least in young 

 animals. About 80 per cent of the ash 

 is made up of lime and phosphoric acid, 

 in nearly equal proportions, the re- 

 mainder consists of small amounts of 

 potash, soda magnesia, chlorine, iron, 

 sulphuric acid, etc. The soda and chlo- 

 rine are usually combined in the form 

 of common salt. 



Ash in bones — The greater part of the 

 ash exists in the bones, but a small 



amount, scarce 1 per cent, is found in 

 all the softer tissues of the body. This 

 amount though small is absolutely es- 

 sential to the carrying on of the vital 

 functions of the body. 



Fortunately, practically all normal 

 feeding stuffs contain sufficient min- 

 eral matter to supply all the require- 

 ments of the animal, and the feeder need 

 pay little attention to this matter 

 with one or two important exceptions. 

 Some of the grains and some of their by- 

 products normally contain a smaller per- 

 centage of ash than cured forage plants, 

 and when they are fed alone must often 

 be supplemented with feeds containing 

 ash material, especially in the case of 

 growing animals. This fact is well illus- 

 trated by the work of Henry in feeding 

 corn to pigs. 



In Henry's work, growing pigs were 

 fed liberally on corn meal with only salt 

 and water in addition. As a result these 

 pigs were very much dwarfed and their 

 bones contained only about one-half as 

 much ash and were only about half as 

 strong as those of pigs fed hardwood 

 ashes or bone meal in addition to the 

 corn and salt. Of the different cheap 

 forms of lime that supplied in ground 

 bones or bone ash has been found the 

 most satisfactory for feeding to animals 

 to supply any lack of lime in the food. 

 Ground bone and bone ash also contain 

 large proportions of phosphoric acid 

 which might supply any possible defi- 

 ciency of this element. 



A lack of lime in the food can some- 

 times be met through the water supply. 

 Kasparek notes a case in which a herd 

 of 130 cattle continually met mishap 

 from the breaking of bones until they 

 were given hard water to drink. It has 

 often been observed that the bones of 

 horses in regions well supplied with lime- 

 stone and hard water are much stronger 

 than those of horses reared in regions 

 of little limestone and soft water. Good 

 drinking water, however, should not, it 

 is claimed by German writers, contain 

 over 3 grains of lime per quart of water 

 or there is danger of internal disorders, 

 particularly of the bladder. 



Poultry are exceptional among the 

 animals in their demand for ash mate- 

 rial, supplementary to that supplied in 

 the food. Young chickens seem to be 

 greatly benefited by the addition of 

 sand to the rations even when allowed 

 an abundance of sand for scratching 



