HORSES AND MULES 



baby beef. When the mare's milk is 

 too scanty in quantity, new cow's milk 

 may be given to the extent of 2 quarts 

 per day and later may be gradually re- 

 placed with skim milk in the same 

 manner as to be recommended for calves. 

 The skim milk may be increased in 

 quantity to from 4 to 6 quarts per day, 

 and may be continued in the ration un- 

 til the colts are one year old. 



According to observations, made by 

 many feeders, milk produces rapid 

 gains and good quality in colts, and may 

 be fed to them with as profitable returns 

 as when given to calves or other animals. 

 Another point in favor of skim milk is 

 that it adds protein to the ration in 

 much cheaper form than can be obtained 

 from oats. In some experiments, 10 

 pounds of skim milk have given re- 

 sults about equal to 5 pounds of oats 

 and on this basis the feeding value of 

 skim milk would be much higher than 

 the price usually charged for it. For a 

 short time after the colts are weaned, 

 Stewart recommends that a tablespoon- 

 ful of boiled flaxseed be mixed with 

 milk, in order to prevent constipation. 

 Colts, however, are susceptible to scour- 

 ing, and some attention should be given 

 to the quality of skim milk as fed to 

 them. It should preferably be fed 

 warm and in a fresh condition. In 

 feeding cow's milk to colts, it should 

 also be remembered that the percentage 

 of fat in cow's milk is nearly three 

 times that in mare's milk. Cow's whole 

 milk, therefore, contains relatively too 

 much fat and the skim milk is in com- 

 position nearer that of the mare's milk. 



Molasses — Within recent years, mo- 

 lasses, sugar, sirup and various mixtures 

 of molasses with ground grain, ground 

 alfalfa, blood meal and other substances 

 have been extensively fed to horses in 

 the tropics, in Europe and throughout 

 this country, particularly in the south- 

 ern states. The reports thus far made 

 on molasses feeding have been favorable, 

 for the most part. It appears from 

 French experiments that molasses has 

 a tendency to hasten the passage of 

 food through the alimentary tract. Oc- 

 casionally, moreover, molasses causes 

 more or less poisonous effects in the 

 form of acute indigestion or inflamma- 

 tion of the kidneys. In the latter form 

 of the trouble, there is an abundant uri- 

 nation and the urine contains an ex- 

 cess of the salts of potash and soda, to- 

 gether with some albumen and sugar. 



According to French investigations, 

 the irritating effect of crude molasses, 

 as fed to horses, is due to the presence 

 of potash salt in this material. The ra- 

 tions of molasses which are required to 

 cause digestive disturbances are much 

 larger than the usual size of ration, and 

 also much larger than those which pro- 

 duce an excess of urine. While good 

 molasses is a highly nutritive food ma- 

 terial, easily digested and assimilated, 

 and in many cases corrects faulty diges- 

 tion, it may occasionally cause diabetes. 

 One quart of molasses, at a value of 

 3 cents, was found equal to 4 quarts 

 of oats, at a value of about 6 cents. 

 When horses were fed molasses, they 

 were found to do as much work and 

 remained generally in a better condition 

 than when molasses was left out of the 

 ration. The cost of feeding is almost 

 always somewhat reduced by the use of 



When molasses was fed experimen- 

 tally to three horses at Cornell, it was 

 found that sugar appeared in the urine 

 soon after the molasses was given and 

 albumen in two cases. It is not to be 

 supposed that the sugar always appears 

 in the urine when molasses is fed, but 

 on account of the fact that molasses 

 may cause diabetes, it is perhaps well 

 to observe carefully the effect of molas- 

 ses in the ration for any particular horse 

 before feeding it in large quantities or 

 for long periods. In experiments by 

 Grandeau, the use of sugar, molasses 

 and other sweet feeding stuffs did not 

 appear to affect materially the digesti- 

 bility of other constituents of the ra- 

 tion. 



In Copenhagen, a feeding experiment 

 was carried on with blood molasses. The 

 result of this experiment showed that 



3 pounds of the molasses feed mixture 

 had about the same feeding value as 



4 pounds of grain, consisting of a mix- 

 ture of barley and oats. At the pre- 

 vailing prices, the molasses feed was 

 somewhat cheaper than corn, and il 

 was estimated that by replacing one- 

 fourth of the grain with this feed, an 

 annual saving of about $5.50 per horse 

 would be effected. One of the chief ad- 

 vantages claimed for molasses in a ra 

 tion for horses, is that it renders in- 

 ferior hay more palatable. It also has 

 a slightly beneficial medicinal effect in 

 cases of colds, keeps horses fat and is. 

 a cheap ration, 



