78 



Feeds and Feeding. 



blood and a small hemoglobin content therefore favor fattening. 

 Because of this, in some parts of Europe fattening animals are some- 

 times bled to hasten the process. 



101. Comparative fattening qualities. — Lawes and Gilbert^ state 

 that for the whole fattening period farm animals require the fol- 

 lowing average quantities of feed to produce 100 lbs. of gain : 



Ox, 250 lbs. oil cake, 600 lbs. clover hay, 3500 lbs. swedes (tur- 

 nips). 



Sheep, 250 lbs. oil cake, 300 lbs. clover hay, 4000 lbs. swedes. 



Pig, 500 lbs. of barley meal. 



The table which follows is based on feeding these allowances. 



Comparative returns from the ox, sheep, and pig. 



The upper table shows that the average 1200-lb. fattening ox will 

 consume during one week 151 lbs. of dry food and gain 13.6 lbs. 

 Similar data follow for the sheep and pig. The second table shows 

 that 1000 lbs. of fattening ox will consume about 125 lbs. of dry 

 food each week, and from this will gain 11.3 lbs. in live weight. In 

 one week 1000 lbs. of pigs will gain 64.3 lbs., or nearly 6 times as 

 much, while consuming 220 lbs. of food, or only about 2.2 times as 

 much as does the ox. The ox has 3.2 lbs. of stomach for each 100 

 lbs. live weight, the sheep 2.5 lbs., and the pig but 0.7 lb. On the 

 other hand, the pig has a much greater proportion of intestines, 

 in which digestion mostly occurs with this animal. (28) The pig 

 requires far less food to produce 100 lbs. of increase than either the 



^ Warington, Chemistry of the Farm. 



