354 The Feeding of Animals 



The main facts derived from these feeding trials 

 are as follows: 



Number of animals 133 



Average days fed 98.2 



Total average weight of animals 16,400 Ibs. 



Average weight single animal 123 ' ' 



Dry matter consumed 51,000 " 



Digestible organic matter consumed 34,500 " 



Dry matter eaten daily per 1,000 Ibs. live wt. . . 31.8 " 

 Digestible organic matter eaten daily per 1,000 



Ibs. live weight 21.5 " 



Daily gain per 1,000 Ibs. live weight 3.73 Ibs. 



Daily gain per animal .467 ' ' 



The food consumption in this instance of the suc- 

 cessful fattening of lambs is considerably in excess of 

 the German standard; and the amount of food con- 

 sumed is not unusual, though it is stated that in the 

 latter stages of the experiments the animals were 

 crowded to their full capacity. 



If a comparison is made of this experiment with 

 the steer feeding experiments previously cited it be- 

 comes clearly evident that the published feeding stand- 

 ards are not consistent in calling for practically the 

 same quantity of nutrients for the same live weight 

 of the two species. Sheep will consume at least one- 

 quarter more food than steers and lay on flesh propor- 

 tionately faster. Moreover, sheep appear to make a 

 larger gain in live weight than steers for each unit of 

 nutrients consumed. It may be that the testimony of 

 the experiments cited relative to the points under 

 discussion is not a correct expression of the average 

 conditions, but the differences shown are too marked 



