356 The Feeding of Animals 



promotes appetite and health, however, and is usually 

 economical and sometimes necessary. 



Rations made up in definite quantities will not be 

 presented in this connection. The quantity of nutri- 

 ents which it is desirable to supply is so variable 

 according to the age and maturity of the animals to 

 be fattened that a feeding standard is applicable to 

 only one set of conditions not long maintained and 

 therefore it must be freely and frequently modified 

 according to the judgment of the feeder. It is, nev- 

 ertheless, possible to offer practical suggestion as to 

 the proportions of grains in the mixtures that will be 

 found acceptable and as to the kinds and quantities 

 of coarse foods ordinarily utilized. 



In the Iowa experiments cited in this connection 

 the grains used were corn, oats, bran and linseed meal. 

 In the last of these trials the grain ration for fifteen 

 days at first was made up of corn, oats and bran in 

 the proportions 2, 2 and 1. When the feeding was 

 well established the grains were oats, corn, bran and 

 oil meal, the relation in quantity being 8, 8, 2 and 1 

 respectively. Each animal ate about 1 pound of roots 

 daily and about two -thirds as much hay as grain. 

 The lambs were fed up to the full ration very grad- 

 ually, several weeks being occupied in doing this. For 

 such preparatory feeding bran and oats are especially 

 useful. When these tests began, each animal ate from 

 one and a half to two pounds of grain daily, which 

 quantity was increased later to three pounds with the 

 largest eaters, some individuals not taking over two. 

 The conduct of these feeding trials typifies good prac- 



