ANIMAL FEEDS 207 



or breeding stock, which often receives whole milk for several 

 months, when they are fed skim milk, with ground flaxseed, ground 

 grain, or mill feeds until they can eat and digest hay and concen- 

 trates (p. 221). 



In the feed-unit system three pounds of whole milk are given 

 an equivalent value to one feed unit (one pound of grain )\ We 

 may assume that it will require six pounds of whole milk, on the 

 average, for a pound of gain with young calves, or one-half the 

 amount of skim milk required. The fact that cows' milk is rich in 

 the so-called growth-accessories, vitamins, renders it of special 

 value for feeding young stock. No other feed or combination of 

 feeds can quite take its place for this purpose (p. 24) . 



Skim milk is used extensively for feeding calves 'and pigs, and, 

 properly "reinforced," makes an excellent substitute for. whole 

 milk in feeding these animals. It is also often fed to poultry with 

 excellent results, and to a limited extent to foals, horses and milch 

 cows. 4 It is now, as a rule, obtained by the centrifugal method, 

 which furnishes a by-product containing, on the average. 9.5 per 

 cent solids, composed of about 0.10-to 0.15 per cent fat, 5 per cent 

 sugar, 3.5 per cent casein and albumen, and 0.9 per cent ash. It is, 

 therefore, essentially a protein feed, with a nutritive ratio of- 1 : 2 ; 

 hence is preferably supplemented in feeding animals with starchy or 

 medium-protein feeds, like cereals, wheat middlings or shorts, etc. 

 Creameries furnish their patrons enormous quantities of skim milk 

 in the aggregate, viz., as a rule, 80 per cent of the milk delivered. 

 The whole milk is also run through a separator on many dairy farms 

 where cream is shipped or delivered to the creamery; the skim 

 milk thus obtained is warm and in the best possible condition for 

 feeding young stock. 



The value of separator skim milk for feeding purposes is vari- 

 ously estimated at 25 to 50 cents per hundred pounds; according 

 to the feed-unit system, six pounds of skim milk are of the same 

 value as one pound of grain ; at two cents a pound for this ($40 per 

 ton), 100 pounds of skim milk would, therefore, be worth 33 cents, 

 and at 2% cents for grain it would be worth 42 cents per hundred. 

 The rule given by Gurler as to the value of the skim milk is that 100 

 pounds when fed with corn to fattening pigs are worth one-half the 

 market price of a bushel of corn (56 pounds) . 



4 Conn. (Storrs) Keport, 1904; W. Va. Bui. 102. 



