FEEDING FOB MEAT 375 



of practice. Even mature sheep about average size will 

 consume 18.5 pounds of digestible nutrients for 1,000 

 pounds live weight, but this ratio does not meet the 

 requirements for the prevalent intensive feeding of lambs 

 and yearlings weighing from 75 to 125 pounds each. It 

 is easily demonstrable not only that sheep will utilize a 

 proportionately larger quantity of food than bovines, but 

 that they will make a relatively greater increase. The 

 results of two experiments in fattening wether lambs, 

 reported from the Iowa Agricultural College in 1896 and 

 1897, when compared with the outcome of steer-feeding 

 trials, serve admirably to illustrate the correctness of this 

 statement. The lambs were divided among seven mutton 

 breeds. Sixty-nine were fed 90 days and 64 others were 

 fed 107 days. 



The main facts derived from these feeding trials are 



as follows: 



Table LXXXIII 



Number of animals 133. 



Average days fed 98.2 



Pounds 



Total average weight of animals 16,400 



Average weight single animal . . 123 



Dry matter consmned . 51,000 



Digestible organic matter consumed ... . . 34,500 



Dry matter eaten daily per 1,000 pounds live weight 31.8 

 Digestible organic matter eaten daily per 1,000 



pounds hve weight 21.5 



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



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 consumed 

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

 stages of the experiments the animals were crowded to 

 their full capacity. 



