CHAPTER IV 

 FEEDS FOR ANIMALS 



Feeds are such substances as grass, hay, grain, etc., which 

 animals can eat and from which they can derive some benefit. 

 In order to be a feed, the material must be digestible and in 

 order to be a good feed it must not require too much work to 

 digest it. A poor feed requires almost as much work to digest 

 as the good the animal gets out of it. 



Timothy, when cut while still green and tender, makes a 

 good hay, but if allowed to get too old and ripe, the stem 

 becomes hard and woody, the hay made from it is not so good. 

 So also the new sprouts, green leaves and new growth at the 

 ends of the limbs of many trees make excellent feed while the 

 lumber made out of the tree is not classed as a feed under any 

 condition. The author knows of a herd of cows that were 

 herded in the spring of the year in jack pine brush. The jack 

 pines send out new shoots very rapidly. The cattle relished 

 these very much, gave milk and grew fat on this feed. Hay, 

 then, should be cut before it becomes too ripe. 



Feeds for animals also are substances that will burn, though 

 sometimes their water content must be driven off before they 

 will burn. Milk roots, grass, etc., are in this class. But all 

 substances that burn are not feeds. Thus wood and coal, 

 which make the best kind of fuel are not feeds. They are not 

 digestible. 



Digestion. — Digestion is a process in the animal body by 

 means of which the feeds are reduced to the substances of 

 which they are made. The animal body cannot use a feed 

 such as hay, corn, oats, etc. It must have the materials or 

 compounds of which these feeds are made. Thus, in order 

 to be able to understand feeding one must known something 

 about chemistry. At least, he must know which feeds are 

 good for growth, which for maintenance, which for fattening, 

 etc. The reason that some persons fail as feeders of animals 



66 



