686 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



Experiment has proved that cattle preserve a nutritive equilibrium 

 when they receive a daily ration calculated for ten hundred kilos of 

 body weight, as follows : — 



19.5 kilos clover-liay. 



3.7 " " " 13.0 kilos oat-straw, and 0.6 kilos rape-seed cake. 



2.6 '• " " 14.2 " " " " 0.5 " 



3.2 " " " 13.3 " barley " " 0.6 " 



25.6 " fodder-beets, 12.6 " oat " " 1.0 " 



In the above feeding the animals digested and absorbed for ten hun- 

 dred kilos body weight on an average 0.57 kilo albumen and 7.4 kilos non- 

 nitrogenous matter; hence, the nutritive proportion was 1:13. The 

 above fodder contains on an average 0.05 kilo phosphoric acid, 0.1 kilo 

 lime, and 0.2 kilo alkalies ; in addition, for ten hundred kilos' body 

 weight, fifty-five kilos water were given. 



For pregnant animals which are not worked, as brood mares, pas- 

 ture is sufficient; or if stall-fed, hay and straw, the latter with some 

 nitrogenous food, will answer if the total composition is made to cor- 

 respond with that of grass. If the grass and hay are not of the proper 

 composition some accessory food must be added. Especial reference 

 must be paid to the amount of albumen and salts in the food, such as 

 lime and phosphates, as of special importance for the development of the 

 osseous system of the young. In such cases some albuminous food rich 

 in salts is necessary, such as grains. 



Male breeding animals which do not work must have their food so 

 adjusted that they do not put on fat; not that the amount of organic 

 matter may be reduced, but the food must be concentrated, have a small 

 percentage of indigestible matter, and little water and much albumen. Es- 

 pecially in the coupling season must the food be rich in albumen to make 

 up for the losses through copulation. Fat stallions and bulls are not 

 fruitful. 



Animals for labor require more than pasture ; they require a large 

 amount of albumen, for by it the muscles are enabled to appropriate a 

 larger amount of oxygen ; so, also, fat and carbohydrates must be increased, 

 since they give to the muscles the substance which is consumed in muscular 

 activity. If the work is constant the carbon of muscles must always be 

 in excess. Voluminous and watery food must be avoided. The former 

 distends the alimentary canal, and so interferes with respiration, and the 

 latter leads to an accumulation of water in the tissues, and reduces the 

 tension and elasticity of the muscles. So the food must be concentrated, 

 as oats and barley, which are especially valuable on account of their fat. 



Cattle on moderate work require per thousand kilos body weight, 

 from 0.7 kilo to 1.6 kilos albumen, non-nitrogenous matters from 8.4 to 

 12 kilos ; the nutritive proportion should thus be 1 : 7.5. 



