688 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



on flesh in a good pasture ; if an accumulation of fat is desired, additional 

 carbohydrates and fatty food must be given. 



As a rule, the hog is more readily fattened than the sheep, and the 

 latter than the ox. Race is also of influence. Thin, full-grown hogs at 

 the commencement of fattening require large amounts of food, forty kilos 

 of solids per thousand kilos body weight. Good results are obtained by 

 feeding with crushed barley, corn, or peas, the latter especially, if mixed 

 with steamed potatoes. The use of buttermilk or sour milk enables the 

 amount of food to be reduced and still give satisfactory results. 



For milk animals the conditions of food have been already consid- 

 ered, and a good pasture is all that is required. 



When stall-fed, nutritive change is reduced ; when food corre- 

 sponding to pasture is given the quantity of milk and butter is increased. 



In wool-producing animals a larger percentage of proteids is required 

 in the food than in cattle, goats requiring less than sheep. Experiment 

 has proven that sheep (ninety-six kilos in weight) on feeding with hay 

 for one thousand kilos body weight require daily twenty-six kilos, and 

 of this digest 1.32 kilos albumen and 10.53 kilos non-nitrogenous matters 

 (with 0.322 kilo fat). On such feeding the weight increased somewhat, 

 0.181 kilo albumen and 0.299 fat (reckoned for one thousand kilos body 

 weight) being deposited. The nutritive proportion, therefore, for sheep 

 should be 1 : 9.3. It has further been determined by Wendee and Hohen- 

 heim that slight loss of weight, within limits, does not interfere with 

 wool production, especially if the food be rich in proteids. 



By chopping food mastication is, to a certain extent, facilitated, but 

 it cannot be regarded as a substitute for mastication, since the mixing 

 with saliva can only be perfectly performed when the food is thoroughly 

 masticated. The principal object in chopping food is to enable it to he 

 mixed with other materials so as to increase its tastefulness and digesti- 

 bility, or to assist in the administration of other substances. Chopping 

 should never be carried so far as to permit of the food being swallowed 

 without undergoing a certain amount of mastication. The cereals are 

 especialty suited for administration under the forms of meals and may 

 be readily mixed with other foods. The readily digestible grains, of 

 course, do not need to be ground, but in the form of meal they may be 

 mixed with less digestible, bulky substances, such as chopped straw. 

 Thorough mastication of the latter is so attained and the grain gives 

 taste to the mixture, without which, probably, the food would be rejected. 

 To horses and sheep all grains the hulls of which are not too hard and 

 thick may be given uncrushed by mixing with chopped straw and the like 

 as long as their organs of mastication are in good condition. Barley is 

 best given to sheep when roughly ground, while the seeds of the legu- 

 minous plants and corn may likewise be ground for sheep and horses. 



