OCR Text |
Show Economy in Feeding -7 With hay at twenty-two dollars dol-lars a ton, and sometimes unobtainable unob-tainable at that, a series of results re-sults obtained from extensive experiments ex-periments in horse feeding conducted con-ducted by the Animal Husbandry Husband-ry Department of the Utah Agricultural Ag-ricultural College, became of the greatest importance. It has been found that horses given free access to alfalfa hay of good quality will consume twice as much as they need. This is true of work horses as well. A col-ege col-ege team of work horses, weighing weigh-ing 1400 pounds each and having free access to alfalfg. hay, each consumed daily 40 pounds of hay in addition to a light grain ration. They were troubled with colic and other digestive trouble. They were poor workers and needed constant urging with the whip. This ration was reduced from day to day, until finally each horse received but twenty twen-ty pounds of hay along with trie same amount of grain. The change in the horses was remarkable. re-markable. All digestive troubles disappeared, there was no more colic, and the driver threw away his whip. Not only was a saving sav-ing in hay effected, a very important im-portant item with high priced hay, but more work was done by the horses, and they were in less danger from sickness. Dr. W. E. Carroll, Professor of Animal Husbandry at the Utah Agricultural College, gives the following as an economical daily ration for horses weighing from 1400 to 1500 pounds, doing moderate work: twenty pounds of alfalfa and five to ten pounds of grain, oats or bran and shorts mixed in equal parts serving equally well for the grain. Most of the hay should be fed at night, say about twelve to fifteen fif-teen pounds. Five to eight lbs. of hay may be fed in the morning, morn-ing, with none or very little, at noon. 'Very little grain should be fed at night, a little more in the morning and most at noon. |