Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 281, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 December 1917 — BROOD MARES NEED EXERCISE IN WINTER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BROOD MARES NEED EXERCISE IN WINTER

(Prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture.) Slow, light work nearly every day Is good for the brood mare. It will make her healthier and the foal stronger at birth. If it is not possible to .work her she should be turned in an open pasture in the summer where she can get exercise, fresh air and nutritious feed. The maintenance of her own body and the development of the foal require a good, wholesome ration which should contain a little more protein and ash than that demanded by a working gelding. If the mare is idle in winter, most of the feed may be roughage, but a heavier ration must be fed when work is done. The quantity of feed is determined by the size and condition of the animal, whether thin or fat, sick or well, by the appetite, by the amount of work done, by individuality, condition of the droppings, and whether the animal Is easy or hard to keep. The following suggestions for feeding mares In foal are from Farmers’ Bulletin 803, “Horse-Breeding Suggestions for Farmers,” recently issued by the United States department of agriculture.

Grains. Oats is the best grain for the horse; it Is a light, palatable, and balanced feed. Corn Is a good grain, but is used to better advantage if it forms only from one-third to one-half «of the grain ration of the brood mare. If wheat is fed, it must be given ground and in small quantities. Barley is a good horse feed; it is more bulky than wheat and nearer like oats than corn in composition. Barley is often cooked and fed once or twice a week in the evening for its medicinal qualities. Bran is an almost essential horse feed. It is a regulator and a preventive of overfeeding. It is bulky and palatable and lightens the ration. Soy beans and cowpeas are relished by horses and when accessible will serve as a useful addition to the grain feed for mares in foal. They are relatively rich in protein, and consequent-

ly combine exceedingly well with corn. Roughage. Timothy hay is a popular roughage for horses. Brome grass makes good hay which is equal to timothy hay in feeding value. Orchard grass, if cut in early bloom, is equal to the best of the hay grasses, and carries considerably more crude protein than timothy. Meadow fescue is not so valuable as timothy for horses. Sudangrass hay is a safe feed for mares, and numerous native prairie grasses furnish hay that is equal to timothy. Clover hay is likely to be dusty, but it has great fattening qualities. Millet is not a safe feed for mares in foal. Corn fodder frequently is used to feed idle horses in the winter, but there is not enough nutrition in it alone for mares in foal. The same thing is true in a greater degree of straw. If either is fed, good quality hay also should be fed. Unthreshed cowpeas or soybean hay is also a valuable roughage which is relished by horses. Even the threshed hay contains considerable nutrition. It should not be fed to brood mares if it contains any mold. Alfalfa hay makes an excellent feed for mares if it is fed once a day and timothy or corn fodder given at the other feeding. Occasionally alfalfa hay is not properly cured, causing it to mold badly, in which case it should not be fed to the horses, .farmers have reported occasionally that alfalfa causes the kidneys to act too freely, but it is likely that this trouble will not be noticed if the alfalfa does not make up over one-half of the roughage.

Succulence. Succulent feeds are those which are juicy, and are easily assimilated. Such feeds have a cooling, laxative effect on the digestive system and stimulate appetite. The most common succulent feeds on farms are grass, carrots, rutabagas, sugar beets and silage. Grass, although of a succulent nature, is generally used as the entire ration through the summer if the mares are idle.

MOST DESIRABLE TYPE OF BROOD MARE AND FOAL.