ANIMAL INVALID FOODS.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXIX, Issue 55, 21 February 1913, Page 8

ANIMAL INVALID FOODS.

The following simple directions to prepare different sorts of invalid foods are worth cutting out and pasting up in the stable. Making gruel:—One pound of oatmeal, barley meal, or flour will make a gallon of good gruel. The water should be placed in the vessel first,' and the solids stirred in and kept stirred continuously until the water boils, after which it can be set on the hob to simmer until it is of a uniform thickness. It may here be remarked that most animals will eat a thickish gruel or mash more readily than a thin, sloppy one. Bran mash: First swill out a bucket with boiling water; mix an ounce of salt with 3ib of bran and pour on three pints of boiling water; cover, and allow to stand for 20 minutes in warm water. This makes a thick mash, but eld water may be added if the uatient shows preference for a thinner med. Remember that bran holds the he»t, and when turning out into the manger the bottom is uppermost and m»y lie very hot, although the top part felt cool enough. Linseed and bran mash: a food still more laxative in its character, and having most valuable additional properties in cases of catarrh and lung trouoles, as well as impaction and digestive disturbance. Linseed and bran mash should be made by slowly boiling for at least two hours, in the proportion of linseed, lib bran, loz salt to one gallon of water. Linseed tea: this is a most valuable article of sick dint, especially for chronic respiratory troubles, where horses are kept at won*. It is rather tiresome to make, and takes practically all day. Half a pound of linseed in a gallon of water should be slowly boiled all day, and the result will be a fine demulcent fluid for pouring over the oats and chaff or other food for the sick or the well. Slow boiling gets all the nourishment out of the linseed, and no other method can, and nothing makes animals sleeker and in better bloom than linseed, judiciously fed. Hay tea : Pack a clean bucket with sweet, fresh hay, pour boiling water on it until full, and then al'ow to stand, covered. This forms a -e----freshing drink for a sick animal, though there is little nourishment in it. ■