ARTIFICIAL LACTATION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 2, 27 August 1943, Page 5

ARTIFICIAL LACTATION

NEW AMERICAN DISCOVERY LOCAL FARMERS INTERESTED One of the questions put to Mr A. L. Thomson, veterinary officer to the Rangitaiki Plains Dairy Company, at the annual meeting of suppliers last Wednesday, was in reference to an American discovery which recently announced the possibility of bringing a cow into full 1 ' lactation by artificial means, thereby avoiding calving and 1 attendant danglers.

Mr R. Dunning introducing the subject said that lie understood the proces; was by means of certain injections which brought - a cow into milk lor a normal period without strain or injury to her constitution. In response to the general smiles of incredulity, he remarked that. the. article he had read was in a responsible American journal and. he saw no reason why such a claim could not be possible. If it were .so, it might prove of considerable value to herd owners in this district. Mr Thomson replied the process had been discovered by an American research olFicer and had been discussed fully at the recent New Zealand Veterinary Conference, where it had not been favourably regarded. It consisted of the injection of. certain hormones, into the animal which had the effect of causing the lactation glands to function. There was no doubt about the honesty of the claims but authorities in this country contended, that if a cow could not produce a calf normally, and thereby reproduce its kind, it was not worth keeping. Xf such a practice became general it would invariably lead to cows becoming, in time incapable of producing calves. JNlr Dunning argued that such a process would be useful in the cases of carrying over from season to season, high producing cows, and considered it might be well worth a trial. .Mr Thomson: It' a cow wa.s well fed over the winter there is no reason why not. The scheme looks wel'l on paper and has standing coming from a research institute but it is not regarded as a safe thing for wide practice..