THE DAIRY COW.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1617, 7 December 1912, Page 8

THE DAIRY COW.

MAINTAINING.'HEALTH- AND ■ . CONDITION.'. " J/Beferring to'.the'neceasity .for .maintaining dairy oows ii and condition* in .order.;that, yearly pixifit may be made, the expert veterinary adviser : ;;t6" tho : "Famers' Union Advo-. cate"; remarks that, serious forms of disease, likely to,.cause death, are fortunately not very prevalent here, but there are other- troubles,-Bot .deadly in.- their, nature, - which - yet, -wh&i, nffecting - dairy cows,;seriously ..impair, both the quantify and the quality of the milk yield of cows Buffering from them, and naturally reduce the.-value of the animal to the owner.' .Some of these alrections' as for instance, contagious mammitis, may be expected to attack liost cows exposed to infection, no matter how good their general health and their- vitality may be. But there .are other_ diseases which attack cows, whose constitutions have been . weakened and their bodily vitality lowered by various causes (for .instance, lack of projer winter feed). It is sound practice in' everv way to do everything reasonably possible to. prevent disease occurring, and one- important feature in disease prevention is to foster the natural resistant powers'of the cows, by-good management -and good feeding, so that-their-bodily health being jnaintained "at'.'its highest "level, they,'are in,the "best position to resist disease, when it comes their way. The -praotice of weeding out and discarding unprofitable cows is good: and is Indeed, a necessity: to profitable dairy farming, and though the movement in this direction is not yet general throughout dairying districts, what has been done,, together with the greater number of heifers bred, either wholly or partly :from heavy milking strains, which have been brought.into the herd has had the effect of increasing the proportion of heavy milting cows in the country. : These are iho. real'ly profitable - cows ' iwhich every dairy fanner wants, and the more of them we have in'the Dominion the better for, everyone. But it must not-be forgotten that the greater the milk yield of a. cow, the greater the necessity existing for her owner using all effort. to ensure that the animal is well cared for and well fed and nourished throughout the year. The increase in the mili yield, especially if extended over a prolonged milking 6eason (and that is what the farmer wants) means that a correspondingly 1 larger proportion of the nourishment obtained by the cow from. her food goes „to produce milk,- and . a correspondingly .less proportion is available: for the maintenance of thie health and vitality of. the -bodily system generally! Thus, unless the proper, methods of feeding, and general ■ management are adopted-the advantages derived from an increased yield may D 3 expected to be more or less ..counter-balanced,* to the detriment of the'farmer's" interests, # by the greater prevalence' of sickness, calving :troubles, and constitutional troubles, generally among his dairy stock. One of. the most important points in maintaining Bound health is the provision of a good Supply of winter feed.