FEEDING OF ROOTS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 205, 15 September 1937, Page 13

FEEDING OF ROOTS

— -gf IMHHI ft — Common Tfoubles With Mangels and Turnips USE IN RATIONS In many parts of New Zealand the use of roots is standard practice in the winter feeding of cattle, sheep, and sometimes pigs-. It is recognised that mangels and turnips consist largely of water. There foods are therefpre Iow in proteiu, their chief food value consisting in the carbohydrate, jvrites Mr D. Mafshall in the Journal o. Agriculture. Before mangels are fed it is essential that they should be lifted and properly pitted for at least a month . to six weejss jn order that they may mature and eertain chetmical changes take place. Swedes and turnips may be lifted and pitted, or at least carted off and fed on grass paddocks. This entails considerable labour, and more often sheep or cattle are fenced on a portion at a time of the trunip crop, preferably with a good run off on to gfass Or rough feed. Thefe is diseussidn as to the value of foots jn milk-productioh. In the Waikato soft turnips are valued by some farmers as a supplement during dry summer months, and are believed to keep cows milking. Their ( succulent nature is valuable a t, this time. For winter feeding, Boutfleur, of the Harper Adams College, considered roots too bulky as -a feed for higb-producing dairy cows. He is, of course, a great advocate of a, concentrated diet. Other writers, however, consider that roots, ap to a point, and properly balanced

with other food, will mcrease milK-pro-duction. The average amount fed to dairy cows is up to. 561b. Bullocks can be run on turnips alone, and will fatten. Dairy cows, however, Whether dry, and pregnant, or in milk, will not stand this treatment, and additional food is required, Apparently hay is quite a suitable supplement, as it _ assists amongst other things in providing fibre to allow rftmination to be carried out properly.Where a run-off is provided, tliis is not of much value unless a fair amount of rough feed is available. Ewes are sometimes run on turnips right up to lambing, but, wliile no ill results may follow, the j>ractice is a risky one unless a good run-off with a fair amount of roughage and picking is available. Cases of ante-pflrtum paralysis have been seen in ewes oft turnips where this precaution was ignored. In winter feeding of pigs, roots are useful. Recent information available to the Felds pivision at Ruakura indicates that the quality of bacon was improved considerably by including swedes up to 30 per cent of tlie ration of pigs, comparod Wijll a ration of milk aiid gT&in only. The experimeilt tf.nc nat-fied mit hv Profes«or .lesnersnU.

of Copenhageti, afld it was found that, whereag on the skim-milk graiii ration alone only 5 per cent carcasses reacliefl lifst grade, pigs gaining 1.6 Ib a day, there Was a ste&dy incfease in the percentage of hrst-grade carcasses with an ulerease in roots Until, in the pigs gettiHg 30 per cent foots, /5 per cent Were graded tirst. thotigh the dally rate of gain Was siightly reduced to 1.1 1b per day. Mr Ballinger is carrying out a similar experiment at Ruakura to check results uiider New Zealand conditions. It should be remembeied that, owiug to their low protein content, roots alone are not a sufficjent food l'or young growmg pigs or for pregrnant sows, and should bo balancetl with a good protein Supplement such as meat-meal or good' quality grain-meal.-Mortality Oue to Mangels Mr B. O. Aston, till recently Chiel C'hemist to the Department of Agriculture, did considerable investigatiou of the mortality due to mangel feeding, and as far Uack as 1911 vvrote an artick on the subject in tlie Journal of Agncluture, dealing with mortalities iu cows at that time. It Was his opiuion that the poisoning— for such it appears — is due to the formation of iiitrites from nitrates in tlie stomach. The aiiioUflt of nitrates present is high in eertain easons. Tvvo years ago mortality occurred iu h farm in the Bay of Pkaty. The maiigels were puiled and left lying in the paddocks, not lieaped or pitted, lor about a month before using. Xhuugli this was the farmer's usual practice, it was evidently not sufficient for propei curing to occur. A load Was carted out to ilt-calf coWs about twice a week-— about 30lb per eow. Mangels wero puk out oue al'tornooii, and next moriting eiglit eows were dead iu tlie paddoek. Nitrates in unduo amouub wero presuiili in tlie mangels. Two oecasions oc'curred more recently in which a number of deaths occurred suddenly amongafc pigs beiiig fej mangels. The deaths suggested poisoning, but analysis for the commqn poisons were quite negative, while analysis of mangels revealed nitrates present in more than normal amount. It Bhould. therefore, be realized by farmers that, wliile mangels are an excelient wintex iQodstuff, there is risk in their use unless they are properly matured by pitting for bohip weeks One point to be noted in the feeding of any varety of turnips to tlie dairy cow is that these may give the milk a very strong turnipy odour and taste. This is particularly evident if cows are running all day on 'turnips and eating ahaws and all. It is due to eJiminabion of eertain volatile substances b.v vvay of milk. It can bo largely avoided by feeding the turnips minus fche tops, immediately after milking, and to a less extent by letting tlie tops wilt before feeding. It is almosi imescnpable if cows are 011 turnips all day. Tunilp siekness and turnip foundcr ure uarnes looscly givcn to a derange-

uieut oecurriiig in dairy cuws very oiteii dry and pregnant, under same conditions as produce red water— unlimited roots with littie or no supplement. Thero may be marked stiff'ness suggesting rheumatism, or the gait of 0 foundered horse. The animal may stagger. In more severe cases, cow may go down and have difficulty in rising. The expression is duli, the pulse weak, appetite gone. There is «, desire to drink, and excessive quantities of fiuid make the trouble worse. The pauncb is frequently distended with fluid and fragments of turnip, and the animal has a full appearance. Treatment should be prompt. Two tablespoons each of common salt, ginger, and baking-soda, with 1 1b molasses, shouid be given at once. This may be all that is required. Stop roots for a day or two and food hay. In more severe cases ntix voiniea, soda, and moiasses sliould be given in repe&ted doses (1 teaspoon pOwdered hux vomica, 1 tablespoon of baking-soda, 1 Jb molas*. ses, twiee a.day). As with redwater, immediately correct feeding for balance of herd. Choke is mdre likely to occur in stn.llfed animals than in the field, A portion of a root slips over the throat and becomes. lodged in gullet, very often about the middle of the neck. The animal coughs, slobbefs and stops feeding. The immediat© danger is that the gullet is impacted, gas is unable to escape and bloating occUrs, threatening suffocation. It is sometimes, therefore, advisable to use troear and canula, and loave the latter in position in the left flank. In some cases the cow wili then herself get rid of the obstruction, If just at the back of the throat, it may be possible to reach thv. obstruction by putting a hand into the mouth, remembering the risk of getting one's fingers chewed.

A probang may be cautiously used, it available, or failing that a piece of fiexible branch of whiphandle, with a piece. of cloth in the shape of a knob securely placed to the end, and the whole well greased. The cow's head should be extended in line with body and securely held by a man on eaoli side before this is attempted. On no account try to push down a rigid stick sUch as a broomhandle or piece of Steel bar, as the gullet will certainly be punctured.