Fat Cows Give Rich Milk.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 24 September 1913, Page 4

Fat Cows Give Rich Milk.

Cows which are fat at the timo of calving will, other conditions being equal, give richer milk than though they were thin. They take the fat from their backs and ribs and put it iuto the iniJk pail. Holstein breeders have been taking advantage of this fact, as is indicated by inauy of the seven-day Holstein records. As an average of fourteen Holstein cows, it was found that during seven dajs early in the milking period, they had a butter-fat percentage of 4.35. But the average for the whole year was only 3.42. The Missouri experiment station has conducted some very interesting work in regard to this point. It has kept record on a number of cows which have^been unusually fat at calving time. Invariably, tho fat cows lost rapidly in iiesh after calving, and the percentage of fat in the milk is • abnormally high. In one instance, the j percentage of fat in the milk three days after calving was 5.69. The percentage declined day by day till a week after calving it Avas "4.34 and two weeks after calving it was 0.85. The fact that fat cows are likely to give richer milk than though they I were thin is no!; only a point of interest but it is of direct value. Besides throwing some discredit on seven-day tests, it iudicated the ■importance of good feeding during the period just prior to calving. Just after calving it seems to be necessary slightly to under-feed if tho cow is to be in condition to put the greatest percentage of fat into the milk pail iv a short time.