FEEDING DAIRY COWS.

Matamata Record, Volume III, Issue 119, 13 February 1919, Page 1

FEEDING DAIRY COWS.

English Experiments. Ovor feeding of dairy cows is ofton omlomnod as wasteful, and so it is rotn tho viow of milk production, if lot from any other point; but in a jonoral purposo cow, which is tho ono vhicli appeals to all farmers, carcase mist not bo lost sight of (says a vriter in tho “ Farmer and Stoolciroedor”). Much monoy may bo lost, io doubt, by continual hoavy fooding vlien milk supply does not warrant it, >ut in the caso of a cow which is to bo jot rid of, the loss, if any, is not so apmront evon if it assists in the drying wocoss, as most assuredly will happen to some cows. Farmers will alow that they got thoir monoy hack Tom the butcher, or oven frpm adoal--3r in milk stock, as thero is/Utill much m-tue attached to a boast that fills tho jyo. Ilowovor, it bassoon found by. jxporiuiont that so far as increased ivoight goos tho carcaso tost is a quosionablo set-off against high feeding, rile comprehensive and very thorough 311‘erton Hall experiments in high and medium fooding rations are worth studying in this connection, and further experiment lias shown, moreover, that feeding in addition to grazing toes not oven necessarily produoo an increaso at all. In four different Bxporimonts made at Offortou with high rations, there was a decided gain in woiglit over tho cows fed on a modorato ration, which in two of tho experiments gavo various rosults, but this difference, as a rule, only represented somo 301 b to 401 b, which is not an adequato sot-off to tho cost of tho oxtra 41b of concontratod food, especially as tho milk yield was little affoctod by tho hoavy ration. This latter followed closoly the chatactor of tho cows, irrospoctivo of foeding, and so tho increased live weight, would presumably bo of small use to draw upon as a milking reserve to “ work against,” as somo fanners behove to bo tho caso. Somo connection botwoon tho live-weight gain or loss and milking capacity is porlmps tracoablo, but it is not at all prominent, as tho host porformancos in mlik or butter wore found with tho high and low live weights and with a loss of weight, and it was noticed that oven whon and increased flow of milk followed an-improvement in livo weight, as tho cows got into hotter condition, this increase was most striking in tho case of tho lighter ration. A point of interest to tho foodor of fat cattlo lies in tho fact that tho live woiglit gains woro most easily mado in tho summer thus showing that tho moderate amount of oxorciso which cows got at grass is net detrimental to flesh-mak-ing. Tho two lots of cows approximated eacli other in increase mado more closoly than in tho winter, although thero was rnoro difforonco iii tho relative rations fed, and tho increaso mado was something like double tho wintor performance, though tho rations woro materially lighter in tho summer. This ran up to practically 1 ewt. for tho lioavior-fod cows, but very different rosults woro rooordod for all tho other tests, which woro on winter food.