SHELTER AND COMFORT FOR THE DAIRY COW.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 170, 2 May 1916, Page 4

SHELTER AND COMFORT FOR THE DAIRY COW.

The colder the weather the greater will be the requirement for food to make up for the lack of shelter. For an animal that is receiving a heavy ration, as a fattening steer, there is little advantage in shelter, as it has enough heat to keep its body warm without any special tax. Cattle beiDg maintained without fattening do not have the surplus heat and there is a decided increase in the amount of food necessary to maintain them without shelter. An added advantage in shelter comes in supplying comfortable quarters where the cattle cau lie down in reasonable comfort. It has been found by Armsby and others that cattle require practically one third more food when standing than when lying down, and for that reason it is a saving to make the animals comfortable, so that they will lie down part of the time. The dairy cow is more susceptible to the lack of shelter than either the cow being maintained tlirough the winter or the fattening steer, on account of the small amount of llesh she carries and the large quantity of water she must consume because of her milk production. There are no exact ligures at htod showing just what the loss would be from the lack of shelter, but it is safe to say it would be great, depending upon the severity oi the weather and the amount of milk produced by the cow in the beginning. It would be impossible to maintain a cow at a high level of milk production without giving her protection from the weather.—C. H. Eckles, University of Missouri, in "Breeders' Gazette."