VARIATION IN COWS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 353, 14 October 1932, Page 3

VARIATION IN COWS

PERCENTAGE OF FAT.

According to all experimental work that has been done, and according to the 'experience of observing and careful dairymen, fat cannot be fed into milk, says an overseas writer. The percentage of fat in milk may be increased or decreased for a sh'ort time by creating some disturbanoe in the animal's digestion, either by improper feeding or by some other method, either intentional or otherwise. This change in fat percentage will continue for a short time only, and the cow will invariably later return to her normal fat percentage. It is p-ossible to bring cows up to their time of calving in a fat condition, and they will for a time maintain a high fat percentage in their milk. Cows, of eourse, will vary in fat percentage from month to month', but the milk of each individual cow seems to possess a fixed composition that is natural to her, and under normal conditions the .richness of the milk is in no way dependent upon the care of the amount and kind of feed fed, except th&t cows that are starved or greatly under-fed may produce milk somewhat lower in fat than normal. One is quite safe in saying that the kind of feed fed will neither raise nor lower the average fat percentage of the milk of a given cow, neither will it bring in and of itself a temporary fluctuation in the fat percentage. \