FORCED FEEDING

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1082, 20 September 1930, Page 10

FORCED FEEDING

INFLUENCE ON BUTTER-FAT CONFLICTING VIEWS Tile opinion is nlmos' nnivarmllv held (hat continued special feeding cannot permanently improve butterfat percentage, although it is known that it is possible to stimulate the pei ee)r. age of tat for a few hours bv special feeding or dosing, states a writer in the “Farmer and Stock Breeder.” It has been stated that the feeding of carrots improves butter-fat, and. in jpalifornia, orange pulp, which is there fed largely to milk cows, is also said to have a beneficial effect. Individual people may have their theories, but it may be taken for granted that no permanent improvement can be maintained by special feeding. Little or no attention lias, however been focussed on the other side of the question; namely, whether certaiu toods tend to reduce permanently the fat percentage. The investigation lo be described had its origin quite by chance. I had been feeding my cows on a certain ration for over a I ear. A' the end of that, period a drastic change in the method of feeding and in the composition of the ration was made. The change was followed almost immediately by a lowering ol the percentage of butterfat throughout the herd. Basis for Test This prompted me to carry on the investigation, using the (lata already obtained for a further two years, making in ail a total period of three years. Duriug the first year a balanced ration of various straight cakes, brans, oats and flaked maize, was made up on the farm. Samples of each cow’s milk were tested every K-S weeks, and during the first year 76 samples of milk averaged 3.70 per cent, butter-fat. The following year the ration was changed, and another ha lanced food was used, containing, ] believe, some 20 per cent, of rice meal. The quantity of milk was slightly increased, but the percentage of butter-fat showed a striking decline, 36 samples averaging 3.19 per cent, fat, a drop of 0.51 on the previous year. For the third year a . ration of straight cakes, etc. talmost identical to that in the first year) was made up. While a slight decrease took place in the yield as compared with the second year, the butter-fat rose to 3.59 per cent., an increase of 0.40 on the previous year, and only 0.11 lower than the first year. The number of samples taken during the third year was 103 —slightly more than the two previous years, owing to tlie larger number of cows in the herd, most of them (laughters of animals tested during the preceding years. Fat Lowered by i Per Cent. It will he seen ihat during the second year the percentage of fat was lowered by approximately 0.50. In the case of a herd producing milk round about a. -standard of 3.00 per cent, butter-fat, it would make all the difference between being above or below the danger line. It. may be asked how the percentage of fat for each year was calculated. It was the sum of the results of each test year, divided by the number of tests Critics will object that the method is scientifically incorrect. T agree that it is a rough and ready method, but the fact that the same method was practised each year makes the figures sufficiently reliable to enable the comparisons to be made. Further, it is not assumed that the investigation is conclusive. T do contend, however, that the results open up a field for further investigation by scientists themselves, whether rations containing certain ingredients do or do not have an adverse effect on the percentage of butter-fat.