DRY FOOD NECESSARY.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 4451, 19 August 1909, Page 4

DRY FOOD NECESSARY.

I MtLK-roKCiNCf through the young I grass on the pastures prove, and I greedily though the cows eat their fill I of it, it is not, however, by any means I advisable to let it constitute the sole food of the dairy herd at the commencement, of .the grazing season, no matter how abundant the supply of grass may be. It must be remembered that duiing the earlier part of the spring season the young grass is exceedingly sappy, and in consequence it is apt to induce scouring at first on the part of the cows, which is detrimental to their well-being, and may cause them to lose condition. Moreover, it is a somewhat cold and washy food for them, while the weather has not yet become really warm, f and while the nights in particular remain chilly. An abrupt change from one bind of diet to a totally different one should also be avoided in the interests of the cow’s well-being. For these various reasons it is necessary, or, at any rate, highly desirable, to supply the dairy herd with some dry food for a time after the grazing season begins. This serves to bridge over the change from the winter fare to a grazing diet, while the dry food proves most grateful and comforting to the cows in riew of the coldness and sappiness of the young grass, and it further counteracts the loosening effects of the latter.