CARE OF DRY COWS

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20728, 11 February 1939, Page 27 (Supplement)

CARE OF DRY COWS

CHANCE TO RECUPERATE In most herds the cows are given a good chance to rest and flesh up before calving, but there are some dairy men who often allow the cows to milk continuously, under which method the animals have no chance to recuperate, and are thus handicapped at calving time. Milk production is hard work, and the cow gets no rest from calving to calving unless it is provided for her by drying her off. It is sometimes said that the effect of milking continuously is to weaken the calf, but injury to the cow rather than the calf is likely to follow. Probably if a cow is very thin and in poor condition the calf may be weakened to some extent, but the maternal instinct and the nature of the cows body is to take care of the foetus first at the expense of the dam. It is too much .to expect that the double burden of milk production and the foetus can be undergone by the average cow up to the time of calving without injury to itself. The disadvantage of continuous milking without drying ofT is that when calving has occurred the cow will start ofT on a lower level of production, and will maintain a lower level than would otherwise be the case. Her body does not get a chance to flesh up, and the lack of a rest does not give her a chance to get into condition for heavy milking again. The result is that she does the best she can under the circumstances. The thing to remember is that upon the treatment of the cow during the off period will depend to a large extent the nature of her production during the next season.