FEEDING DRY COWS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 10, 22 December 1933, Page 11

FEEDING DRY COWS

CAREFUL RATIONING PAYS. ENSURES BEST POSSIBLE YIELDS. The dry cow is worthy of better attention than is usually given her. Every dairy cow worthy of the name needs a rest between lactations. To secure the best results the milk cow should be given a rest of six to eight weeks between lactations. If the cow was dry in summer she would need very little feed, if any, in addition to what she could obtain from a good pasture. unless she was in low condition. ,When the dry period occurs in winter. however, a fair allowance of roots or other succulence should be given along with a liberal amount of hay. The individual peculiarities in the tastes of cows are not always easy to cope with, but they must receive attention if high production is desired. Foods that are usually palatable may at times be eaten sparingly or oven absolutely . refused by some cows. Closely linked with palatability is variety in the ration. By this is not meant a mixture of feeds from the same plant source, but a combination of feeds from distinct plant sources. The dairy cow, like other ruminants, has a large, roomy, digestive system specially adapted to the handling of bulky feeds, and can use a bulky ration much more efficiently than one of too concentrated a character. Intensive feeding no doubt leads to intensive production; but a point can be reached above which the cost of production is so great that the increased returns from the product will not meet the increased cost of food. In commercial feeding, therefore, the best practice is to push the production up to the most profitable maximum and no further. The importance of palatibility or wholesomeness, including freedom from moulds, rancidity, hard lumps, unpleasant taste or smell, etc., must always be kept in mind, since a palatable ration is better relished and is likely to be more fully digested than one which is unpalatable. Further, the food must have no bad effects on the health of tho animal, and must cause no taints in the animal's products. These are all points of mueh importance in practice, but on which it is impossble to put a definite money value.