COW’S USEFUL PERIOD.

Matamata Record, Volume XIII, Issue 1109, 27 March 1930, Page 6

COW’S USEFUL PERIOD.

THE RETIRING AGE. - The question as to what age a cow should Be turned out of the herd is one that has suggested itself to. every breeder of cattle,- and it must be decided, differently (says an ‘English authority), according to the conditions under which the stock is kept and tne purpose for which they are bred. In a herd of beef cattle it is safe to say as long as she : will breed a calf, as the calf, as soon as it is born, is worth as much or more than the cow herself. There is a general principle that it pays better to buy young stock than old cows. Allowing this to be true as a general rule, there- are exceptions which a man must take into consideration, and not go blindly ’along and say because that is the rule money cannot be made outside it. . . Old animals can seldom be fattened at a profit even if their flesh was as valuable as that of a young one, because it requires so much more time and feed to do it. But their flesh is not equal to animals in their prime, so there is a loss both in the quality and in the cost of production. Via cows that have been milked until their life force is exhausted make very poor . and low-priced, as well as expensive beef. _ When a cow has reached twelve or fourteen years of age it hardly pays to fatten her if she. could be had for nothing.