COW'S TEMPERATURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18332, 23 February 1923, Page 10

COW'S TEMPERATURE.

SURPLUS FOOD NEEDED. The bodily temperature of a cow is about 98deg., and this degree of heat is maintained by the simple process of combustion of the food eaten. If , the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere is cold an increased amount of food must ••■' be eaten to keep the heat of the body at 88deg., and conversely if the air is warm .;■_., less food is necessary to maintain the '- animal heat. The temperature of the ~•'. * body has to be kept up at all cost, and . . ,; this is the first use which is made of the food in the animal body; after this it is drawn upon to replace the waste tissues * of the body, and then it there is any surplus left after satisfying these require-' ments it is used for the • production of milk, the laying.on of fat, growth ,of r: > • muscle and bone. If an animal's function is to give milk,'she cannot give an abundant supply unless she has a good surplus of food over and above that 1 needed to maintain her. body in ; its ' normal j condition; and the . larger the amount of the daily ration that has to be diverted towards the maintenance of " the bodily temperature, the smaller will be the surplus that should go towards the production * of, milk It is economical therefore to .lessen this demand as' much a3'.: possible by ; providing the animal '■>. with *■''>■ ; shelter. There is no economy in ? the ideS: that < cows* winter better if toughened by the invigorating effects of . cold winds and chilling rains. The modern cow * is essentially an artificial production, and as such- the conditions of her existence , must be considerably modified from those to which./wild animals ■ are 'fitted.- ;-. fefev, • '