THE DAIRY COW.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19700, 29 January 1926, Page 4

THE DAIRY COW.

PRODUCTION OF MILK. CONSTITUTION OP ANIMAL. Dairy cows are required for the profitable production of milk, and the only reliable guide to their value for this purpose is a record of their performance, gained by weighing the milk and using a tester to ascertain the proportion of fat in it. Given these data, and the approximate value of the food consumed, the profit oan bo worked out satisfactorily. While this ia true, the general appearance, form, weight, shape, and constitution of tho animal under consideration should also bo carefully noted. Not only should the dairy cow be free from beefiness, but she should bo of dairy form, that is to say, of the typical form of a triple wedge. Seen from either side, she must have greater depth of body behind than in front, while the shoulders ought to be lower than tho hips, and the chest-floor higher than the base of the udder. Viewed from behind and on top, she should gradually widen from the chest to the hips. It is quite possible that a heavy milker may occasionally be found that does not conform to this typical form, but the generality of good milkers do so. Some cows have a tendency to put on flesh, and theso are not desirable for dairy purposes, because the food which is designed to produce'milk goes to beef instead. Good dairy cows are generally of spare appearance, and more particularly so about the shoulders, back and rump, the quality of the skin should bo relatively thin, as well as soft and mellow, but extremely thin and papery skins are usually associated with weakness of constitution. Tho hair should be soft, silky, and ’ fairly short, and tho bone dense and of fine texture. Heavy, coarse bone shows a lack of quality. Constitution is indicated by a good chest capacity, and good width between the front legs, as well as by the condition of the skin, etc. Tlio udder should be particularly carefully examined, since it is the organ which secretes the milk. A largo udder is desirable, but it must not be unduly fleshy. A good udder, when emptied of milk, seems to consist of folds of loose pliable skin. The udder which retains its form well when milked out, is likely to bo top fleshy, and its largo size may be duo to this rather than to the quantity of the milk it contains when full. Tho quarters ought to be comparatively uniform, and small front quarters, with highly or ill-placed teats, are a defect. Notice that, the teats are of convenient e-ize for milking, as some are so small as to cause actual inconvenience. The milk-veins should bo long, largo and branching, because they indicate by their size the quantity of blood passed through the udder, and milk is secreted from the blood.