WARM v. COLD WATER FOR MILCH COWS IN WINDER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2667, 26 April 1905, Page 7

WARM v. COLD WATER FOR MILCH COWS IN WINDER.

The results of two admirable series of experiments at Madison are most valuable and convincing. In one case six cows were tested - for 64 days, and in. the other six cows were tested for 80 days. In each, case the cattle were divided into two trios and fed upon the like rations — 51b of bran, 21b of oats, 61b of hay. and cut maize fodder ad lib. When one lot of cows was drink-

ing water at 70deg Fahr., the other lot tv as drinking water at 32deg. Fahr., and as the periods of feeding -were divided in each, case, directly these periods expired the srafcer arrangement was reversed The milk vas analysed systematically, and every care taken to extract from the animals by obserration some reliable information. In each case the cows gave more milk when consuming -vrann water. Thus in the. first test ihe yield was 121b per cow more, but in the second test it was only .221b more per day. In one case the cows drank on the average per day 6.30]b of cold water and £3.251b of -narm water, or 8 per cent, and

9.25 per cent, of their live weight, respectively. In the other case the water drank amounted to 77.251b of cold, or 85.41b of warm. Again, the food consumed differed widely. Those drinking warm water consumed in one test 24.311b daily, and in the other 29.181b, while those drinking cold water took 23.51b and 28.71b respectively. The food required to produce a paund of milk varied, as Ihe following figures indicate : — Solid Food Consumed per lb of Milk Produced : — "Warm Water Cold Water. First Test .. I.U 1.54 Second Test .. 1.39 1.41 1 It will be observed that the more water the cattle consumed the more milk they pi'cdueed, without regard to the temperature of the wattr. The solid matter of the milk "was increased when the temperature was warm. In each year, with the exception of one animal, every cow preferred the warmer water. The shrinkage of the milk yield was 9£ per cent, in the first test, but only 5£ per cent in the second test, or about one-half the average shrinkage of normal cattle in this country. With regard to the economical question involved, it is shown that, taking the value of butter at lOd per lb, skimmed milk at Id per gallon, and maize fodder at 20s the ton. with £3 as the cost of warming to 70deg. Fahr. for 40 cows for 120 days, there was a profit in ihe first year of £5 4s and a less in the second year of 245. We are inclined to think that if warm food is advantageous, and we believe it is, the Scotch system of bailing roots, grains, chaff, and bean meal with plenty of water is the best, the cows getting their ration in the form of soup. Next to this comes the plan of heating the food by pulping, chaffing, and mixing on a concrete floor, that the whole may ferment before it is given to the cattle.