THE DAIRY COW.

Otago Witness, Issue 4048, 13 October 1931, Page 12

THE DAIRY COW.

As a money-making machine, the dairy cow is second to none, always provided she is in good health, is of a milking strain, and is adequately supplied with the best of food and water. As poin’ed out by Veterinarian Allan Leslie, M.R.C.V.S., of Canterbury Agricultural College, in an article in the Journal cf the Canterbury -Agricultural and Pastoral Association, many diseases, such as paralysis before and after calving, retention of the afterbirth, calving difficulties, and even irregular breeding, are definitely associated with the nutrition and fitness of the cow before and after parturition. Attention to the needs of in-calf cows during the last six weeks of the gestation period is often neglected, and consideration of the effects and their prevention is a matter worthy of greater consideration by many farmers at the present time. The adoption of the practice of semi-starving cows for a few weeks before calving in the hope of mitigating the chances of milk fever is a mistaken idea, as experience shows that even cows in very poor condition are affected with milk fever. Feeding cows well for the last six weeks of the pregnancy period has not been correlated with a high incidence of milk fever. Furtheinore, although a deficiency of lime in the blood of the cow is responsible for the onset of the symptoms of milk fever, a correlation between the lime content of the blood of a milk fever case, and the lime content of the food consumed by the animal ha s not yet been established. Investigating the problem in 1924, Dr Russel Greig and Professor Drywerre concluded tliat°acute deficiency of lime in the blood was a bigfactor in producing the disease—the deficiency ranging up to as much as 60 per cent, of the normal. It was furthei found that the cases of greatest calci.nn deficiency coincided with the severest attacks. . Further experiment showed that the injection of calcium gluconate cured the disease, and that a subcutaneous injection warded it off. In the absence of injections of a suitable preparation of lime. Veterinarian Leslie advises farmers to administer before and. or. after .calving, a dreneh composed of Hb to 21b of treacle, {lb of common salt, {lb of Epsom salts, and a tablespoonful of ginger dissolved in sufficient water. Not milking the cow dry, or leaving the calf to suckle the dam for a day or so after calving is also sound practice, and often efficacacious as a milk fever preventive. The incidence of paralysis before and after calving is very high when food is scarce. The commonest cause is underfeeding, or improper feeding, during the winter months, or just prior to calving. On farms where dairy cow s are well fed on a mixture of foods some months before calving, cases of paralysis are negligible, and there is less tendency for cows to develop the so-called temporary sterility that affects apparently healthy cows. An animal can live fo'r quite a long time on its reserves of minerals, etc., without showing any ill effects, and there is no doubt sparse and indifferent feeding of cows during the winter, when the ordinary herbage is more or less devoid of minerals, accounts in great measure for troubles affecting the dairy cows during the subsequent spring’ and summer seasons. There is no doubt that in order to get the best results from t ie dairy’cow it is essential to give some thought to the quality of the foodstuffs supplied during the winter, and avoid the far too common practice of feeding innutritions foodstuffs durin" the off season. . If the dairy cow comes in in good trim and condition, we shall have done something worth while to ensure satisfactory results at matin-’ time, and to eradicate temporary sterility. It often happens, says Mr Allan Leslie, that paralysis cases before calving do not recover until calving tak«s place. All cases, he says, should receive a dose of physic, as recommended for milk fever prevention, and it is essential that at least one foot of straw is kept under the cow at all times. It is not sufficient to sprinkle a little on the ground and hope for the best, for experience has shown that, apart from a foot of straw under the cow, she should be propped up into the normal position of lying, and turned over from side to side every three hours. If a cow is left lying on her side and unturned, con-

gestion of the under lung, and bed sores are apt to develop. A mustard plaster applied across the loins is also recommended. If the cow is due to calve it is not a bad plan to inflate the udder as. for milk fever, as many cases of milk fever are met with before and some time after calving.

Steaming up the dairy cow is a practice well worth consideration. An average dairy cow should gradually increase her milk yield to the fifth to the seventh week after calving, ami there after will gradually fall off during the rest of the lactation period. Cows that calve in poor and weak condition reach their highest output soon after calving (about a week), and instead of the lactation curve taking a gradual swing upwards, there is a sudden drop after the zenith has been reached, with the result that neither docs she actually reach her possible maximum yield (owing to not having been wintered properly), nor is the quality of her milk as good as that of the properly prepared or steamed up cow. It has been shown that a cow well fed some time before calving gives more milk, richer milk, and does not drop suddenly after her maximum yield has been attained, as is the case when running on mineral depleted pasture dur-

ing the preceding winter. Both from the health and production point of view, the dairy cow deserves more generous treatment from farmers than she generally receives.