ON THE LAND

Taranaki Daily News, 17 September 1932, Page 22 (Supplement)

ON THE LAND

rations for live stock

ASSESSMENT OF VARIOUS NEEDS.

HOW TO CATER FOR THE: HERD,

Bulletin No. 38, prepared by the Canterbury Agricultural College for the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, deals with the subject of rations for stock, with advice as io the mixtures best suited for different animals. In Bulletin No. 37 it was shown how stock feeds could be compared on a common basis, viz., their energy values or staren equivalents. Tables were given showing the relative starch equivalents oi the commoner feeding stuffs, and .it was explained how these starch equivalents could be used by farmers in deciding what feeds to buy. It was stated further that, even though two feeding stuffs supplied the same amount oi starch equivalent, they were not always interchangeable unless the new rations supplied the correct amount of bulk and protein. In compounding a ration one must keep these requirements in mind. It is proposed, in this Bulletin, to state what these are for horses, cattle and sheep, and to give in further detail mixtures that satisfy them. These mixtures are computed for the animals given as examples, and will necessaiily vary with weight, age, and other circumstances. If the animals are getting some feed off grass paddocks, or if they are doing less work, or are producing less than the stated quantities, amounts different from these usually are, and should be, fed. Change in weight is. a most important point to keep in .mind; under New Zealand conditions it is more or less a common practice to allow animals to lose condition, when feed becomes scarce. Fundamentally, it is unsound to do so, but it is often unavoidable. .In changing from a fat to a thin condition. an animal may. lose 25 per cent, of its weight, and since one pound of fat body weight is equivalent to three pounds of starch equivalent, a loss of 301 b. in a fat sheep supplies sufficient energy for six weeks’ feeding, and this explains how animals are able to exist on less than the full ration outlined. . It is not suggested that the starved animals would' jive six weeks, since the supply of vitamins, minerals and protein obtained from the body ; would be insufficient to,maintain life; but, year after year, animals that are half-starv-ed for three'months do exist, and produce from their body-substance, as indicated. The effects of under-feeding and mal-nutrition have been pointed out in previous bulletins. If these facts aie borne in mind, the feeder may now use the rations set out belo.w in such quantics as to maintain his animals in the condition that he decides is' most profitable. The condition in which it is decided to maintain the animal must be the only guide as to quantities fed. 'RATIONS TO MAINTAIN COWS. The condition in which it is desired, to maintain the cows determines the amounts fed. Quantities are as follows for cows of 10001 b. li\e weight.

In-calf cows require • a little more than maintenance. The following supply sufficient bulk of protein and starch equivalent. '.RATIONS FOR DRY IN-CALF COWS..

Note: The protein in No. VII. is in excess, but not to the extent of being harmful. Mixing the correct rations for cows is more difficult when the cows are at pasture, since they get some feed oft the grass. Cows will eat normally to satisfy their requirements of bulk, but if these amounts fail to satisfy the crude protein or starch equivalent requirements, the cows lose condition or continue to eat until excessive bulk has been taken in. If this is done, waste must occur. With cows at grass it is safe to feed mixtures such as those detailed above, but in lesser quantities. If the grass is young and growing, it will be richer in protein and so the mixtures fed. can afford to be poorer in protein. Thus, cows will winter satisfactorily and maintain their condition on straw and meat meal when there is some growing grass. If they got half of pound of meat meal per day, and ate 121 b. of straw daily, the total ration would be as follows: —

On the other hand if the grass is long and stemmy the cows will not winter well on this ration, and some grain, is necessary along with the meat meal. rations for milking cows. As a rule milking cows are fed on grass, and when this is abundant it is usually unnecessary to use other foods, except, perhaps, a few pounds of hay in thp early season. For winter milkers, the following ration is suitable I for cows giving three gallons of milk | per day. For January and February |

in dry periods Ration XIV. will provide feed' which will prevent the cows’, milk vicld declining; or a ration consisting of 80 to 1001 b. of turnips with hay if the grass is very short will suffice; — Starch

As with horses, excess of fibre is harmful with milking cows. A cow cannot take more than nine and a-halt pounds of indigestible material, and when she receives this amount her yield is limited to about one gallon per day, no matter how rich the remaining feed is. Twenty pounds of straw, 301 b. of «ood hay, or 1801 b. of green grass' contain about 9-Jlb. of indigestible matter.

MILK YIELD AND QUALITY.

INFLUENCING FACTORS

The main factors influencing yield and quality of milk, stated Mr. James Mackintosh (Reading University) m a recent lecture, are the period of lactation, the’age of the cow, its health, the length of the interval between the milkings If they could milk the cows absolutely at 12 hours’ interval they would get a fractional increase in the morning above the evening, and a fractional decrease in the fat percentage, but nothing to worry about. Whenever they lengthened the one interval, and correspondingly shortened the other they got more milk and less fat after the long interval. With regard to milking cows three times daily, there was a lack of accurate knowledge of the effect on fat contents.' They would get a uniform yield, but they would not get a uniform but-ter-fat, and why, he could not tell them. They would, 1 however, he believed, lessen the risk of turning out low quality of milk in the morning. . A milker who milked quickly, quietly and thoroughly would get all a cow could give of butter-fat. Climate and weather conditions were awkward circumstances to consider; they were in themselves what he should describe as composite factors. With regard to the question of the kind and quality of the food and its influence, he suggested they should feed adequately and well, but not over-feed nor under-feed.

SELLING PIGS.

CONDITIONS IN ENGLAND.

“It is a bad time to be disposing, of pigs, but sometimes we have io sell, even though we know it is a mistake,” wrote Mr. Theo. A. Stephens, in the Farmer and 'Stockbreeder of, July 4, when - commenting on urgent English conditions. “I. have just had to sell pigs owing to shortage of accommodation and lack of money. It would, I. think, have paid me better to run them on, for the demand at the moment is conspicuous by its absence. Fortunately, I was able to find private buyers and get a much better price than I should have done in the market, ‘but even so it is impossible to get their value. A good many people think that Ottawa and the Irish situation, together with the possibility of an early report by the Pig Reorganisation Committee, may mean- a rise in price for pork and bacon pigs in the autumn. I am not so optimistic; but, on the other hand, I fail to see how there can be a loss in feeding pigs if .stores are bought at to-day’s prices.” LAMBING SEASON. PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. Though' lambing is not likely to be general in Canterbury for a few weeks yet,- there are more lambs to be seen about now than is usual at this time of the year, and in few cases have farmers whose flocks have lambed, or partlylambed, any cause for complaint, reports a correspondent from Canterbury. Cases of twins and triplets have seldom been, so numerous, and provided Favourable weather is experienced during , this month the returns should be exceptional, taking into consideration, of course, the fact that ewe flocks have been somewhat depleted as a result of the heavy killings during the late summer drought. Most of the lambs that have already appeared are the progeny of Southdown rams and open-woolled ewes —threequarterbreds and crossbreds —and will be fattened with the object of catching the early trade. The fine-woolled flocks will be lambing a little later, but many of the lambs from these will be of the Down cross. Most breeders have put their faith in lambs this season, and for that reason a much more general use of the Southdown ram was induced in the autumn. 1 In fact, a very large percentage of the flocks were turned out with rams of this breed, and of the rest the majority were mated with English Leicesters. As lamb producers the halfbred and Corriedale rams have gone almost completely out of fashion. In the Peninsula districts, where the bulk of the early lambs are dropped, lambing just now is confined to the eastern bays, and on many of the warmer points the farmers have already tailed their lambs. Those on the western side of the hills, and above the 500 ft. level, will not be starting until about middle of this month. The. returns so far have been fully up to the average here, in spite of the fact that the snow early in August caused a few losses among the very early lambs. Generally speaking the snow came as a relief to the farmers in this district after the unusually dry winter, and its benefits are being, more readily appreciated now that feed is shirting to show through, with every indication of a good first growth in the spring. ° Lambing has started to become a little more general in the inid-Canterbury district, where the ewes have wintered well an the turnips, which lasted longer tha.n usual. Percentages so far have been, in most cases, well over the hundred. Toward the foothills, in the Dartield district, farmers have started well, particularly those on the sheltered properties, and many instances of twins and triplets, all doing well, have been reported. In Ellesmere also lambing is progressing well, and percentages generally have been good! One farmer tailed I*s pairs of twins out of 20 ewes, md another has a paddock specially ieserved for twin lambs, there being over

30 pairs of them, with a sprinkling of triplets. Several farmers in North Canterbury have been busy tailing lately. On one property in the Cheviot district, which, as a rule, is one of the later lambing parts of the province, the results so far have been encouraging; out of the first 25 ewes that lambed, 15 of them gave birth to twins. PASPALUM SEED. SOAKING BEFORE SOWING. Trials made by the Plant Research Station, Palmerston North, with various lines of paspalum seed, indicate . that while soaking does not result in any significant increase in the total percentage of germination, it certainly does materially increase germination speed. It has been found, however, that temperatures over 60 deg. centigrade (140 deg. Fahrenheit) depress germination, and that temperatures over 70 deg. centigrade (160 deg. Fahrenheit) are totally fatal. An immersion for five minutes at 60 deg. centigrade gives good results, 'but an 18 to 24 hours’ soak at approximate room temperature is equally successful, and attendant with no risk or damage as is the ease with soaking at high temperatures for prolonged periods.

Dry cow maintenance • • - - Starch Crude Equiva- • Dry Matter, lb. 15 to '21 Protein lb. lent, lb. 6.0 Cow giving one 22 to 27 1.25 9.0 Cow giving gallons two 1.75 12.0 25 to 20 Cow giving three 27 to 33 gallons 2.25 15.0

\ Crude Protein, lb. Starch Equiv’l’nt. lb. VI.— 401b. mangels .. .. ' .28 2.4 121b. average hay . .64 3.7 .92 6.1 VII.— 1 601b. soft turnips .. .36 2.'64 121b. oat and tare hay .78 3.60 1.14 6.24 VIII.— 401b. swedes .... ■ .44 2.92 101b. oat straw .. .. .10 1.90 .13 1.42 — ■ .67 6.24 IX.— 101b. wheat straw .01 1.2 61b. oats .48 3.6 lib. linseed .20 1.2 - —— — '—«■ .69 6.0 121b. oat straw .. .12 2.4 41b. barley .26 2.8 11b. meat meal .. .95 .88 6.1

Crude Starch Protein. Equiv’l’nt. lb. lb. lb. XT.— ' 351b. green grass . .58 3.94 121b. wheat straw . .01. 1.44 Xlb. meat meal - . --5 .47 .84 5.85

' Or. Protein equivTnt lb. lb. XII.— 2.92 141b. swedes .. ... .44 131b. hay .... ... .81 4.70 alb. bran .... 2.25 91b. .72 5.4 2.52 15.27 XIII.— 10.4 SOlb. silage . • ■ ... 1.60 151b. hay ... ... .81 4.7 2.41 15.1 XIV.— 15-0 1201b. silage . • • . .. 2.40