WHEN TO DRY THE COW.

Waipa Post, Volume XX, Issue 1180, 10 December 1921, Page 7

WHEN TO DRY THE COW.

■ .—-♦ TWO MONTHS' SPELL NEEDED. The length of time that a cow goes dry is not always under the complete control of the owner, for sometimes a cow is bought lor a herd which will "dry up" in spite of all that can be done to induce her to milk longer, and at about five or six months after freshening she refuses to give more milk. Occasionally a cow is found or developed which is difficult to dry off when the time comes for her to rest and prepare herself for the next freshening. How long should she go dry? A correspondent to the London "Live Stock Journal" recently wrote that where the cow breeds heavily there is a continual strain on her system. She is either giving milk to feed a calf or developing a foetus or doing both at once, which latter is the case very much of the time. To be fair to the cow, to the calf, to the future of the herd, she should have from six weeks to two months dry on good feed between each lactation period. Exception may be taken, of course, where cows are pushed for "records," but the future of the herd may not always be improved by too much artificial forcing for voluminous production. Another correspondent .also declared that cows should be dry from six to eight weeks before calving, and they should be made to dry off. A good cow should be giving about 16 lb of milk per day when the drying process is begun. Ten weeks before calving cut off all cake and meal from the cow, and, if in winter, roots and silage. After reducing the feed for a week milk her once a day, and after another week every other day. Then stop, for If milking is continued the cow is bound to respond. Sometimes two or three days after milking has entirely ceased it may happen that the udder may make a little, but this does not often occur. Six weeks previous to calvJng the cow should be quite dry.