DAIRY CATTLE

Waikato Times, Volume 105, Issue 17750, 29 June 1929, Page 22 (Supplement)

DAIRY CATTLE

. DRYING OFF COWS. BRED FOR HIGH PRODUCTION. Many owners of dairy cattle have difficulty in drying off some of their cows that are bred for extremely high production, but., as a rule, cows can be successfully dried off if they are properly handled from the time the process is started. Commenting upon the subject, Mr John R. Brownley, of Durham Co., Ontario (U.S.A.), stated that the first thing to do is to get. the cow down to less than 101 b ol' milk a day before starting to dry her off. After milking once a day for two or three days the cow should be milked once every other day if producing- not more than one gallon of milk a day.

If the cow is producing a greater quantity of milk than one gallon. It. is advisable to get some belladonna ointment and rub it into her udder thoroughly once or twice each day. it is; also helpful to give a cow a teaspoonful.of belladonna in a little water as a drench night and morning for three or four days. As soon as the flow of milk has been reduced to five or six pounds a day,, the cow should be milked every, other day for.two or three days, and then stop milking entirely. The udder will become very full, but it should not be milked. In a few hours after it has reached its fullest content of milk, it will gradually reduce, and in a few days will become perfectly normal. Cows from which a heavy production is expected should have a dry period of not less than six weeks, and eight weeks is better.