Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1877-08-29

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I have been requested forinforma-S
ton on the proper treatment Of heifers
the first season in milk, and regarding
it as an important question, will make
few suggestions. .----rr,, III
When the heifer first comes into milk
her system is in a sensitive state. and
great care should be taken not to give
too stimulating food 1.-THE heifer is on
very flush grass, it is safer to give her a
little dry hay each day, which she will
relish, while it counter acts the stenden-
cy to make too much blood. and 10 IAN
excessive relaxation Of the bowels. She
should be treated with extreme gentle
ness, and all excitement avoided. It is
inconsistent to expect full flow of milk
from heifer with rude treatment. Any
worry and excitement, even in older
cows. will suddenly reduce the flow of
milk, and the heifer is still more sensi-
tive. To secret large amount of milk
is heavy drain upon the vitality Of the
heller, and although she must not be
stimulated for the first month or two,
yet she must have a nutritious diet that
she may not lose flesh. After two
months she may safely be fed a. little:
grain with the grass ration, if that IS
short and if upon hay in winter, some
laxative food should be fed with the hay,
even before she comes in-such as a
pint to a quart of oil meal with two
quarts of bran.
For feeding with scanty pasture, oat
meal or oats and corn, ground finely to-
gether, will be found very successful
Upon the careful handling Of The sheifef
the first season much of her future use
fulness will depend. The great object
is to increase, gradually, her secretion. of
milk, and in order to do this she, must
be fed as generously as safety will per-
NIT. The milk secretion should be en-
couraged by furnishing the best food to
keep it up, We have known heifers
nearly spoiled, as milk producers, by
keeping them so poorly for three orfour
months after coming in that their milk
had become reduced to a few quarts; and
then new fresh growth of grass COM
ing has given them a full ration, the IN
creased flow of blood instead of going to
the secretion ofmilk has been turned to
the production of flesh and fat. When
lllc ulIlh StCItllOu OuCe ldllS away IL Is
difficult to recover it again. Now had
the flow Of milk been kept good, the ac-
tivity of the sytem would nearly all be
in the channel, and when the new
growth Of grass came, the extra food
would be mostly turned to the increase Of
milk. 1t is therefore of the, greatest
importance that the heifer shoald not
be suffered to fall off in milk, but shoatt1s
keep up steady flow through the sea, !
son. 52s O e ~ g. .s5
And for the purpose of lengtheningl
this flow and getting the helfer used to
long periods Of milking, we deem it best
TO postpone the second calf to Is or 10
months from the first, and that she.
should give milk from IL to Is months.
This requires good feeding all the time.
and the heifer should go dry three
months before coming in the second
time. This management will SO devel-
OPP the milking qualities Of the heifer that
you will be likely to get profitable
COW the second milking period, if she
has milking qualities worth developing.
E. w. S.