Oxford Democrat., 1907-06-25
Handling a Jersey Herd.

(By Herbert NJ. Tucker. formerly herdsman q
Morey farm, now at Chill Station. n. ~
/ have fed and cared for herd oi
Jersey cattle since my early boyhood
and vet feel there is lots to learn.
Years ago I might have given some
rigid rules as to how long COW should
90 dry, how she should be fed and cared
for, etc., but that was when thought
knew more than do now. / have learn.
ed that each COW In the herd has to be
taken as separate problem.
In regard to the length of time to &c
dry, I could tell the length of time
would prefer to have her, and that
wolld be from four to six weeks, but
usually the cow herself has something
to say about that, and when we have one
in our herd that is generous enough to
give us good flow of milk fifty weeks
In the year, we can but admire her for it,
and treat her accordingly. And to
starve such an one or neglect to milk
her would be "cruelty to animals" "
Far better to widen her ration and feed
her 80 that she will be strong, healthy
and in good condition when she freshens,
even though she has to be MIXED every
day.
On the other hand, II a cow shrinks
early in her milk on narrow ration and
is inclined to lay on fat gradually drop
the ration to a small one OF shorts and
ground oats. In some cases when the
animal is laying on too much fat l take
grain away entirely but give plenty Of
nutritious rOugbage. My aim is not to
have COW freshen that Is either poor or
fat.
The cow that is overfat and the one
that is thin in flesh are the ones you
may expect small, weak calves from.
while the sleek, well-fed calf is dropped
by the COW that is in ''just good coD-
dition." If possible l would put the
cow that is to freshen into roomy box
stall or pen two or three weeks before
she is due, and feed her literally on
succulent food to keep her bowels in
proper condition.
Some make practice of giving one or
two doses of physic about this time, but
such practice always seemed too radi-
cal to me. think, however, that few
salts, one or two handfuls in bran
mash each day, cleanses the bowels and
tends to ward off milk fever, garget and
other ills so much dreaded at calving
time. Keep everything as quiet as
possible about her at time of parturition,
allowing no one around her except the
attendants she is acquainted with. Soon
after calving, give her all the warm
water she will drink and make it as
warm as she will take it. Throwing in
few handfuls of bran and little lin
seed will help her to swallow good lot.
This warming up will usually bring the
afterbirth away without trouble.
As to milking, IL the cow is large
mixer and carries large amount in her
udder, it is best to milk out only
small part at time, just enough to
keep the udder from getting intlamed
from over-distention, and gradually in
creasing the amount MIXED out until
about the end of the third day, when
she can be MIXED out clean. After
three or four days feed four quarts Of
bran night and morning. and slowly
increase from that to full grain ration
of mixed grain.
Generally speaking, | am about four
weeks getting up to full feed, but here
again the individuality of the COW comes
in. II she is persistent mixer and
rather thin, get her on good feed as
soon as dare to. If fat and has been
dry some time, l give her chance to
put some of her surplus fat into the pail
before feed her very much.
Then by slowly increasing as she de-
creases, being careful not to feed her
beyond her capacity to return it to the
nail. I get some mighty good years
work from some cows that were con-
sidered too beefy.
The matter of decreasing the grain
ration is often very difficult matter to
decide and still more difficult to describe
on paper. Of course if.a heifer is in first
period of lactation, we are anxious to
have her hold out as we'll as possible,
and yet on the other hand, too liberal
feeding produces too much fat, so right
here calls for study of each animal in
the herd and experience and good judg-
ment on the part of the feeder.