Graham guardian., 1908-06-12
Making the Dairy Cow

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IN the making of a COW there IS
something more than the breeding
to be taken into accounts that,
while blood does tell, there is
another thing quite as important;
the dev elopment OF the milking
functions something that the
farmer needs to inform himself
about If he IS to proceed along
intelligent lines. A heifer well
born is great stride forward, but
the extreme milking function and
its contributory aids are matters OF
development, and l am Inclined to
think they constitute quite one
half of full rounded success,
Cows are seldom developed after
sbey are in the dairy. To begin
shen to develop digestion, to as
simulate large amounts OF food, to
appropriate balanced rations best,
and economically convert foods
into milk, is to actually attempt t.
rebuild the animal without return
ing her to the shop, or drydock,
ano the attempt must fail or the
result fall short of what might
have been accomplished had the
development been started three
wears or more earlier
After good parentage COW devel
opment begins on the day ot her
birth. She is a COW then, save the
future function Of motherhood.
There must be common sense
feeding of the calf from the start,
ano the start is the main thing.
when milk was bringing a ceot
and half . pound in spring and
fall have figured it out and as
often l supposed econom'zed IN
feeding new milk to tbe ''tt'e calf
and could see it "eating its sup
posed head off" each week. Fig
ured properly, the cost is ridIcu
lously small, for the possible sixty
or seventy gallons OF milk needed
to give the heifer its start, being
translated, means establishing at
the start good digestion with
natural food. without this milk,
figure the heifer giving for The ten
years of her supposed dairy life its
thousand pounds of milk year.
With the milk start it she should
give seven to eight thousand
pounds year there is an over
credit of twelve thousand or more
pounds of milk, which is more
a'vislble" when the seventy gallons
is deducted from the twelve thou
sand pounds, WHICH still leaves
1880 pounds, to pay iGr ihe hrst
"waste" of milk.
Yes, feed her like Il little COW
and on cow foods. Let calf and
stock foods alone. Feed good
bran, shorts, little oilmeai,
alfalfa hay. silage and that sort OF
stuff; keep her growing, always in
good flesh; do not overfeed, so as
to destroy or weaken digestion
Start in with a fall calf if possible.
A warm stable and COW foods will
do more for calf the first eight
months than summer pasture, with
swarms of pestering tlies and no
protein foods. II the rations are
of the proteins largely, l am no
longer scared at q reasonable
amount OF flesh on a heifer. Its
the corn made fat that is to be
avoided. 1t IS a mistake to with
bold all grain from a better until
q short time before she drops her
calf. The system then is not used
to handling such foods. They in
a sense become stimulants instead
of benefactors, and quite as much
if not more harm is done than
good. This heifer should have
blood and muscle making foods
for the year preceding the birth OF
her first calf. 1t has been hob
by with me for years that u heller
could not properly MAINTAIN
growth, develop the milking
functions and we'll mature the un-
born calf that did not
receive daily a proper amount OF
protein foods Aud Natures call
from these three sources is about
equal TO the milk demand after
she is in the dairy. am a great
believer in making cow---in
name-of beifer before she calves
Have her run with the dairy at
least three months before she
fresbeps. Have a stall for her and
feed her when you do the rest oi
the cows. Do not actually milk
her, but play you are going to quite
frequently. Make her think at
least she is going to be a cow
and good one. Drop pretty
well off from the grain q couple OF
weeks before she calves and now
and then give her udder u good
greasing with lard. This prevents
cbapping and the tendency to cake
keeps out the fever, which is really
The same thing, and have Il box
stall nursery in sight aud hearing
of the rest of the herd, us com
pany is a great thing for COW a
this period.
When TO add the grain again,
Well, do not do it all at once. 81
month about It, and calculate tht