Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1910-03-15
Feed and Shelter for Cows.

A number of things are essential in
the handling of dairy cows to make
them yield the greatest quantity Of milk
for the longest period. Among these
things are the feed and shelter. All
who have kept COWS know that they
give the most and best milk when on
spring and early summer pasture 10 GEN.
trail latitudes during the months OF
April, May and June. Now the reasons
for this are that during these months
the weather is mild SO that the cows are
comfortable during the entire day; there
are no flies to bother them; and the
green grass of the pastures is abundant,
succulent, and supplies all the essential
elements in good proportions for making
milk. To these might be added that
during the early pasturing season there
is usually an abundance of pure, cool
| water in the pastures so that the cows
can drink their I'll whenever they wish.
The water they find in the pastures In
spring is almost always clear and neither
tno warm nor too cold.
The good dairy COW is more tender
| animal than most any other farm animal.
She is reasonably we'll protected by
coat of hair, but she carries no fat dur
ing the milk producing period for keep
ing off the cold. A beef animal carries
heavy layers of fat under the skin, hence
it can stand the cold. Th" dairy cow
would suffer in an open shed on cold
night where beef steer or horse in
good flesh would be comfortable.
The dairy COW that is expected to give
the heaviest flow of milk must be pro-
vided with q warm and dry stall in cold
weather. In fact her living quarters
must be much warmer than horse sta
bles or poultry houses. There must be
good ventilation of the COW stable, but
the lower walls must be tight, and doors
and windows must fit so that no cold
air will blow in and fall upon the ami
mails while they are lying down which
they do large part OF the time when
not eating The day and night tempera-
ture of the COW stable should be about
like the temperature of a mild April day,
temperature in which no chill is felt.
II the stall is so cold that the COW be-
comes chilled part of the feed she con-
sumes will go to keep up her normal
temperature and she will give less milk.
Keeping the dairy COW in q warm
stall, with plenty of fresh air to breathe
is simply providing her with summer
living conditions. The more nearly
complete summer conditions can be pro-
vided for the COW the better she will
perform at the pail and the more net
profit can be made in keeping her.
This includes feeding as we'll as housing.
In most cases in winter cows are fed on
one or two kinds of dry feeds, which
are neither palatable nor contain enough
elements in right proportions for pro-
ducing large flow of milk. A COW can
not give much milk on corn fodder and
timothy hay. She will eat the corn with
a relish, but corn is too poor in protein
to make balanced ration.
Winter feeds for the COW should con-
sist of clover, alfalfa, cowpea hay, and
corn silage for roughage and then corn
may be fed for the grain ration, or at
least part of it, the protein being fur
nished by the leguminous hays. The
silage is rich in food values and has the
advantage of being appetizing, succu-
lent, and easily digestible. By its use
the COW has a food nearly equal to the
pasture grass of summer.
II no silage can be used, some cotton
seed meal, liuseed meal, wheat bran, or
shorts, should be fed. But nothing will
take the place Of corn silage for closely
initiating the nutritious grass OF early
summer pasture. When summer comes,
give the COW a pleasant stall where she
will not suffer from the heat or be tor
mented with flies. Initiate June con-
ditions with her for all the year, and she
will become profitable animal if 1t is in
her to be one.