Yerington times. [volume] (Yerington, Nev.) 1907-1932, 1912-01-27
Hints in Cow Feeding

|
The Indiana State Agricultural Expert
ment Station made exhaustive tests OF
feeds and their blending, with the view
of ascertaining the most profitable and
efficient ration for milk production.
In the bulky ration which the COW re-
quires it was found that the dry matter
in swale hay is only 80 per cent digest
ible, in red-top hay 46 per cent digest
ible, and in timothy hay CATER bloon)
53.4 per cent. On the other hand, the
more digestible hays in this respect are
as follows: Hairy vetch, 5o.4 per cent;
white clover, o7.2 per cent; and dried
pasture grass, 1875 per cent. Since only
the digestible portion of food can con-
tribute to productive purposes, this
ton. The dry matter in rye-meal, S7.3
per cent digestible; in cottonseed meal,
1871 per cent; in Oil meal N. p, 1872
per cent; in corn-meal, 1914 per cent.
Corn is one of the most digestible grains,
and cows milk is practically all digest
ible. A ton of good timothy hay con-
tains 952 pounds of digestible nutrients,
a ton of cow-pea hay, ,010 pounds, and
a ton of alfalfa, 1,O36 pounds.
1t is more profitable to feed ground
than whole grain. When whole corn
was fed to cows % per cent. or about
one fourth, was unmasticated, and the
animal derived no benefit from the I'M
masticated grain that passed through the
! digestive tract.
Neither undertaking nor overlooking
are recommended, but moderation that
will keep the COW contented without
gorging her. study of the wants of the
individual COW being recommended for
better economy in feeding. Stress is
laid upon the palatability of the feed
since the cow will the better eat and as
simulate the food she likes.
Various means of preparing foods have
been resorted to in the past. Those that
are cooked are no more digestible than
the same uncooked
Certain foods known to have laxative
qualities should find place i'll nearly
every ration Those in which it is pro-
nounced should be fed moderately.
Again, as concerns the product, certain
foods produce hard while others produce
soft fats in the butter.
No single food or combination of foods
has yet been used that will permanently
increase the percentage of butter fat i'll
the milk of an individual cow In the
light of present knowledge, it is impos-
sible to feed fat into the milk of COW
in normal condition. The quality of
milk can be influenced by feeding.
Salt is essential to health, but does not
appreciably increase digestibility.
Ration is the term applied to the
amount of food consumed by an animal in
"a hours When the food requirements
of an animal are approximately met, no
more. no less, it's ration is said to be bal
anced. ration that sustains a COW
producing Is pounds of 80 per cent
milk will not be adequate for one of the
same live weight producing IS pounds
of per cent milk. The expression,
balanced ration is relative term.
The nutrients contained in all feeding
Stuffs, animal bodies and milk, may be
divided for convenience into the follow
ing classes: Water ash (mineral mat
teri, protein heterogeneous matter Is per
cent nitrogen), carbohydrates (sugaar,
starch, cellulose), fats or oils.
The vital activities of the body require
certain amount of food for their sup
port. This is called the maintenance re-
uuirement or the maintenance ration. A
COW weighing 1000 pounds in normal
condition OH the average will require 4
pounds protein, pounds carbohydrates
and 4 pound of fat in digestible form,
to maintain her without gain or loss in
weight Such ration supplies nothing
for growth, work or other purposes. So
long as the COW makes proper use of her
food, the more she will eat above main
tenance needs, the more profitable she
will be.
An average COW will consume from 20
to rs pounds of dry hay or roughness
per day. When silage is used more total
roughness will be eaten. For ordinary
feeding the grain will vary from one
third to one-half the weight of rough
ness in the ration. When cows are
forced it may reach two-thirds the
|
ton of the ration is usually more salts
factory than to employ single ingred-
lent With thirty pounds of corn silage
usually 10 to II pounds of clover hay
will be eaten With this four pounds of
corn-meal and three to four pounds of
wheat bran or ground oats, or their
equivalent, should be given. Oil meal
should be fed only in small quantities,
one or two mounds because of its loosen