The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1913-12-18
'FEEDING COWS N ill.,
GOOD RESULTS WITH DAIRY GAT
TIE REQUIRES CAREFUL s9
MANAGEMENT. "a,
BY C. H. Eekies. Dairy Department
Of the College Of Agriculture,
University Of Missouri.


The well-managed herd of dairy, cat
tie pays profits on managemcnt--bfg
profits.
Reports received by the college 81
agriculture of the University Of Mis-.
souri, from farmers of the state show
that the best-managed herds of cows
produce from two to three times as
much milk during the year as. does
the average COW. On the well-man-
aged farm the cows produce as much
milk in winter as they do in summer.
On many farms, however, the cows
almost cease to produce milk in win
ter. These large variations in results
are mostly due to the more careful
feeding which the better-manage1
herds receive. The well-managed herd
not only produces more milk in the
summer, but also produces larger
quantity in winter, when the price is
high.
The farmer who gets poor results
usually feeds timothy hay, corn fod
der and corn, and often not even a
sufficient amount Of these. With a
ration OF this kind it is impossible for
q COW to produce more than six quarts
of milk day for any length of time,
even if fed literally. Such a ration
does not contain the proper elements
COR making more than this amount of
milk.
The man who gets good results with
COWS feeds corn silage VITA clover, al
falfa or cowpea hay. He takes care
that the cows have plenty of this
roughage, and if he has some corn
fodder he leeds some OF that also.
When hay OF the kinds mentioned arc
used, a considerable part of the grain
ration can be ordinary ground corn.
For COW producing medium guam
tity of milk corn silage, alfalfa hay
and corn make fairly good ration.
For an animal which is producing
large quantity of milk, other grain, IL.
addition to corn, will be necessary.
At present prices, bran is too high
to feed in more than small quantities.
The cheapest feeds this year are corn
and cottonseed meal. When corn
s:lage and clover or cowpea hay are
on hand, probably the best grain mix
ture is four parts corn meal and one
part cottonseed meal. This grain
sh ould be fed at the rate of one poun
to three pounds of milk produced.
In some parts of the state corn is
more expensive than wheat. The two
have about the same feeding value,
pound for pound, and if wheat is the
cheaper it can be substituted for corn
The farmer who has no clover, alfalfa
or cowpea hay should feed some cot
tonseed meal, as this is the cheapest
way to supply the protein. With ra-
ton of corn fodder, timothy hay, corn
and two or three pounds of cottonseee
meal a day, 1t is possible to produce
as high as from 20 to- rs pounds Of
milk day when fed to good COW.
Without the cottonseed meal the same
cow would produce only about 10 or
IL pounds.
Below is given list of rations
made up to meet the conditions on
the average Missouri farm. The guam.
tity given is the amount which the
animal will require each day. 1t is
not supposed that, the roughage will
be weighed. 1t represents the amount
the average COW will eat up clean. 1t
is we'll to weigh the grain often
enough so that the feeder may know
how much is actually being given and
to feed it according to the amount of
milk produced.