The Little River news., 1916-03-11

iAOi Nto tlIG MEicS, { i) tSnGeD aIu NIDtlI Raising, (S) Stock Farm Management. III. RAISING AND FEEDING TEE DAIRY COW.
 By H. E. Dvorachak, Professor of Ani-
 nal IIusbandry, University
 Of Arkansas.
 A discussion of feeding dairy cattle would be incomplete unless one com menced with the development of the dairy heifer since the success of the business depends largely on herd I'm, pfoyement This applies especially to Arkansas dairying in so much as the business is still ill it's infancy, and the production per COW is still very low.
 The ability of the hefer to produce at the pail is largely a matter of he- redity and must not be under estimat- ed, but proper development has great influence nevertheless. It is es- Sential therefore that the heifes calf get g good start and is kept growing rapidly Whole milk for at least three to four weeks is the best. By that time a little grain can be added and the change made to skim milk. This change should be gradual and extend over three to four weeks more. Eight to ten pounds Of mill. daily is a sui during the first few weeks. This amount can be gradually increased to twelve OF fourteen pounds II is rarely advisable to feed more than that amount while the calf is on milk The grain can be increased and by the time the calf is on skim milk it Will be eating h&y. Never use cotton seed meal for calves. Oats, corn chops, wheat bran. and a small quantity Of oil meal are the best. Pasture is ex- cellent when they are old enough to properly utilize it. The object is to keep them growing at all times It has beeu proven that generous feed ing of heifers even though they lay on fat is not at all detrimental Jo their future usefulness. On the other hand such feeding means early matur- ity; that is, the heifer will make sui uSltLl IVY LII uuI HIS lllc tSSt DOS- sible time so that she may be bred early, thereby shortening her non-pro- ductive life, and still make ampie growth to insure a good sized COW whom mature. Make the ration com posed largely of nutritious roughages so as to develop strong and efficient digestive apparatus, and use grain :n the ration to force growth.
 The heifer and the mature COW as well should come to the freshening period in good flesh. Surplus fat will be milked down readily if the COW be of the desired dairy temperament. Ten to twelve days before freshening the grain ration should be reduced and laxative, cooling feeds such as silage, roots, or small amounts of linseed meal or wheat bran should be fed .
 The value of the dairy COW on the farm lies primarily in her ability to convert roughages commonly grown m abundance on most farms into valu
 able nutritious and readily market able product The selection of ra
 tion should therefore be made with a view AOl utilizing such roughages to the greatest possible extent. Both during development and when produc- ing milk, the requirement. of protein is high so that what is known as a narrow ration\ must be used. Where the protein can be supplied with le- gume hays, it should be done, as tb o1,o 1 of protein. Extra protein can be SUD- 1 piled through the grain or cencen- | trates. Cotton seed meal is our cheap est protein in Arkansas as rule. ] Wheat bran and oats also supply | deficiency in protein quite cheaply. A general rule is to feed one pound of grain daily for every three and 3 1 half to four pounds of milk produced
 daily for cows giving milk of average
 butter fat content or one pound of grain for every two and half to three pounds of high testing milk A pet
 ter rule is to feed a pound of grain
 daily for every pound of butter fat
 COW produces weekly This means
 that COW giving 10 pounds of butter fat per week should nave at least 10
 pounds of grain daily. Fhe individual
 needs of the COW must also be taken
 into consideration in grain feeding.
 In feeding daily animals the follow
 ing factors should be observed: Feed
 a ration that will meet ,the needs If
 the animal, especially from the stand
 point of protein require,ment; make
 the ration bulky enough to satisfy the
 capacity of the animal, make 1t pala- | table so that it is eateS with rel
 ish, utilize as far as possible crops
 grown on the farm, and by all means
 sec to 1t that the ration as not made
 too sxpensivs, so that profit can be ] made on the milk Droduc4d. Tho Yib- era, use of lssxmes will hblS h all in.
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