The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1916-09-21
FEEDING DAIRY COWS
FOR milk and Profit
Cow Should Be Fed Sufficient
Balanced Ration to Produce
Maximum Amount of Milk
Clemson College, s. G.

CLEMSON COleSep .. ~.
Liberal feeding of dairy cows is nee
essary for profitable production. Cows
are feed for two purposes; body main
tenance and milk production. A great
many farmers in South Carolina keep
cows which are fed only sufficient
feed to enable them to perform their
own functions, such as heating the
body, pumping the blood, digesting the
feed and moving about. Cows fed only
such maintenance rations" are nec-
essarily money losers or 'boarders."
The COW can produce milk without loss
of body weight only after she has been
fed a sufficient amount to maintain
her body functions, and q surplus
from which to manufacture the milk.
The maintenance ration Is fixed
charge, and the more feed a cow can
consume above that required for main
tenance, the greater the amount of feed
available for milk production.
From the standpoint Of economical
production, one can afford to give a
cow all the feed she will consume
without gaining in weight, and Nd
more. A good cow will generally lose
in weight in the early part of the lac
tation period and gain in the latter
part. Such COWS should be fed lib
orally with the assurance that they
will pay for the extra feed during the
next lactation period.
The most common mistake made in
this state is that Of not feeding the
COWS in summer when on pasture.
Even with the very best pasture
COW cannot give her maximum produc-
ton on pasture alone. Cows giving 20
pounds or more Of milk should have at
least pounds Of grain feed even when
on the best pastures. When pasture
Is poor and flies are bad the cows will
return profit on more grain feed than
the above, and should receive it. The
best dairymen in the state are begin
ming to realize the value Of summer
silage, and are building silos Of small
diameter for summer feeding. When
the grass Is short and flies worry the
COWS so that they cannot feed as they
should on grass, silo for summer
feeding is good insurance. If it is
found unnecessary to use the silo dur
ing the summer, it can be sealed up
and the silage fed the following winter.
The best roughage feeds to be fed
with silage in this state are alfalfa,
crimson clover, vetch. cowpea hay and
soy bean hay All Of the above feeds
are legumes, and contain high per-
centage of protein, a very necessary
element in milk production.
Cotonseed meal, peanut meal, wheat
bran and corn meal are the most COM
mon grain feeds used in the South. OF
these, the value of wheat bran used
with cottonseed meal is probably the
least appreciated. This is a bulky
feed, has laxative effect (the opposite
Of the cotton seed meaD, and contains
lime, potash and PHOSPHORUS which
60 to build up the cows body. None
OF the above grain feeds should be fed
alone. They should be mixed in order
to get a balanced ration. Cows should
receive 1 pound OF the grain mixture
to pounds of milk produced daily, or
approximately pounds of grain feed
to a gallon of milk. This, with all the
good roughage they will consume will
give cow sufficient feed nutrients
for maximum economic production.