Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1922-08-30
Easy to Underfeed a Good
Dairy Cow.

DdIFy SOW.
It is as easy to underfeed a good
dairy cow as it is to owe feed a poor
one. If a good dairy COW, well fed
uses one-half the feed consumed to
maintain her body, on%e-fourth to
manufacture milk and the other
fourth is given back in the milk, 1t
is easy to see how a poor cow, that
will not live up to this division OF
The feed, may be overfed. On the
other hand, while a good dairy cow,
if underfed, is likely to draw on her
own body to a certain extent, still
if she is not given all the, feed she
can use on this basis of one-half for
her body and one-half for milk pro-
duction, the milk production is
bound to suffer, for the body must
have it's needs supplied or it cannot
do it's work.
IF two cows of the same weight
require the same amount of feed
(half a full ration for a good cow
to keep up their bodies, then each
should be fed the same for this pur-
pose. That is, each should have a
basic ration for this purpose n
then any additional food should be
in proportion to the milk produ-
ced.
Let US suppose that these two
COWS are getting all the ronghage
they can consume. This should be
some succulent feed such as green
pasturage, silage O. roots, and in ad-
dition all the legume hay they will
consume. If these constitute the
roughage, they will be well fed in so
far as the roughage is concerned.
One need know little more about
feeding r~oughage, for if these feeds
be grown on the farm and the cow
receives all the green feed or pastur-
age she will consume, all the silage
she will take, or a fair allowance OF
roots, and in addition what legume
hay she will eat, she is to this extent
being we'll and economically fed.
If anything more is fed, it should
be ON the basis of milk produced. II
n of these lows be a poor dairy
COW she will not pay for any concen-
trates or grains in addition to such.
roughage. In fact, if she is an aver
age dairy COW she will not pay for
much if any grain when given all
these good roughages she will con-
sumo, and since these roughages, II
produced on the farm, are cheaper
than grain or concentrates, only the
good cow or those better than the
average are likely to pay for grain
when given all the roughage they
will consume. But if the other cow
be a good one she will pay a profit
on some grain and should have it.
The greatest defeat in the feeding
of dairy cows is that few of them
have all these succulent feeds and
1egume hay they will consume. Pas
lures are short and overrun with
weeds, silage and root crops are too
often missing, and legume hays are
very much too scarce. When these
conditions exist, then high-priced
grains must be fed to even keep up
the bodies of the COWS and clarifying
doesn't pay"
But even when these roughages
are given in abundance the good cow
or any COW which will pay for it is
entitled to grain in quantities that
she will pay a profit On. The cow get
ting these roughages that will pay a
fair profit on only four pounds of
grain a day is not entitled to 6 or 8
pounds. On the other hand if 8
pounds of grain is feed. to a cow that
will give a better profit when fed
10 pounds of grain, the owner is a
loser by his failure to give this cow
as much feed as she requires to pay
the best profit.
1t is apparent that cows car only
be fed economically when given all
the home grown roughages of the
best sort they will consume, and are
then fed grain only in proportion to
the milk produced. To feed in this
way, the milk must be weighed and
a record kept, and each cow fed &C
cording to her production or milk
flow. This is some trouble, but if it
is too much trouble for any man, he
had better go out Of the dairy bus
.;nocc proorasciva Farmer.