Grainger County news. (Rutledge, Tenn.) 1917-current, 1922-11-01
DAIRY COWS
BY c. A HUTTON,
Dairy Specialist, Division Of tx
tension

"What can best ahord to feed nay
cows"
Dil YOU ever ASK Yourself thnt cues
| tom or course yOu have. maay
! times. If your returns from your COW
or COWS are what they should be, for
there Is no factor which determines
the prof. or loss In Keeping mix
| cows TO a greater extern than proper
! feeding. The cost Of feed makes ~
I about one-half Of the total cost OF pro-
! ducing milk In Tennessee during the
entire year, but during the fall and
| winter season considerably more than
! hnit of the cost Is due to the cost of
feed consumed The question Of eco-
noHlc feeding is Of particular import
unre during the fall ana winter, when
the cost Of feed makes MP such a
I lniae percentage Of the total cost Of
( milk production.
Better Feeding-oreatsr Profits
Results Of six years cow-tcating as.
sociarlon work in Tennessee prove
conclusively that more COWS in the
state fail to pay reasonable profit
because of not being properl. fed and
cared for than because Of being poor
individuals. Furthermore, Increased
production ana greater net profits re-
i suitlug from cow-testing association
work indicate that there are very few,
il any herds OF dairy COWS n the
State SO well fed that the production
cannot be very materially increased
by better feeding, resulting in not
only an increased yield, but in more
profitable production as well. Nj
| merous instances could be cited -
show how production ana profit Fave
been increased by good feeding, but
the following case illustrates the
point:
One Tennessee dairyman Increased
his net profit ,631 above feed cost in
one year over the previous year, with
fewer cows in his herd, This was due
almost entirely to better feeding. An
ether man increased his net profit
from y cows $36.73 in December, 1919,
over November Of the same year. He
MIXED the same cows each month,
none Of which freshened during that
time, and sold his products at ihs
same price each month.
Feed Cows Literally
| Don't starve a good COW, and don't
| let poor COW starve you! The
| stingy feeder cheats himself as well
as the COW. When fed a full ration
and comfortably housed the dairy
COW uses practically one-half of the
| feed she consumes to maintain her
| body. If exposed to cold and rain
she viii use more than half of her
| feed for her body maintenance. II
given only half Of the feed she needs,
she will give small quantity Of
milk for a while making milk from
body fat which has been stored up ia
her system. She will draw on this
body fat until she is very poor, and
finally Ego dry" If given three
| fourths as much food as required she
| viii give 4 return on one-third Of the
food eaten, while if given full ra-
ton she will make milk from oae.
half Of the food consumed The dairy
cow, like a machine Is most profitable
when worked to full capacity, and can
turn out her finished product, milk,
only in proportion to the kind mi
amount of raw material, feed con,
sumed.
! Winter Feeding aud Care
The problems involved In wluter
feeding Sara generally quite different
| from those Of summer feeding, ..and
the suggestions contained In THIS ar
ticle are especially applicable % yin.
ter feeding. Pasture, which Is usual
ly the basis of summer feeding, Is not
available during the winter in most
parts Of the state, or at best is very
limited 1t has been my observation
THAI milk COWS suffer more from eX.
posture in Tennessee than they do ID
| Wisconsin, due to- the fact that
! Tennessee dairymen have attached
too much Importance to our mild
climate and paid too little attention
to providing comfortable barns 10 pro
tect the cows from the cold winds aGU
rains. Dairy cows do not carry IL
| much flesh as beef cattle, and need
more protection. Cows exposed Il
cold are compelled to use too much
of their feed for generating body heat
and hence cannot produce as much
| milk rs they would if comfortably
housed.