Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1925-11-28

legumes is pretty independent 81 the
grain market so far as young stock
and dry cows are concerned. This
IS largely due to the succulence of
corn sllage, Roots. dried beet puIp
and molasses also have sueculence.
but from an economical standpoint.
the corn silage leads.
However, altho silage IS an ex-
cellent feed, it is not a complete one
for dairy stock 1t is too bulky and
watery and contains too little protein
and mineral matter to meet fully the
requirements of the dairy cow. 1t
should be combined with some
leguminous hay, such as clover.
cowpeas or alfalfa. These will tend
to correct the deficiencies Of the
sllage in dry matter, protein and IN
mineral constituents
A ration of silage and alfalfa
alone is satisfactory, however, only
for cows which are dry or give but a
small amount of milk. Cows IN fun
milk require some concentrated feed
IN addition, rs they cannot consume
enough of these feeds TO keep an
large flow of milk and maintain
body weight.
The quantity of silage to feed a
COW depends upon the capacity of
the animal to consume feed. She
should be fed as much as she will
clean up without waste, when fed
with hay and grain. A good COW
should be fed just short of the limit
of her appetite The smaller dairy
cows eat from 25 to 80 pounds a day,
while the larger ones eat 45 pounds
or more.
Generally speaking. the ration Of
the dairy COWS should be supplied
with all the roughage that they can
clean up, with grain in proportion to
the milk and butter-fat yield. Hay
ranges from 5-12 pounds per COW
per day or figured at rate OF
pounds per 100 pounds liyeweight,
when fed in connection with silage
Silage should be fed at the rate of
2.5 to 3.5 pounds per 100 pounds
overweight Also. in speaking about
the completing of the ration, the
Holsteins need pound OF con
centrated for each 4 to 4 W pounds
of milk produced in addition 10 the
roughage; while Jerseys need /
pound to every to 81 pounds Of
milk good rule to follow is to
feed as many pounds of grain daily
as there are pounds of butter-tat
produced weekly. With good silage
and plenty Of legume hay, however,
little grain is needed for cows Of
ordinary production.
As TO the question pertaining 10
the time Of feeding ensilage, a strict
rule must be followed It IS best TO
feed the silage after milking. but if
this is impossible, feed several hours
before milking, II the feeding ID
done after the milking the odors
from the silage will have disappeared
before the next milking hour
In the case the silage Is frozen, IL
must be thawed before using and fed
Immediately before composition sets
in No harm results then and the
nutritiye value is not changed
Particularly when fed TO calves.
silage must be free from mold and
decay, more so than for adults
Yearlings can have silage 70 the eX-
tent Of one-half of a mature animals
ration; but in the case Of the bull
il is probably good TO limit the Stage
to 2 pounds per 1000 poundy live
weight. as some hold that large
allowance Of silage is detrimental TO
the breeding qualities of the bull
In the case Of dry COWS as pre-
viously mentioned silape may form
the principal ingredient of their
ration Cows when dry consume
almost as much rouphaRc AS when
milking. So their ration can consist
Of - to As pounds 81 silage and a
small supplementary feed Of clover
cowpeas or alfalfa to the amount of
3 to g pounds per day Ou this
ration the cows keep IN good flesh
and even gain in weight, bul dry
cows thin in flesh need little grain
Silage tends to keep the whole
system Of the cow IN good condition
ana il this way lessons the difficulty
Of calvng