| OCR Text |
Show EXTREME CARE SHOULD BE EXERCISED IN TRANSPORTATION OF VALUABLE DAIRY COWS i 4 kh, f " y . 0 Treat Bossy Kindly and With Consideration When She Travels. quire neither petting nor pampering should be handled under normal conditions con-ditions before and during the railroad trip. The cows should be fed and watered at regular intervals, and if any of the animals are in milk "they should be milked according to regular schedule. It pays to feed grain and hay during a long shipment where the cows are accustomed to these feeds. It is difficult to feed grain in a freight car where no special provisions are made to prevent wastage, as a result of the tendency of the animals to move about where they are not held securely se-curely in place. However, on long trips grain can be carried in the car and fed at all points where the stock is unloaded. A competent attendant should always accompany the dairy cows; he should ride in the car with the stock, as often he can avert injury in-jury to the animals by prompt action in case one of them gets down or otherwise gets into trouble. Water Supply Important. Several large barrels of water, as well as plenty of feed, should be carried car-ried in the car as insurance against delay or accident which may detain the train to the extent that without this feed the animals might go hungry hun-gry or thirsty far beyond the 36-hour limit. Sand is one of the best bedding materials, and during long trips fresh supplies of it should be placed in the car at unloading points whenever they are needed. (Prepared by the United States Department Depart-ment of Agriculture.) Each fall and spring there is normally normal-ly a heavy movement of springer or fresh cows from the city markets and from dairy-breeding regions to the milk-producing sections of the couutry. Many commercial dairies do not raise new recruits for their herds, but simply sim-ply make a practice of milking out fresh cows and then disposing of the dry animals as beef and purchasing more cows which have just calved. Dairy farmers, also, in order to maintain main-tain their production of milk at a Sormal point throughout the year, often have to purchase fresh cows or near springers at a time when most of the producers In their herds are dry. All dairymen who purchase cows are urged to exercise every effopt to expedite the railroad movement of the dairy matrons during their time in transit and to provide all possible comfort for the animals en route. Careful Care-ful management will reduce mortality and wil". increase production over the flow from the average cow carelessly "railroaled." Valuable Animals by Express. Valuable pure-bred cows usually should be handled by express service, as their increased worth for breeding purposes over that of grade animals, which are usually handled by freight service, justifies the additional expenditure ex-penditure for a rapid trip from the point of loading to destination. Ex-pressage Ex-pressage usually costs four or five times as much as movement by freight, but in the case of particularly valuable valu-able cows the saving in animal comfort, com-fort, the shorter time in transit and the better conveniences for feeding and watering the animals, make the added expenditure advisable. In case pure-bred animals cannot be handled by express, they should be loaded according ac-cording to the special system discussed in this article. As far as possible, dairy cows should be shipped one or two months before they are due to i- shen, as repeatedly fresh cows have been ruined, so far as the subsequent lactation period has been concerned, ai a result of being shipped shortly before freshening or so as to calve in transit. Heifers Make Good "Buys." 4ilch cows of grade breeding ordi-na'rily ordi-na'rily are shipped by freight, dry cows and far springers being most dealt de-alt able for long shipments. Heifers which are not due to freshen until three to four weeks after arrival at destination make good "buys," as they are of a size and condition which permits per-mits of loading the car to capacity. Furthermore, immature animals are less susceptible to injury in transit and to damage as a result of change Of environment. So far as possible, animals without horns should be shipped, and where It is necessary to carry any horned animals in railroad oars they should be penned apart or tied securely at one end of the car, so that they cannot injure any of their traveling mates. Where bulls are shipped in mixed carloads, these sires should be confined in pens apart from the other cattle. Other conditions being equal, It is recommended by specialists that about 14 mature cows be loaded in a 38 or 40 foot car. A practical arrangement is to tie four cows in each end of the car, facing the end walls, and rough partitions can be installed so that two other rows of three cows each face a center alleyway between the car doors, where the attendant can stay and extra feed and water can be carried. This arrangement is most comfortable for the cows, as they ride and absorb the shock and jar better, while it also facilitates the operations of the caretaker in feeding the cows and cleaning the car. Watch the Weather. It is preferable to move the cows during cold weather, as hot weather and close confinement in the car are hard on the milk producers. Care must be exercised, however, not to expose the cows needlessly during very cold weather, owing to danger of their contracting pneumonia. Cows which have been accustomed to warm, well-ventilated well-ventilated stables suffer during the railroad trip unless the car is properly loaded and provision made for a frequent fre-quent change of air. .t best it takes an animal about a year to become thoroughly acclimated to a warmer or colder climate than that to which It lias been accustomed, and on this account ac-count the movement should take place ft a time of year when the i ajwi-I ajwi-I Uiro at the two points is as i. niy j ?quI as possible. Dairy lu'.iu, its al:l.o,i:-.l !-, I c- |
