Show dr L D legear V S st lou a mo dr legear is a graduate of ontario veterinary college 1892 thirty eight years of veterinary work Fini eminent nent authority on diseases and d raising ising of dairy cows other livestock and poultry nationally at known lecturer writer and author IF I 1 OUR COWS COULD LOOK A animals their likes and dislikes in food the same as humin hum in beings every mother who has prepared meals for her children knows how difficult it Is to please the little ones it takes plenty of coaxing and some times constant threatening to get children to eat what is good for them the owner of a dairy herd should realize that cows too have different tastes and appetites just the same as people feeds reeds that will be gob bled up freely by some cows will not be touched by others like chil dren however cows can be taught to like certain thing seven after they refuse to eat them at first I 1 have stressed in previous art artl cles the necessity of proper bombina tiona of foods and the quantities nee essary for the maximum production of 0 milk 11 therefore every attempt is to be made to tempt the cow s apo app tite so that she may eat all that is put before her frequently molasses is mixed with feeds to induce the cows to eat it is deiy desirable to have in the mot a teed feed that contains juices similar to the prices of pasture grass silage is one of them and wet beet pulp is another because of the nature of the digestive system of the cow bulk is important the more corn com mon bulky grain foods are wheat bran ground oats and corn and cob meal in mixing a grain ration so that it will have both bulk and ap pealing flavor usually three or tour four grains are mixed together in the case of cows that are in the midst at of heavy production a still greater variety is recommended the effect of certain foods should be known to every farmer we know tor for instance that cottonseed meal Is while linseed meal has the opposite effect it is import ant that neither one be fed in tolo great quantities three or tour four pounds a day la is the maximum si lage clover hay and alfalfa hay are laxative on the other hand timo thy hay oat straw and corn stover are constipating in winter this Is f 0 to be watched carefully it if the var lous tons hages you are using are constipating the grain mixture Is to be given some sort of a laxative minerals are very important the dairy cow and all animals except those which eat meat require a large amount of salt it should be avail able at all timea times to dairy cattle it the salt is given to them with the grain the proper proportion is about one pound of salt to each hundred pounds of the grain mixture the grinding of grain may help to digest it especially where there are seeds as high as 20 of the grain seeds will pass through the digestive tract of the cow un touched unless it Is ground the hages are easier to feed when they are cut up the cow will eat more of it if it Is in small pieces al at though the cutting does not have any particular effect on digestion some pome times grain Is soaked before it Is fed A bran mash made of ghead bran with warm water is frequently given to cows especially before and after freshening an interesting two year expert merit ment Is being conducted at cornell university for the purpose of finding the protein content 09 various grain mixtures mixture three lots of cows are being used and they are being fed ra eions I 1 20 and 24 protein respectively it might be interesting to know the proportions of teed feed that are being used in this test the hay for each animal is fed at the rate ot of one pound tor for every one hundred pounds of live weight silage is at the rate of three pounds to every one hundred pounds of live weight grain is at the rate of one pound to every three and a halt half pounds pints of milk but having determined the proper quantities lot of food each cow should have be sure she eats all you give her it if she does not clean up her box it may not be a sign of overfeed ing but an indication that the teed feed la is not palatable to her individual taste you will therefore have to do as mothers do fok their children mix in flavors flavo irs that will tiddle the appetite copyright 1930 by dr L D le egar V S st louis |