Show FEEDING CHANGE NOW POSSIBLE increasing demand for more milk Is cause by Y C CF F MONROE ohio state agricultural dairy I 1 experiment station Slat iea at present there is a demand de mand for an increased quantity of milk and current prices justify a attempts to meet this demand in fact dairymen can afford to modify their feeding program to meet the emergency the exact method for individual cases will of course be subject to the conditions preva prevailing ibi ng in in the particular dairy many cows do lack the ability to produce but there are also many cows that would do much better if given the chance only by b y permitting the cows c to have a fair trial can their producing ability be determined an attempt should be made to have the cows freshen in good condition in this sense the lactation period really begins with the dry cow six or eight weeks previous to freshening after the cow freshens the feeding should be increased gradually the cow in heavy mills milk flow requires a concentrate mixture containing some high protein s supplements u p clements ts to insure a sufficient protein p r 0 intake hay should ve be fed liberally and the cow allowed to pick it over rather than be restricted to all she will clean up silage is available it should b be limited in amount to permit the heavy producing cow to eat more hay such a procedure is recommended where the hay is of good quality and hence palatable to the cow otherwise limiting the corn silage has no justification A large improvement in milk production cannot be expected to come from just one change of course the entire feeding and management program in summer and winter must be considered much of the low production can be traced to un der feeding on july and august pasture to undue exposure and short pasture in the late fall I 1 to the use of poor quality roughage and poor management in the winter for best results there can be no weak places in the program because the weaknesses generally speed the decline in production to such an extent that many of the good points are made less effective |