FARM ANIMALS 185 



cows. The Wisconsin Dairy School suggests the 

 following daily schedule for the care of cows: 

 4.20 a.m. grain fed; 4.30 a.m. milked; 6 a.m. 

 silage fed; 7.30 a.m. stables cleaned; 8.30 a.m. 

 water; 9.00 a.m. hay; 10.00 a.m. grooming of 

 cows ; 2 . 00 p.m. cows turned out ; 3 . 30 p.m. watered ; 

 4.00 p.m. stables cleaned, and corn fed; 4.30 p.m. 

 milked; 6.00 p.m. silage fed; 8 p.m. bedding 

 arranged for the night. 



Dehorning Cows. It is, of course, best and 

 most humane to dehorn calves when only a few 

 days old as described in the chapter on beef cattle, 

 but if this operation has been omitted it is 

 desirable to remove the horns by means of a 

 clipper in order to prevent the cows from worrying 

 one another. Every one who has worked with 

 cows knows that in every herd there is one or 

 perhaps more cows whicn attempt to hector the 

 rest of the herd, the result being a loss of milk 

 and frequently more or less serious injury. The 

 dehorning of adult cows should preferably be 

 done at a time when they are dry rather than 

 during the height of the milk flow. Experiments 

 in dehorning cows in full flow of milk show that 

 the milk yield may be diminished nearly fifty 

 per cent, for the first two or three days and it 

 may be a serious matter for a week or so. 



Dirt in Milk. The purpose of keeping dairy 

 cows is not simply to produce milk, but to produce 

 clean milk. In order to obtain clean milk no 

 devices or methods can be included which tend 

 in any way to an unsanitary condition of the milk. 

 When cows are kept in the stable for a part of 

 each day, it is quite unavoidable that they should 

 become more or less contaminated with dust and 

 animal filth. This material, if not carefully 



