468 Feeds and Feeding. 



gives a liberal supply of milk during winter, and when spring 

 comes will flush again under the stimulus of fresh pastures. Fall- 

 fresh cows will probably yield from ten to fifteen per cent, more 

 milk in the twelve-month than those calving in the spring. 



703. Care before and after calving. There is a strong natural 

 tendency with most good cows to become fat when not yielding 

 milk. The pregnant dry cow should receive such feed supply as 

 will allow her to attain, without difficulty, a good body condition. 

 Grass is the best feed for this purpose,* and if the dry cow can 

 flesh up on grass alone it should be done. Dairy cows are so 

 heavily fed with grain while giving milk that this opportunity 

 for change of feed and for recuperation should be utilized by the 

 dairyman. While there is a diversity of opinion among dairy- 

 men as to the ideal condition of the cow at calving time, it is rea- 

 sonable to hold that she should be in good flesh, though not 

 " butcher fat.' 7 Before calving the feed should be cooling in 

 character. Silage, roots, clover, hay, and fodder corn without 

 ears, are all desirable for roughage. Bran, middlings, oats, 

 and a little oil meal should prove satisfactory for concentrates. 

 Immediately before calving let the supply of feed be relatively 

 small. After calving, tepid water only should be given, as cold 

 water may bring on a threatening ailment. If nourishment is 

 needed, a little oat meal or ground oats in the water given will 

 prove helpful. Let the feed supplied after calving be light for a 

 few days and always under, rather than equal to, the desire of the 

 cow. The use of a clinical thermometer in ascertaining the tem- 

 perature of the cow from time to time for a few days before and 

 after calving, or until all danger is past, is a most helpful means 

 of determining the general condition of the animal and an aid in 

 forestalling serious trouble. 



704. Frequency of feeding. The frequency with which feed 

 should be supplied cows has not been settled, and perhaps never 

 will be until the members of the human family agree on the num- 

 ber of meals a day and the character of each best suited to their 

 own needs. From the large size of the paunch and the apparent 

 necessity for rumination, it does not seem essential to supply feed 

 many times a day. The common practice of feeding twice a day, 



