CATTLE 



1236 



CATTLE 



silage. The concentrates, those foods contain- 

 ing a high percentage of digestible matter, 

 ordinarily used in feeding, are divided into 

 three groups, according to the amount of pro- 

 tein that they contain. Protein is the chemical 

 compound in the food from which is built the 

 hair, hoofs, horns and lean meat of animals. 

 The casein, or curd, of milk is nearly pure 

 protein. The protein in the milk and the other 

 protein materials in the body cannot be built 

 from anything except the protein in the foods, 

 therefore the importance of the protein. 



If good foods are used, with plenty of pro- 

 tein in them, the feeding will be good. There 

 are three protein food groups. The low pro- 

 tein group contains corn, oats, wheat, rye, bar- 

 ley, buckwheat, hominy chop, dried beet pulp 

 and corn and cob meal. The grains, corn, oats, 

 etc., all should be ground for dairy cows. 

 These contain less than twelve per cent of 

 protein in their total. The medium protein 

 group, between twelve per cent and twenty- 

 five per cent, contains wheat bran, mixed wheat 

 feed, standard wheat middlings, flour wheat 

 middlings, buckwheat feed, pea meal, cull 

 beans and some others. The high protein 

 group, twenty-five per cent and over, is made 

 up of malt sprouts, linseed oil meal, cotton- 

 seed meal, gluten feed, brewers' dried grains, 

 distillers' dried grains, buckwheat middlings 

 and a few others. In order thoroughly to 

 understand the feeding of animals one must 

 be familiar with all of these feeds and their 

 relative values. 



The food that an animal eats in twenty-four 

 hours is called a ration. With all the clover 

 hay and corn silage that she will eat, or the 

 equivalent amount of 'other coarse foods, it 

 would be good practice to feed a cow a mix- 

 ture of equal parts of three concentrates, 

 choosing one from each group noted above. 

 This is a simple and effective way of combin- 

 ing foods into a ration. For example, an effi- 

 cient ration might be clover hay, corn silage 

 and a grain mixture of corn meal, wheat bran 

 and cottonseed meal, equal parts by weight. 

 Feed her one pound of the grain mixture to 

 three or three and a half pounds of milk 

 yielded daily; one of the foods in the grain 

 mixture should be a bulky food, like wheat 

 bran. The combinations of grains that should 

 be used will depend on the relative prices of 

 the concentrates available. Corn silage, roots 

 or some such succulent food should always be 

 provided. Three or more concentrates should 

 always be used in the grain mixture. 



In addition to being well and generously 

 fed, dairy cattle must always be provided with 

 a comfortable, light, well-ventilated stable, 

 with well-bedded stalls. The feeder must see 

 that his animals have access to a clean supplj 

 of fresh water twice a day, and salt should 

 be fed to the extent of one ounce a day. The 

 cows may have this salt mixed with their 

 grain every day or receive the equivalent 

 amount twice a week. 



Young stock, bulls and cows not giving milk 

 may be fed good coarse foods and enough of 

 the following mixture of concentrates to keep 

 them growing well: equal parts by weight of 

 wheat bran, ground oats and corn meal, with 

 ten pounds of oil meal mixed with every hun- 

 dred pounds of the other three foods. 



Calves intended for the dairy herd should 

 be taught to drink when two or three days old, 

 but during these days a calf should be left 

 with its mother. Then it should be separated 

 from the mother and put in a clean, well- 



AGE OF CATTLE 



The age may be told as follows : The teeth 

 marked 1 appear when the animal is eighteen 

 months old ; those marked 2, at the age of twen- 

 ty-seven months ; those marked 3, at the age t f 

 three years, and those marked 4 at three years 

 nine months. 



bedded pen by itself. To teach it to drink, 

 use a small pail into which it can easily get 

 its head. Put about two quarts of warm milk 

 fresh from the cow into the pail, back the 

 calf up into the corner of the pen and straddle 

 its neck. Hold the pail in the left hand and 

 with the right hand hold its nose down into 

 the milk with two fingers slightly into its 

 mouth. Hold these two fingers a little apart 

 so that the milk will be drawn in between 

 them. Gradually withdraw the fingers. After a 

 few attempts the calf will usually drink prop- 

 erly as soon as it gets a good taste of the milk. 

 It should get whole milk for a week or ten 

 days, and then should gradually be turned to 

 skimmed milk. Change from the whole milk 

 to the skimmed milk at the rate of one pound 

 per day, and increase the amount of skimmed 

 milk as the appetite of the calf demands it. 



