110 HATCH EXPP:RIMENT station. [J;in. 



The average daily bran ration, consisting approximately 

 of 14 pounds of hay, 31 pounds of silage (about a bushel), 

 3 pounds of bran, 2 pounds of flour middlings and 1 pound 

 of cotton-seed meal, may be considered a good type of a 

 dairy ration, and quite similar to combinations in use by 

 many milk producers who buy all of their grain. It was 

 the aim in preparing the silage ration to do away with the 

 bran by substituting home-grown corn, and at the same time 

 to produce a combination that would contain essentially the 

 same quantity and proportion of digestible nutrients. This 

 was accomplished by feeding 2.5 pounds of corn meal instead 

 of 3 pounds of bran, and 1.5 pounds of cotton-seed meal in 

 place of the 1 pound fed in the bran ration. 



Assuming that the farmer produced the hay, silage and 

 corn meal in the ration, he would only use 3.5 pounds daily 

 of purchased grain, costing 4.7 cents, while the bran ration 

 would require a daily cash outlay for grain of 7.25 cents. 



The two rations contained almost identical quantities of 

 digestible protein and of total digestible nutrients. Both 

 rations appeared to be equally well relished by the animals. 

 The entire herd consumed the bran ration without the least 

 irregularity, while on the silage ration the cow May suffered 

 an attack of indigestion which caused her to shrink notice- 

 ably' in her milk, and rendered it necessary to reduce her feed 

 for some ten daj^s. Whether this disturbance may be at- 

 tributed to the character of the ration, or to other causes, it 

 is difficult to state with certainty. Cow Doliska, while re- 

 ceiving the silage ration, underwent an attack of mammitis 

 in one quarter of the udder, which decreased her milk yield, 

 and made it necessary to take away temporarily a consider- 

 able portion of her grain ration. This cow was producing a 

 large yield of milk during the experiment, but was not in 

 first-class physical condition. It seems probable that her 

 condition rendered her sensitive to the combination of heavy 

 grain, even though it was distributed through the silage. 



