FEEDING FOR OFFICIAL RECORDS 53 



The animal should have plenty of good, clean water, not too 

 cold. If she cannot have access to it at all times, she should be 

 watered three or four times a day. The picture of Glista Ernestine, 

 page 50, illustrates a well fitted cow. This picture was taken just 

 a day or two before she calved. She made a 30-pound record. 



90. Attention at calving time.— A week or ten days before 

 calving the cow should be placed in the quarters she is to occupy 

 during the test. At this time the grain ration should be reduced. 

 Constipation must be avoided. For this purpose the laxative 

 feeds in the grain ration may be increased if necessary. Often a 

 purgative may need to be given, such as one pound of epsom salts 

 or one quart of linseed oil. Attention here will largely obviate 

 the danger of udder troubles. If the udder becomes caked or 

 swollen it should be treated by rubbing as we have explained in 

 paragraph 16. Keeping the bowels loose and cutting down on the 

 roughage a day or two before calving will do much to prevent 

 trouble at parturition. 



91. Increasing the feed.— For the first few days after calving 

 the cow should receive only a limited amount of food and it should 

 be laxative. After the fourth day if she is coming on all right, the 

 feed can be rapidly increased to that being received before freshen- 

 ing. Milk fever is always a possibility following calving and high 

 producers are especially subject to it. (15 to 18) 



Feeding for Short-Time Records 



Many think of successful feeding for records as being based on a 

 special manipulation of the cow by some secret process. It does 

 seem like a secret process to the beginner but the key to the secret 

 is experience, a keen knowledge of animals and the development 

 of skill. No one can succeed merely by following directions. Each 

 animal must be treated somewhat differently for best results and 

 it is in the proper modification of the methods of feeding and 

 management from day to day according to the behavior of the 

 animal that the skillfulness of the feeder is all-important. 



92. Cool weather the best.— Short-time records are almost 

 always made during the cool months because the animal will eat 



