FEEDING FOR OFFICIAL RECORDS 55 



On short-time test cows are fed all they will eat, but this must 

 be done with great care particularly as regards the concentrates. 

 After the cow is back on the same amount of feed received before 

 calving, the grain ration must be increased gradually thereafter. 

 It is best to increase it by one or two pounds on a given day and 

 then watch the results for a day. If the animal does not clean up 

 the increased amount readily a reduction should be made, or at 

 least no further increase should be added until the cow is cleaning 

 up what she is already getting. It is imperative that the animal 

 be not allowed to go off feed. Again the increases must be stopped 

 as soon as they fail to give a response in increased milk production. 

 Proceeding in this careful manner it is quite possible to get the 

 animal to eating 20 to 25 and even more pounds of concentrates 

 daily. Any increase above 20 pounds should be made at a slow 

 rate, say one-fourth to one-half pound daily. This crowding of the 

 cow on rich feeds must be done with extreme care not only for the 

 success of the test but also from the standpoint of the animal's 

 health. Many valuable animals have been spoiled for later 

 production by lack of skill here. 



93. The grain mixture. — There are a large variety of grain 

 mixtures that have been used with success as shown by the 

 accounts of how our cows with high records have been fed. How- 

 ever, all these mixtures have many points in common. They are 

 made up of a variety of palatable feeds with a considerable propor- 

 tion of bulky and laxative ones. The following feeds occur most 

 frequently in such mixtures : wheat bran, linseed oil meal, ground 

 oats, gluten feed, hominy, distillers' grains and cottonseed meal. 

 If one should make up such a ration from the above feeds as would 

 furnish 23 to 25 per cent of protein and weigh about one pound 

 to the quart, he should have a good mixture. 



The following mixture has been used with good results: 



200 lbs. distillers' dried grains 200 lbs. hominy 



200 lbs. wheat bran 100 lbs. linseed oil meal 



100 lbs. gluten feed 12 lbs. salt 



100 lbs. ground oats 12 lbs. charcoal 



