46 DAIRYING 



a manure carrier on a suspended track or a wagon is used for this 

 purpose. 



FEEDING DAIRY COWS. 



733. The importance of suitable feed and plenty of it, IP- 

 now being recognized by the owners of cows much more than form- 

 erly; they realize that as much, if not more, attention should be 

 given to this question than to the testing of the milk, and the 

 selecting of the cows on the basis of such tests. It has been shown 

 that a careful study or even a few observations concerning the 

 food consumption of each cow in a herd is a very profitable use 

 of time, as some cows produce from 10 to 30% more milk and 

 butter fat from a given quantity of feed than do others. The re- 

 lation between feed consumed and milk produced helps to de- 

 termine the value of a cow to any owner. 



734. Maintenance ration. A certain amount of feed is 

 needed to keep any animal alive and when the feed is just suf- 

 ficient to prevent any gain or loss in live weight, it is called a 

 maintenance ration. It is evident therefore that a large cow will 

 require more feed than a small cow to maintain her live weight. 

 An 800 pound cow needs approximately 21 pounds, a 1000 pound 

 cow about 24 pounds, a 1200 pound cow 26 pounds, and a 1500 

 pound cow 30 pounds of dry matter in her feed per day to pro- 

 duce 1 pound butter fat.* This illustrates the influence of the size 

 of the cow on the feed consumed for producing the same amount 

 of butter. 



735. Relation of Feed to milk production. The effect of the 

 amount of milk and butter fat production on feed consumed is 

 shown by the following figures. The dry matter in feed required 

 by an 800 pound cow when dry is about 10 pounds per day ; when 

 producing one-half pound butter fat, 16 pounds ; for 1 pound but- 

 ter fat 18 pounds, and for 2 pounds butter fat, 28 pounds dry matf- 

 ter in feed per day. For heavier cows the feed is increased as 

 shown in the following table. 



The amount of feed given the cow should therefore be regu- 

 lated by the live weight of the cow and the amount of milk and 

 butter fat she is producing. 

 "~*Wis. Bui. 200, p. 9. 



