THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DAIRY HEIFER 207 



birth until coming in milk lose the surplus body fat within 

 a short time after calving, and show no more tendency to 

 fatten later while in milk than do those raised on the light 

 ration. The most marked effect of the heavy grain ration, 

 as found so far, is a much more rapid growth and a quicker 

 maturity as compared with light-fed animals. However, 

 the results show a heavy grain ration for dairy heifers is 

 entirely too expensive as compared with a ration made up 

 mostly of good roughness. From an economical standpoint 

 the feeding of a heavy grain ration cannot be practiced. 



Corn in the Heifer's Ration. Question 3. Are there any 

 feeds that should be especially avoided in raising dairy heifers ? 



Of 301 breeders answering this question 10 per cent 

 answer in the negative; 48 per cent mention corn as a 

 feed to be avoided; 10 per cent more avoid "fatty foods," 

 most of these probably having feeds rich in carbohydrates, 

 such as corn, in mind; 10 per cent also avoid cottonseed 

 meal. Our investigations do not give any data on this 

 question, except in so far that we have had splendid dairy 

 cows that were fed excessively on a grain ration consisting of 

 two thirds corn continuously up to the time of calving. 

 It seems, however, that there is a widespread belief that 

 corn is detrimental to the development of a dairy heifer. 



Forbes 1 found experimentally that an exclusive corn 

 ration for young swine caused a retarded development of 

 proteid and bony tissues and overdevelopment of fat tissue. 

 It resulted in fine-boned, poorly muscled, undersized, over- 

 fat animals, with impaired powers for breeding. It is reason- 

 able to expect somewhat similar results would follow exces- 

 sive feeding of corn to a growing heifer. However, this must 



1 Bulletin 213, Ohio Experiment Station, p. 302. 



