Clip Cows for 



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By LEW REISNER 



Field Editor, lAA RECORD 



CLIPPING cows helps to keep milk 

 clean by holding down the bacteria 

 count. Because clean milk height- 

 ens quality Illinois dairy co-op 

 are seeking to promote this practice 

 aipong their farm members. 



To learn the latest in clipping tech- 

 nique quality fieldmen from Illinois 

 dairy cooperatives throughout the state 

 attended a special clipping school held 

 recently on the W. A. Rogers farm near 

 Hinsdale in DuPage county. 



Clipping has been made far easier 

 with modern electric clippers that do not 

 gouge the cow's hide, the fieldmen 

 learned. Sweating only a little, they 

 trimmed their first cows in less than 15 

 minutes. An old hand can cut this time 

 in half. 



You start on the cow's tail first, the 

 men were told, and then trim the area 

 around the tail bone. The hind quar- 

 ters come next, starting on the leg just 

 above the hock. The udder is clipped 

 by holding the skin taut and guiding the 

 clipper head carefully. 



A strip up the backbone, favorite 

 breeding spot for lice, can also be clipp>ed 

 but this is optional. 



Ed Warner, expert cow clipper, sheep 

 shearer, and demonstrator for an equip- 

 ment company, said any farmer can get 

 the hang of cow clipping. The secret, 

 he said, is to clip in a direction opposite 

 to the way the hair lies on the animal. 

 The skin in front of the dipper head al- 

 ways should be drawn tight. 



Clipping makes it easier to keep cows 

 clean and is recommended by colleges of 



agriculture throughout the Midwest. It 

 is well known that long hair on the 

 flanks, udder and underline provides a 

 clinging place for dirt and filth. 



It also improves the looks of an animal, 

 and this, of course, makes them sell 

 better in the sale ring. 



Tests made at the University of Wis- 

 consin indicate that the number of bac- 

 teria in milk can be reduced by as much 

 as 34 per cent by clipping. 



Of even more importance to the aver- 

 age milk producer is the time saved. 

 Since cows keep cleaner after being 

 clipped, particularly during winter 

 months, farmers find they save a few 

 minutes each milking when the udders 

 they clean have been trimmed. 



Clipping will not make a millionaire 

 out of every dairymen, even the most 

 ardent supporters of the practice would 

 admit. It does cut the corners a bit and 

 increases the profit margin in dairying, 

 an industry where profit margins are gen- 

 erally narrow. 



The clipping demonstration was part 

 of a two aay school for the quality field- 

 men. The first day they spent learning 

 how to maintain and repair electric milk 

 coolers which are handled by Illinois 

 Milk Producers Supply Company for 

 milk producers. 



The electric clipper require little care 

 except periodic oiling. Tlie two remov- 

 able blades are hollow ground and re- 

 quire special grinding to sharpen. 



A special head is manufactured to fit 

 the clipf>er and can be used to shear 

 sheep. I - 



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