154 



DAIRY HERD MANAGEMENT 



can be liberally fed, yet so handled as to produce little or no 

 prolit. The common cow may be handled so as to increase her 

 production from twenty-five to fifty per cent over present yields. 



Gestation. Period. — The length of time between service and 

 the delivery of the calf is iisually 280 to 285 days, or a little 

 more than 9 months. It averages a little longer for bull than 

 for heifer calves. In order that the cow may be dried off at the 

 right time it is necessary that record be kept of the date of 

 service of every cow. 



Time to Freshen. — Under most conditions in the United 

 States, cows should be bred to freshen in the fall ; the calves 

 to be dropped between October 1st and January 1st. If rea- 



Fig. 56. — Evidence cf thrift and faith. 



sonably well housed (Figs. 56 and 57), cows are more com- 

 fortable in winter than in summer. This saves feed. They 

 likewise travel about much less, which also is economy. These 

 facts enable the cow to yield milk upon less feed in winter than 

 in summer. This becomes the more important when consider- 

 able quantities of feed are purchased or where forage crops are 

 raised on high-priced land. 



Nature forces the cow to yield milk for at least a few months 

 after calving for the sustenance of its own calf. Thus the cow 

 when comfortably housed, liberally fed and kindly treated may 

 be expected to milk during the entire winter months. After a 

 period of four to seven months most cows begin to slack off in 



