240 WINTER FEEDING OF DAIRY COWS 



to balance the nutrients in a cow's ration, whicli lias been 

 based on non-proteinous roughage. 



In case red clover or alsike clover hay is available to feed 

 -with the silage or com fodder, a less amount of protein will need 

 be purchased because so largely furnished in the leguminous hay. 

 A grain supplement for such would be made up as follows : 



Lbs. Protein Carbohydrates Fat 



Corn 6 .474 4.00 .2o8 



Oats 2% .267 1.26 .094 



Linseed oil meal 1% .453 .48 .103 



10 1.194 5.74 .455 



In the above grain mixture it will be noted that only 15 per 

 cent of the total amount of grain is purchased, all the rest is 

 home grown and that the mixture has a percentage composition 

 of protein 11.94, carbohydrates 57.4 and fat 4.55'. This mix- 

 ture will form a very good adjunct to the clover hay fed. There 

 should be no hesitancy, however, in buying high protein grain 

 feeds, since the purchase of such high protein feed may well be 

 considered a double purchase, in that protein is first obtained 

 for the cow's ration and that, following, the manure is made 

 richer in nitrogen for the fertilization of the fields. 



A single caution in the use of com meal is that it should not 

 be fed to a milch cow in amounts greater than about one-half 

 pound per hundredweight of cow per day. A 1200-pound cow 

 may safely be allowed to consume 6 pounds of com meal per 

 day, an 800-pound cow 4 pounds. If used more freely there 

 is danger of a fatty deposit in the os resulting in sterility. It 

 is also inadvisable to feed cottonseed meal in quantities greater 

 than 3 pounds a day to a cow as a steady ration. 



Feed During Heavy Yield. — In all the breeds having the 

 most pronounced dairy type and temperament, there are cows 

 which, when fresh, will yield considerably more milk than can 

 be supported by the amount of feed that the cow can possiblv 

 digest and assimilate. All of the substances contained in that 

 amount of milk given in excess of that supplied directly by the 

 daily ration, is obtained from the cow's own body, by a process 

 of absorption. It is natural for cows to flesh up while carrying 



