llEIFIiKS DURING i^KEGNANCy AND SU I5S1;UUKN TL V y5 



and corn fodder adaptation that is much lower, except 

 when fed as a balance of other foods. 



The nitrogenous element is, of course, necessary 

 not only to produce ample muscle to meet the needs of 

 the heifer, but also to develop the young calf in embryo. 

 A pregnant heifer yet immature will require food rela- 

 tively more rich both in ash and protein than a cow 

 that is pregnant but not in milk. And yet the mainte- 

 nance of good condition, that is, a reasonable amount of 

 fat in the heifer, is important for reasons given below. 

 (See page 96.) Of course excess should be avoided in 

 any direction. Too much protein and not enough car- 

 bohydrates would result in aft overgrown calf while yet 

 unborn, and also possessed of weak vitality at birth, the 

 result of an insufficient supply of carbohj'drates to bal- 

 ance the ration. Too much of carbohydrates with too 

 little ash would result in a calf deficient in size at birth, 

 the deficiency resulting from the want of enough protein 

 to balance the ration. 



The food should be possessed of ample succulence. 

 This is not required to the same extent as in the case of 

 cows in milk, but it is important, nevertheless, in order 

 to keep the heifers in that sappy condition of flesh, that 

 is, in that soft and spongy condition of flesh, the invari- 

 able accompaniment of desirable growth in animals not 

 yet fully developed, and because of the fact that such 

 food is more or less of a preventive and corrective of 

 constipation. It is especially important that an ample 

 supply should be given to heifers as the time of par- 

 turition draws near, since constipation at such a time 

 is more than usually dangerous. It may be necessary 

 to exercise some caution in giving such foods to free 

 milking cows when near the time of calving, lest milk 

 fever should result, but this hazard is seldom if ever 

 present with heifers which have heretofore been in milk. 

 Of the common foods grass, roots, and ensilage most 



