Feeding Dairy Cattle 



1. Bulk. 



2. Digestibility of the feeds. 



3. The relation of the nutrients — that is, the "balance" or 



nutritive ratio of the ration. 



4. The variety of feeds. 



5. 'J'he sn.itabilitx' of the feeds to the animal and the 



products. 



6. The palatability of the feeds. 



7. The cost of the ration. 



1. Bulk. Dairy cattle demand a certain amount of bulk 

 in the ration. This is secured by feeding succulent feeds. 

 Dry grain and hay do not meet this condition or factor. 

 Therefore silage or roots must be fed, and to meet ideal con- 

 ditions we must furnish both. This is closely connected 

 with the factor of palatability, a succulent ration is more pal- 

 atable to a dairy cow. A good definite rule is to feed one 

 pound of dry roughage per hundred pounds of live weight. 

 When feeding both silage and roots, more than this mav be 

 advisable. 



2. Digestibility. We should always try to arrange the 

 crops so that the most highly digestible feeds will be avail- 

 able. Roughage must be fed, but the hay must always be 

 well cured. There is probably no chance for straw in an 

 ideal ration. The concentrates must not be too bulky. 

 About one pound to the quart is a good rule to follow in the 

 mixing of grain rations. 



3. Relation of the nutrients. Much has been said con- 

 cerning the balancing of rations and the nutritive ratio. The 

 writer believes that the nutritive ratio should not be outside 

 of I 14.5 to 1 :6. This means one pound of digestible protein 

 to 4.5 pounds to 6 of digestible carbohydrates and the fat in 

 the ration. Most farmers do not care to compute the nutri- 

 tive ratio of their ration or have not learned to do so. It is 

 advisable to know this because this relation is very important. 

 However, if we make sure that at least one-half the grain 

 mixture is made from funds containing 20 per cent, of crude 

 protein, the nutritive ratio will fall between the limits i 14.; to 

 I :6 in almost every case. 



4. Variety. No ration has sufificient variety unless there 

 are three grains in the mixture. A good check is to have 

 three or more grains in the mixture and to have at least four 

 plants represented in the whole ration, taking into considera- 

 tion in this check both the roughage and the concentrates 

 This is important in getting a sufificient amount of mineral 

 matter and all the different nutrients required. 



Page Thirty-eigh'. 



