Feeding Dairy Cattle 



animal sick. It is quite common to feed as much as twenty- 

 five to thirty pounds of grain daily and much greater amounts 

 are often fed. It is best, however, to proceed very carefully 

 with all amounts in excess of twenty pounds each day. Cows 

 that are fat from fitting will usually not eat so much grain as 

 a cow that is thin in flesh. It is best to raise the grain ration 

 not more than from one to two pounds daily and then wait a 

 day or so to observe the results. It is useless to increase 

 the amount of grain if the animals fails to respond with an 

 increase in milk or butterfat production. 



Warm days during the testing period cause considerable 

 annoyance because the cows are not able to eat s(i much and 

 are more likely to go ofif feed. To avoid such trouble one 

 can often use a lighter ration instead of feeding a smaller 

 amount. The mixture used for fitting is a good one for this 

 purpose and the cow will generally appreciate the change. 

 In practice it is often advisable to give the cows a little 

 change in the grain mixture for one or two feedings, espe- 

 cially if the test runs for a couple of weeks or longer. 



GRAIN MIXTURES FOR TESTING 



The question of grain mixtures has always been much dis- 

 cussed and many feeders have been very exact as. to the 

 amounts of the different grains used. There are so many 

 different mixtures used by successful feeders and they vary 

 so widely that it would appear that the exact composition is 

 not so important as many people suppose. From a study of 

 a number of mixtures used by successful men it would seem 

 that, if six or seven different grains were mixed together in 

 equal proportions, the resulting mixture would be as good 

 as any. About one-half the grain mixture should be derived 

 from high-protein foods and the mixture should weigh about 

 one pound to the quart. The grains most commonlv found 

 in grain mixtures are wheat bran, ground oats, linseed oil- 

 meal (old process), cottonseed meal, homiu}-, gluten feed, and 

 dried distillers' grains. Many feeders prefer to put salt in 

 the grain mixture. If this is not done the cow should be 

 fed salt regularl}' or have it continually before her. 



The following mixtures have been used with geiod results: 

 Mixture 1 



200 pounds distillers' dried grains 



200 pounds wheat bran 



100 pounds gluten feed 



100 pounds ground oats 



200 pounds hominy 



100 pounds linseed oilmeal (old process) 

 12 pounds salt 

 12 pounds charcoal 



Page Sixty-four 



