Feeding Dairy Cattle 



ing stock. Some high protein feed should always be 

 inckided in the mixture to enable the animal to make satis- 

 factory growth. Experience and observation prove that the 

 animal which grows the most regularly and rapidly during 

 the first two years of her life will make the most satisfactory 

 producer. 



Many times it is said that feeding fattening foods is to be 

 avoided, and much fat on a heifer is considered wrong by 

 many. It is the writer's impression that there is little dan- 

 ger from getting a heifer too fat. Keep her growing and in 

 good condition all the time. In this paper the amount of 

 grain has been placed at four to six pounds. It seems to the 

 writer that this is a good plan in feeding, to allow them to 

 fix the total amount of the ration by feeding all the silage 

 and hay that they will eat. 



The time at which heifers should be bred is an important 

 point to be considered in the management of heifers. 

 There is a tendency among purebred breeders to breed at 

 20 months of age or even later. A few figures from a good 

 pure-bred herd on this point gives a good reasoia for early 

 breeding. 



Thirty-three animals produced their first calf before they 

 were 30 months old. Their two-year record was 6026 pounds. 

 Their three-year record was 6780. Eighteen animals that 

 produced their first calf at 36 months or a Httle later made 

 an average of 7460 pounds of milk in their third year. The 

 first lot has produced at the end of their year almost 13,000 

 pounds of milk against 7500 for the second lot. In later 

 years the second lot did not appear to do any better than the 

 first lot. Until she becomes a milk producer the heifer 

 yields no income. There are 4 good reasons for breeding early 

 in addition to the above: (i) Constantly recurring periods 

 of heat are as much a check on the heifer's growth as the 

 development of the foetus. (2) Reproductive organs may 

 become deranged if breeding is put off. (3) The condition 

 of pregnancy has a marked stimulative effect upon the young 

 animal during the first months. The assimulative functions 

 are increased provided the heifer is furnished with an abun- 

 dance of food. (4) It seems to be easier to develop a milk- 

 secreting capacity when the heifer produces young at an early 

 Page Ninety-nine 



