FEEDING FOR MILK PRODUCTION 247 



Feeding the Dairy Cow. — It must be r'emembered that 

 the dairy cow uses a part of her ration for maintenance. 

 Only that portion of the food which she receives in excess of 

 that needed for maintenance can be used for the production 

 of milk, the nourishing of the calf, or the laying on of fat. 

 Nature, however, in providing for the young animal, made 

 the milking function so strong in the cow that she will rob 

 her own system in order to provide for her young. 



Maintenance and Production Requirements. — Main- 

 tenance requirements are not heavy. The most food is 

 required to supply the heat of the body. Heat may be 

 furnished by roughages. In the feeding of dairy cows, the 

 roughage part of the ration, therefore, should be considered 

 as the part that the animal is using for her own maintenance. 



The production of milk should be regarded as hard work, 

 and the dairy cow should be fed accordingly. All cows do 

 not respond equally well to feeding, because some cows have 

 greater milk-producing possibilities than others. Good 

 cows should be fed liberally because they make good use 

 of their food, and require no more for maintenance than 

 poor cows require. Good cows eat more than poor cows do, 

 but they return much larger results. For miUc production, 

 concentrates are usually fed. 



How the Ration of the Cow Should Vary. — There are 

 many factors affecting the ration, the more important ones 

 being the weight of the cow, the amount of milk the cow 

 produces, the season of the year, the period of lactation, 

 the quarters in which the cow is kept, and the physical 

 condition and peculiarities of the animal. 



The roughage allowance for a 1000 pound dairy cow is 

 generally about 30 pounds of silage, and from 6 to 10 pounds 

 of good mixed clover or alfalfa hay. Timothy hay is not 



