CHAPTER IX 

 FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 



Perhaps no other question in connection with the propagation 

 and care of farm animals has received so much consideration as 

 that of feeding the dairy cow. Many and difficult are the prob- 

 lems involved. To catalogue and discuss them all would require 

 a work larger than this manual. It is not, therefore, in this 

 connection, proposed to enter into an elaborate discussion, but 

 only to call attention to some of the more important items in 

 connection with the most successful practice. 



FOOD REQUIREMENTS FOR MILK 



The quantity of food required by a milking cow depends on 

 many factors, chief of which are the kind of food, the quantity 

 of milk yielded, the quality of the milk, as well as the individual- 

 ity, the weight and age of the animal. 



We have already observed, in connection with feeding the 

 horse, that foods vary widely in the amount of energy they con- 

 tain. In addition to this they also vary greatly in their in- 

 fluence upon milk secretion; that is to say, certain foods act 

 favorably on the secreting glands, whereas other foods tend 

 towards the production of fat. The exact action of the foods in- 

 fluencing secretion is not understood, nor is their ultimate effect 

 upon the animal definitely known. Chief among the foods 

 tending to economize milk production are succulent foods, such 

 as green forage crops, silage, and roots ; by-products such as 

 bran, brewers' grains, and dried distillers' grains, and the legu- 

 minous hays, such as clover and alfalfa. 



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