80 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



If we wish our cows to freshen, strong and vigorous 

 and in fairly good flesh, feed them well — we must feed them 

 well during that period if they are going to freshen strong 

 and give us a strong and vigorous calf. A cow that is not 

 well fed between calves cannot do that. 



So we carry the cow carefully through her freshening 

 period for the first forty-eight hours and we watch for milk 

 fever. We are always just a little proud when the cow 

 show symptoms of milk fever, because only good cows get 

 milk fever. 



Then, here is a funny thing: After this cow is fresh- 

 ened and ready to go to work, then we begin putting her on 

 dry feed and usually make the mistake of overfeeding. I 

 think a lot of cows go wrong because we overfeed them 

 during the first thirty days after freshening. 



I think if a man were to ask me how to get an educa- 

 tion in feeding dairy cows, I would tell him to learn how to 

 feed hogs and steers. He would find that he would never 

 get anywhere unless he gave them enough to eat. A cow 

 never made a pound of milk in this world out of anything 

 else except feed which she has eaten. 



When we start a cow back on feed, we are just as care- 

 ful as we can be. We know the cow has stored up a lot of 

 surplus flesh and we attempt to transfer that flesh from the 

 body of the cow to the milk pail. She is given five pounds 

 of grain per day in addition to alfalfa and corn silage — no 

 more. We, like the feeder of beef cattle, know that we 

 must bring the cow on her feed gradually. Say we start 

 her on five pounds a day and increase the amount one-half 

 pound every other day. We have learned that a cow will 

 increase just as much on one-half pound of feed as on one 

 pound or two pounds. We know if we get her up to sixty 

 pounds, it is going to take longer to get her down to ten 

 pounds. 



The question is, does weighing the feed pay? I won- 

 der if any of you know within two or three pounds how 

 much grain you are giving your cows. If you are only milk- 

 ing ten cows, a matter of wasting two pounds of grain a day 

 at 21/2 cents a pound amounts to $182.50 a year. After all 



