132 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



lar and established practice in the care of the animal is the 

 frequent forerunner of serious consequences. Lack of care 

 in the use of milking machines, teat dilators, and milking 

 tubes may result in the permanent injury of one or more 

 quarters of the udder. Brier cuts, barbed-wire cuts, and 

 the bruising or crushing of the teats by other cattle step- 

 ping on them (often due to bad stall construction, are 

 usually avoidable. These injuries may lead to leaky quar- 

 ters, fistulous teats, mammitis, and other troubles, with pos- 

 sible loss of function. Udder troubles of cows are some- 

 times directly or indirectly traceable to brutal treatment by 

 attendants who, in driving the animals to and from pas- 

 ture, stone them or beat them with sticks, clubs, or whips. 

 Vicious horned animals also inflict injury on their fellows, 

 which may involve the udder as well as other parts of their 

 bodies. 



Drying Off the Cow. 



Damage may result from attempting to dry off a cow 

 too suddenly before calving, especially when the animal is 

 on succulent pasture or a rich concentrated ration. In 

 some cows the instinct for milk production is so highly de- 

 veloped that the function seems difficult to repress, even 

 during advanced pregnancy, and efforts to terminate a 

 milking period forcibly in such animals possibly does more 

 harm than good. 



To dry off a cow, it is advisable first to regulate her 

 ration. Allow well-cured hay in place of succulent pasture, 

 silage, or beet pulp. By stages eliminate all concentrates, 

 for at this time they tend to excite a congested condition of 

 the udder, as well as to favor the continuance of milk pro- 

 duction. Bran may be given alone or with some middlings. 

 For about a week omit every third milking, and then milk 

 once daily for another week, without stripping. After- 

 wards it may be necessary to milk only a few streams daily 

 to relieve the tenseness of the udder. A few days later, 

 when it is evident that milk secretion has subsided, no fur- 

 ther attention will be required, as a rule. This system may 

 be varied to suit individual cases, as some animals may be 

 dried off in less time, while others may require longer. 



