GESTATION. 
533 
will take lor some time previous to calving. Her food 
should be of good quality, and rather nutritious than other¬ 
wise. By pressing the hand on the left side of the belly 
in an early stage of pregnancy, the calf can be felt. 
It may be well for the information of those who only 
keep one or two milch cows, to know that by proper attention 
to their food, the animals may be continued in milk, with¬ 
out detriment to the cow or her calf, till .nearly the time 
of calving. This has been satisfactorily proved, that per¬ 
mitting the cows to go dry for two months previous to 
calving, that no good results were found to arise from it. 
In cold and severe weather, in the winter, when cows are 
in calf, they must be taken into houses during the night, 
and even in daytime when stormy. This is more espe¬ 
cially to be attended to for a couple of weeks before calv¬ 
ing, as, should the cow drop the calf in a cold, wet field, 
there is a possibility that both may perish. Even in the 
finest weather it will be prudent to take the cow and calf 
into the house at night, for a week or two. 
If the time of calving should be rather late in the season, 
it will be judicious to turn them out to a fresh and rich 
pasturage for a month or six weeks previous to calving ; 
but when their parturition is to happen early, then they 
must be fed with good hay, and turned out into a straw- 
yard for an hour or two during the day, for the benefit of 
air; and, if it can be had, green food should be given along 
with the hay. 
During the time of gestation, cows are liable to several 
complaints, such as costiveness and strangury, or a difficulty 
in voiding urine. These must be carefully attended to, 
otherwise they may cause the cow to slip her calf. 
Strangury will be known by the animal making frequent 
painful attempts to stale, and by her voiding only a small 
