How Often Should Dairy 
Cows Be Fed ? 
PRACTICES OF DAIRYMEN. 
When and How They Feed. 
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT IT? 
One of the dairy questions that has at¬ 
tracted most attention this season is the 
one outlined above. Some men are startled 
at the idea of feeding cows but twice a day. 
The following notes 
from practical dairy¬ 
men are interesting: 
FROM J. E. WELLS. 
Farmers in our local¬ 
ity think that two feeds 
a day are not enough. 
My own practice is as 
follows:—The first 
thing in the morning 
the cows are fed a 
grain ration, then they 
are milked. After milk¬ 
ing they get hay which 
they eat while the men 
are getting breakfast. 
After breakfast they 
are let out to get a 
drink and take exercise 
while the stables are 
being cleaned out, etc. 
Unless the weather is 
very severe they re¬ 
main out from an hour 
to an hour and a half, 
then they are given 
another feed of hay. 
Then, after eating that, 
they lie down and are 
left quiet till dinner 
time when they get 
another feed of hay or 
corn-stalks or what¬ 
ever we have. Then 
they are left alone 
again until it is time 
to commence night 
work, say, about 3.30 
or 4 o’clock, when they 
are let out to drink 
again, and while they 
are out another grain 
feed is put down for 
them which they eat as soon as they come in. 
Then they are milked again, after which 
they are given a large feeding of hay 
which closes the day’s care. Our cows 
get two grain rations, they are fed 
hay or some other coarse feed, four times 
per day. Dairymen generally about here 
feed five or six times daily. 
Orange Co., N. Y. 
FROM C. R. SHONS. 
The first thing in the morning after milking, 
the cows are fed. They are ihen foddered with 
hay and left in the stable until half past eight 
or nine o’clock, when they are let out to drink. 
On pleasant days they remain in the yard 
three or four hours. At noon hay is given 
them in the stable. At three o’clock they are 
again let out for an hour to drink and exer¬ 
cise, and are fed on their return to the stable. 
Hay is given them after milking at night. I 
have never tried feeding three times daily. I 
do not think from thfe nature of the cow, that 
the same amount of feed divided into three 
feedings would make any difference. 
Orange Co., N. Y. 
FROM DAVID CARLL. 
It has always been my practice to feed my 
family and my dairy coius and all other ani¬ 
mals three times a day. I know some claim 
it is as well or better to feed but twice a day. 
1 doubt it; but have never tried it. I like to 
feed regularly at intervals of 6 hours, through 
the day. 
Suffolk Co., N. Y. 
FROM C. M. WINSLOW. 
In winter my cows are regularly fed twice 
each day, all they will eat clean. At five 1 
o’clock in the morning they have a feed of 
wheat bran—from one to six quarts according 
as the cow is fresh in milk or nearly dry. 
After this they are milked and as soon as they 
have eaten the bran, and while they are be¬ 
ing milked, they have a feed of hay, and an 
attendant keeps watch of them for about an 
hour, and when any have eaten their hay and 
seem to want more it is given them; but in 
small quantities to keep up a good appetite. 
When all have had what they will eat clean, 
they are let out to drink, and if the weather 
is pleasant, they remain out until about three 
o’clock; but if it is stormy or cold they are 
let into the stable after it has been cleaned 
and bedded. In either case, nothing is given 
them until about three, when the same 
course is followed as in the morning. 
Thus they are filled full twice a day and have 
the rest of the time to chew their cud and di¬ 
gest their food, which I think as important 
as feeding. Treated in this way, my cows are 
always hearty and not dainty and they give 
very satisfactory returns at the pail—and are 
noted for always looking well. They are 
never allowed to muss over tneir feed or hay. 
If they do not wane it, it is taken away and 
by another feeding time they are ready to eat 
heartily. It is very important to keep a cow’s 
appetite good. There are very few men who 
know how to feed cattle—and the majority 
cannot learn. 
Brandon, Vermont. 
FROM L. F. ALLEN. 
My practice in feeding dairy cows for but¬ 
ter in winter and summer, (if soiling is pre¬ 
vented), has been to feed them three times 
per day—morning, noon and night. An in¬ 
terval of eight or ten hours is too long be¬ 
tween feeds, leaving the stomach empty, 
whereas it should not be totally void of food. 
In winter I water twice a day, if the cows 
are kept on dry food: when they are given cut 
fodder, moistened, with ground-feed, bran, or 
other meal. Watering fully once a day is all 
' they care for. Cows do not need water above 
a temperature of 50 to 60 degrees for drink; 
45 degrees is high enough, if they have warm 
stables which do not admit frost. My stables 
are all well lined with inside boards and there 
are eight inches of saw-dust between the outer 
and inner boarding, and the cows lie warm 
and manure does not freeze. 
Niagara Co., N. Y. 
FROM JOHN GOULD. 
My practice in the past, has been to give 
two feeds per day, giving the cow full time 
to remasticate, digest and assimilate her food 
between feedings. With silage and bran as 
factors, it seems to be best to give a noon 
feeding of hay, clover or the like, as it has to 
be disposed of in some way, and to feed it at 
noon seems the best and most advantageous 
way of disposing of it. That the cow on dry 
feed should need time to digest her food, 
while the cow on grass eats all the time, is not 
an argument against the plan of feeding only 
twice a day; as grass is succulent, is rapidly 
digested and is prepared for assimilation by 
the least possible amount of stomach power; 
whereas dry food is digested slowly, and a 
greater amount of digestive force is used to 
perform the work, and in my opinion, it is not 
wise to keep the stomach of the animal fully 
active all the time, with a double duty of 
hurriedly digesting the old food, before 
the previous meal is well out of the way. In 
feeding silage we have a food largely charged 
with the natural juices of the plant, and di¬ 
gestion is much more rapid, and the morning 
feed of silage and bran is well on in the diges¬ 
tive canal before the noon feed of dry feed. 
On an exclusive dry diet, 1 am wholly in¬ 
clined to give only two full feeds per day with 
the grain mixed with them at that; so that 
there shall be no separation in rumination 
and digestion, and so that one feed can be got 
out of the way before taxing the stomach of 
the cow with another ration; but with silage 
as part of the ration, I do not see any good 
way of avoiding three feeds per day. While 
I have no experimental data on this subject, 
my practice has confirmed me in the above 
views. 
Portage Co., Ohio. 
FROM J. W. INGRAM. 
My practice in winter, has always been to 
feed dairy cows but twice in 24 hours. I 
believe that all domestic animals, (as well as 
men) would be healthier and happier if they 
had but two meals a day. The stomach, like 
all other organs of the body, together with 
the muscles and sinews, requires a season of 
rest, for recuperation. Animals that rumi¬ 
nate, or raise and remasticate their food 
should most certainly have abundant time for 
this natural and very necessary operation. 
There is no doubt that different kinds of food 
might make some difference in the number of 
feeds required in a day for the best preserva¬ 
tion of the cow’s health, and the greatest 
production of milk she is capable of af¬ 
fording. It is well known that some foods are 
digested more quickly than others, and some 
cows have stronger digestive powers than 
others. Green grass, roots, pumpkins and fruits 
will be digested sooner than hay and grain. 
A cow capable of vigorous digestion, fed on a 
food that is easily digested, might get hungry 
and do better on three feeds a day; but the 
generality of cows, fed on dry feed—hay, 
cornstalks, corn meal and bran—are, accord¬ 
ing to my experience, less dainty and particu¬ 
lar about their feed, eat it with a greater 
relish, and do better in the long run with but 
two feeds per day. 
The experiment of feeding steers twice, and 
three times a day, was made by the Messrs. 
Hornet in this county some years since. 
Two lots of steers of the same breed, the same 
age and size, and, so far as could be seen, in 
the same condition, were put up and fed the 
same amount of hay and grain of the same 
kind each day; but the one lot received its 
quota divided into three feeds per day, the 
other into two. When well fattened, the 
steers were sold and weighed the same day. 
There was not a great deal of difference; but 
all the steers that had but two feeds per day 
outweighed the others that had three. It may 
be said that this experiment with fattening 
steers, proves nothing in favor of feeding 
cows only twice a day for the best production 
of milk; but I think it does prove something 
in its favor. In the formation of flesh, and 
in the secretion of milk, the highest state of 
bodily health is essential to the accomplish¬ 
ment of the best results. In both oases the 
stomach of the steer and the stomach of the 
cow extract the nutriment from the food; one 
converts it into flesh: the other mostly into 
milk, and reasoning from analogy we should 
conclude that two feeds per day would be 
likely to produce more milk than a greater 
number when only the same amount of feed 
is given. I now believe in giving cows but 
two feeds in 24 hours in the winter, and I feed 
my cows no oftener, but should the weight of 
evidence be in favor of a greater number, I 
am open to conviction, and a little extra labor 
will not deter me from changing my practice 
and feeding as often as may be necessary. 
Sugar Run, Pa. 
FROM COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
Dairy cows should be fed twice only a day. 
The dairy cow needs rest as well as food. She 
will eat more slowly, masticate more and di¬ 
gest her food better if she gets two meals at 
regular intervals. The meals should be full 
ones. A quiet and contented habit should be 
cultivated in the cows. Such habits are con¬ 
ducive to a greater production. Cows should 
always be kept in a 
comfortable condition, 
and never be exposed 
to the cold. Thismeaus 
that the cow will yield 
more milk on much 
less feed than if she is 
exposed to the weather 
as she commonly is. I 
shall keep my milking 
dairy this winter all 
the time in a stable 
which will not freeze 
and I shall feed and 
water them there. I 
shall keep them bedded 
and clean, fasten them 
with a sliding chain. 
Saratoga Co., N. Y. 
CATTLE IN EAST¬ 
ERN COLORADO. 
Eastern Colorado 
has won a wide and 
well deserved fame as 
a cattle range. Hun¬ 
dreds of thousands of 
these animals have 
here been raised and 
fattened for the East, 
ern market, and mill¬ 
ions of dollars have 
here been made by the 
lucky stock-men. 
Many cattle “ kings’? 
and “ queens ” have 
here been crowned, 
but the days of big herds and colossal 
fortunes in the cattle business in Eastern Col¬ 
orado are no more. The large herds are 
rapidly disappearing from this part of the 
State. This change has been brought about 
by two distinct causes; first, the plains are 
being rapidly taken up by settlers who are 
putting the land under cultivation, thus tak¬ 
ing up the range and driving out the large 
herds that are bping either sent to market or 
taken to the western part of the State, or to 
some of the neighboring Territories. Another 
reason for removal of the large herds from 
this region is the fact that the range itself is 
becoming very badly exhausted. Stock- 
men say that there has been a slow 
but certain decadence of the condition 
of the range for the last 12 or 15 years. The 
present year has been perhaps the most un¬ 
favorable of the whole series The rainfall 
has been the least for a long term of years. 
This with the over-stocking to which this 
region has for years past been subjected, has 
left the range almost destitute of forage for 
stock. The most of the season the parks have 
been as brown and dry as is usual during the 
winter; so that now, when winter approaches, 
there seems to be absolutely nothing on the 
range for stock to live on through the win¬ 
ter. The outlook for stockmen is anything 
but assuring. Accordingly they are gather¬ 
ing up and selling unusually close this fall. 
If the coming winter should prove to be a 
very severe one, there seems to be no question 
but the loss of range stock will be frightful. 
The, opinion is practically unanimous that 
our system of stock raising must undergo a 
thorough ^revolution. Stockmen in the fu- 
VIEW OF AN ENGLISH "WORKING DAIRY.” See Page 814. Fig. 397. 
