Dairy cattle

“ In the modern dairy cow the tendency to lay on flesh, so highly developed in beef animals, has been largely eliminated, and in its place the ability to convert economically the food eaten into milk has been cultivated in a high degree. Continued breeding to a special purpose has changed the former short milking period, limited almost to the pasture season, to a comparatively even flow of milk during ten or eleven months of every year. A cow that does not average six or seven quarts of milk a day for 300 days in the year, aggregating 4000 pounds, is not considered very profitable. ”

“ If farmers wish to increase their milk production and find their way clear to devote more time to their cattle, this discussion may be of some assistance.
Dairy cows have certain definite requirements. One of the most important of these is that they go through no periods in which they do not have all they want to eat of at least good grass or good hay or roughage. If the grass begins to get a little short in the summer, we must not neglect to feed. Another important requirement of the dairy cow is that she be not exposed to hardships such as cold winds and rains. ”

“ The Red Polls are a comparatively new breed, resembling the Devons, hornless, and inclined to the beef form. They are only fair dairy cattle, being in the class of breeds which aim to serve the dual purpose of milk and beef production. The Shorthorns, described above as beef cattle, although a typical beef breed, are to some extent dual-purpose animals, and some families have been notable for milk-production. ”

“ The city milk supply comes from a large number of farmers who produce milk as a side issue. The methods of feeding and caring for cattle on these farms is in the main contrary to the instructions given by the dairy department at the State Farm. The men who made dairying a business here were learning and following agricultural college methods. They had good grade dairy cattle and produced fully twice as much per cow as do the farmers now in the business. ”

“ In selecting any breed, regard should be had to the circumstances of the individual farmer and the object to be pursued. The cow most profitable for the milk dairy, may be very unprofitable in the butter and cheese dairy, as well as for the production of beef; while, for either of the latter objects, the cow which gave the largest quantity of milk might be very undesirable. A union and harmony of all good qualities must be secured, so far as possible. The farmer wants a cow that will milk well for some years; and then, when dry, fatten readily and sell to the butcher for the highest price. ”

“ In sections where the climate is moist, and the food abundant and rich, some families of the short horns may be valuable for the dairy; but they are most frequently bred exclusively for beef in this country, and in sections where they have attained the highest perfection of form and beauty, so little is thought of their milking qualities that they are often not milked at all, the calf being allowed to run with the dam. ”

“ In spring, the best feeding for dairy cows will be much the same as that for winter; the roots in store over winter, such as carrots, mangold wurtzel, turnips, and parsnips, furnishing very valuable aid in increasing the quantity and improving the quality of milk. Toward the close of this [113] season, and before the grass of pastures is sufficiently grown to make it judicious to turn out the cows, the best dairymen provide a supply of green fodder in the shape of winter rye, which, if cut while it is tender and succulent, and before it is half grown, will be greatly relished. ”

“ Keep the cows constantly in good condition, ought, therefore, to be the motto of every dairy farmer, posted up over the barn, and on and over the stalls, and over the milk-room, and repeated to the boys whenever there is danger of forgetting it. It is the great secret of success; and the difference [101] between success and failure turns upon it. Cows in milk require more food in proportion to their size and weight than either oxen or young cattle. ”

“ To raise up first-rate milkers, it is absolutely necessary to feed on dairy food even when they are young. No matter how fine the breed is, if the calf is raised on poor, short feed, it will never be so good a milker as if raised on better keeping; and hence, in dairy districts, where calves are raised at all, they ought to be allowed the best pasture during the [183] summer, and good, sweet and wholesome food during the winter. ”

“ About one sixtieth of their live weight in hay, or its equivalent, will keep horned cattle on their feet; but, in order to be completely nourished, they require about one thirtieth in dry substances, and four thirtieths in water, or other liquid contained in their food. The excess of nutritive food over and above what is required to sustain life will go in milch cows generally to the production of milk, or to the growth of the fœtus, but not in all cows to an equal extent; the tendency to the secretion of milk being far more developed in some than in others. ”

“ A peculiar feature of the dairy industry is the fact that it is constantly moving. The dairy herds begin to pasture in the lowlands as soon as the snow melts, and as fast as the snow line recedes up the mountains the cattle follow. The milk is converted into butter and cheese wherever the herds may be, and the second crop of grass below them is cut and cured for winter forage. ”

“ But, though we have already an exceedingly valuable foundation for improvement, no one will pretend to deny that our cattle, as a whole, are susceptible of it in many respects. They possess neither the size, the symmetry, nor the early maturity, of the short-horns; they do not, as a general thing, possess the fineness of bone, the beauty of form and color, nor the activity, of the Devons or the Herefords; they do not possess that uniform richness of milk, united with generous quantity, of the Ayrshires, nor the surpassing richness of milk of the Jerseys ”

“ Their milk is influenced like that of other cows, though to a [321] less extent, by the quality and quantity of food; so that in winter, unless the animal is properly attended to, the yield will decrease somewhat, but will rise again as good feed returns. This uniformity for the milk-dairy is of immense advantage. Besides, the cow, when old and inclined to dry up, takes on fat with greater rapidity, and produces a juicy and tender beef, superior, at the same age, to that of the ox. ”

“ The various breeds continue to have their advocates and admirers, and each breed has some points of advantage. The pure bred stock, however, comprise only a very small fraction of the dairy cows of the United States and Canada. The larger part of the cows are grades, i.e. crosses of natives or ordinary cows with pure breeds. Among these are many excellent animals, rivaling the thoroughbreds in amount and economy of milk-production. ”

“ There being a great difference in the quality as well as in the quantity of the milk of different cows, no dairyman should neglect to test the milk of each new addition to his dairy stock, whether it be an animal of his own raising or one brought from abroad. ”

“ Milch Cows.—When dairy-farming is conducted on pure pastures, the cows are altogether dependent upon the grasses; and in winter, the animals suffer much from scarcity of food. This is the very worst system of cow-keeping, but it is prevalent amongst many small farmers in Ireland, and is to be met with even in England and Scotland. I am strongly of opinion that it would be far more economical to keep cows (and other cattle) altogether in the house, and feed them with cut grass, than to allow them to remain out altogether in the field. ”

“ If the calf is so soon to be taken away, I should prefer not to suffer the cow to become attached to it at all, since she is apt to withhold her milk when it is removed, and a loss is sustained. The farmer will be governed by the question of profit, whatever course it is proposed to adopt. In raising blood stock, however, or in raising beef cattle, without any regard to economy of milk, the system of suckling the calves, or letting [157] them run with the cow, may and will be adopted, since it is usually attended with somewhat less labor. ”

“ Every practical dairyman knows that cows thus milked give a larger quantity of milk than if milked only twice, though it may not be quite so rich; and in young cows, no doubt, it has a tendency to promote the development of the udder and milk-veins. A frequent milking stimulates an increased secretion, therefore, and ought never to be neglected in the milk-dairy, either in the case of young cows, or very large milkers, at the height of the flow, which will commonly be for two or three months after calving. ”

“ The breeding cow must carry a calf every year, and this notwithstanding that she is at the same time suckling another large, growing calf. The dairy cow must breed every year, and at the same time must furnish a generous flow of milk from nine to eleven months yearly. ”

“ As a profitable beast to the grazier, and the feeder, nothing can equal them in early maturity and excellence. For this purpose, the short-horns are steadily working their way all over the vast cattle-breeding regions of the west; and, for the richness and abundance of her milk, the cow is eagerly introduced into the dairy, and milk-producing sections of the other states, where she will finally take rank, and maintain her superiority over all others, on rich and productive soils. ”

“ The utmost gentleness—as has been already remarked, in another connection—should always be observed in the treatment of all stock; but especially of milch cows, and calves designed for the dairy. Persevering kindness and patience, will, almost invariably, overcome the most obstinate natures; while rough and ungentle handling will be repaid in a quiet kind of way, perhaps, by withholding the milk, which will always have a tendency to dry up the cow ”

“ The want of care and attention to the udder, soon after calving, especially if the cow be on luxuriant grass, often injures her milking properties exceedingly. The practice in the county of Hereford has generally been to let the calves suckle from four to six months, and bull calves often run eight months with the cow. But their dairy qualities are perhaps as good as those of any cattle whose fattening properties have been so carefully developed ”

“ While fair beef cattle, the Holsteins are deep milkers, and show a record of the largest quantity of milk of any breed in America,—some cows giving over 12,000 pounds of milk in a year. The milk, however, is not as rich in butter fat as that of the Jersey, but probably they are the best breed of dairy cows for the cheese factory in the United States. ”

“ The cattle are thus kept in a restless condition, constantly expecting food when the keeper enters the barn, while, if regular hours are strictly adhered to, they know exactly when they are [118] to be fed, and they rest quietly till the time arrives. Go into a well-regulated dairy establishment an hour before the time of feeding, and scarcely an animal will rise to its feet; while, if it happens to be the hour of feeding, the whole herd will be likely to rise and seize their food with an avidity and relish not to be mistaken. ”

“ In these departments, also, the native stock has been improved by crossing with foreign varieties, imported for the purpose. The criollo cattle, the result of cross-breeding, are a fine race, and good for dairy purposes, cows giving as much as three or four gallons of milk daily. ”

“ These figures explain why dairy cows and not steers are kept on the valuable lands. When the cheap lands disappear, and rough food commands higher values, the beef cow will be raised as a luxury, and cattle will make their contribution to the human race largely in the form of milk, butter, and cheese. In the future more and more will the farmers of all countries turn to the dairy cows. ”

“ In buying dairy stock the farmer generally finds it for his interest to select young heifers, as they give the promise of longer usefulness. But it is often the case that older cows are selected with the design of using them for the dairy for a limited period, and then feeding them for the butcher. In either case, it is advisable, as a rule, to choose animals in low or medium condition. The farmer cannot commonly afford to buy fat ”

“ The cow boys on the range rarely think of milking a cow that has lost her calf. The typical beef animals give so little milk that they can go dry at any time even on good grass with little or no injury to themselves. Some dairy cows would die even though sucked by a big husky calf if they were not milked, because they give so much more than the calf could take. The dairy cow is bred and trained for generations to digest all she can and to give it all away, keeping nothing with which to protect herself against hard times. ”

“ As examples of beef-cows look at the Shorthorns or the Herefords or the Polled Angus at the next State Fair you visit and notice the square, deep, smooth body with muscles and fat strongly developed in contrast to the loosely built, bony milk-cow with its tendency to turn all its food into milk at the expense of the body. There are, however, also among the Shorthorns, strains of good milkers, but as a rule these beef-breeds are not selected for the dairy farm, and “dual purpose” cows are not usually profitable. ”

“ The udder should be attached high behind and the thighs should be narrow. In fact, we want a cow that is not an “easy keeper” but that will milk out clean. The cow should be soft skinned and fine haired. Beware of the wild-eyed, nervous, quick-moving cow for she wastes her energy. Beware of the sluggish cow for she will be sluggish in appetite and will convert her feed into fat instead of milk. Perhaps the best way to describe the disposition of a good dairy cow would be to say that she is alert and intelligent but calm and sensible. ”