Milch cow

“ The utmost gentleness 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 a cow up ”

“ It is not the same in an animal designed for beef and in one designed fer the dairy or for work. The beauty of a milch cow is the result of her good qualities. Large milkers are very rarely cows that please the eye of any but a skilful judge. They are generally poor, because their food goes mainly to the production of milk, and because they are selected with less regard to form than to good milking qualities. We meet with good milkers of all forms, from the round, close-built Devon to the coarsest-boned scrub ”

“ But in this scale the cow is so lightly esteemed for the dairy, that the udder, the size and shape of which is of the utmost consequence in determining the capacity of the milch cow, is set down as worth only one point, while, in the same scale, the horns and ears are valued at two points each, and the color of the nose, and the expression of the eye, are valued at four points each. ”

“ Cornstalks cut up, thoroughly soaked with water for half a day, and then sprinkled with corn or oil-cake meal, is perhaps unsurpassed as good winter food for milch cows. The amount of meal may vary. With plenty of oil-meal, there is little danger of feeding too much, as that is loosening to the bowels, and a safe, nutritious article. Corn-meal alone, in large quantities, is too heating. Roots should, if possible, form part of the diet of a milch cow, especially before and soon after calving; feed well before this period, yet not to make the cow very fat ”

“ This last mode of milking is always practised when it is intended that a cow should be rendered dry.
Additional quantity of Milk to be gained by keeping Milch Cows in the house.—In the management of cows, a warm stable is highly necessary; and currying them like horses, not only affords them pleasure, but makes them give their milk more freely. They ought always to be kept clean, laid dry, and have plenty of good sweet water to drink. Cows treated in this manner, have given ten gallons of milk at a time, when within ten days of calving. ”

“ A large, rather long, white and loose udder, extending well back, with four long teats, serves also as a characteristic mark of a good milch cow. Large and prominent milk-veins must extend from the navel back to the udder; the belly of a good milch cow should not be too deep and hanging. The color of the North Dutch cattle is mostly variegated. Cows with only one color are no favorites. ”

“ These latter, it is true, depending upon the structure of the chest and other parts, are far better developed, and more permanently fixed, in some races than in others, and are derived more or less by descent, and capable of being transmitted. The breed, therefore, cannot be wholly disregarded, inasmuch as it is an element in forming a judgment of the merits of a milch cow. ”

“ A cow which has no calf must be milked quite dry, not a drop left. Brewer's grains are good food for milch cows, they are not fattening, but will make milk. They are also good for young growing pigs, and for poultry.
HINTS ABOUT COWS.
First and foremost, a hint that every man who milks a cow should bear in mind is never to make her afraid of him. A cow that is frightened, worried, or fretted in the least never does her best. She becomes nervous and irritable, however good tempered she may naturally be. ”

“ The utmost care should be taken to strip to the last drop, and to do it rapidly, and not in a slow and negligent manner, which is sure to have its effect on the yield of the cow. If any milk is left, it is reabsorbed into the system, or else becomes caked, and diminishes the tendency to secrete a full quantity afterwards. Milking as dry as possible is especially necessary with young cows with their first calf, as the mode of milking, and the length of time to which they can be made to hold out, will have very much to do with their milking qualities as long as they live. ”

“ The cow is always more injured than the calf is benefited, by that mode of feeding. She becomes so fond of the calf that she does not, for a long time after, yield her milk freely to the dairy-maid. The calf does not when young draw off the milk completely, and when it is taken off by the hand the cow withholds part of her milk; and, whenever a cow’s udder is not completely emptied every time she is milked, the lactic secretion is thereby diminished. ”

“ Great milkers are found of all shapes, and the chief object of improving their form is to improve their feeding qualities, or, in other words, to unite, as far as possible, the somewhat incompatible properties of grazing and milking. Graceful, well-rounded, and compact forms, which constitute beauty in the eyes of the grazier, as well as in the estimation of those not accustomed to consider the intrinsic qualities of an animal, or not capable of appreciating them in a milch cow, will very rarely be found united, to any considerable extent, with active mammary glands or milk vessels. ”

“ 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 ordinarily be for two or three months after calving.
The charge of this branch of the dairy should generally be intrusted to women. They are more gentle and winning than men. The same person should milk the same cow regularly, and not change from one to another, unless there are special reasons for it. ”

“ The calf is left to suck once or twice, which it will do as soon as it is able to stand. It should, in all cases, be permitted to have the first milk that comes from the cow, which is of a turbid, yellowish color, unfit for any of the purposes of the dairy, but somewhat purgative or medicinal, and admirably and wisely designed by nature to free the bowels and intestines of the new-born animal from the mucous, excrementitious matter always existing in them after birth. ”

“ At the age of two or three years the milky glands have not become fully developed, and their largest development will depend very greatly upon the management after the first calf. Cows should have, therefore, the most milk-producing food; be treated with constant gentleness; never struck, or spoken harshly to, but coaxed and caressed; and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred they will grow up gentle and quiet. But harshness is worse than useless. Nothing does so much to dry a cow up, especially a young cow. ”

“ The development of the dairying industry in the vast region of the United States of America has been described in the official Year-Book by Major Henry E. Alvord, chief of the dairy division of the bureau of animal industry in the department of agriculture at Washington. The beginning of the 20th century found the industry upon an altogether higher level than seemed possible a few decades earlier. The milch cow herself, upon which the whole business rests, has become almost as much a machine as a natural product, and a very different creature from the average animal of bygone days. ”

“ The capacity of cows for giving milk is varied much by habit. In fall, after the season of feeding is past, I feed four quarts of wheat bran or shorts made into slop with whey, or a peck of roots to each cow, till milking season closes (about the first of December) . When confined in stables and fed hay and milked, they are fed each one pail full of thin slop at morning before foddering, and also at evening, to render their food more succulent, and they will not drink so much cold water when let out in the middle of the day. In cold weather cows are kept well attended in warm stables. ”

“ In the neighborhood of towns where the dairy produce is disposed of in new milk, and where the aim of dairymen is to produce the greatest quantity, too frequently with but little regard to quality, it is their common practice to purchase incalving cows. They pay great attention to the condition of the cow; they will tell you, by the high comparative price they pay for animals well stored with flesh and fat, that condition is as valuable for them as it is for the butcher ”

“ With such treatment, the cow loses in condition during the process of milking, and when no longer profitable is sold to purchasers in farming districts where food is cheaper, to be fattened or otherwise replenished for the use of the dairy keeper. We thus find a disposition in the cow to apply the aliment of her food to her milk, rather than to lay on flesh or fat; for not only are the elements of her food diverted to this purpose, but, to all appearance, her accumulated stores of flesh and fat are drawn upon, and converted into components of milk, cheese, or butter. ”

“ Their milk is influenced like that of other cows, though to 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 [216] with greater rapidity, and produces a juicy and tender beef, superior, at the same age, to that of the ox. The operation of spaying is simple, and may be performed by any veterinary surgeon, without much risk of injury. ”

“ A cow with a large, coarse head will seldom fatten readily, or give a large quantity of milk. A coarse head increases the proportion of weight of the least valuable parts, while it is a sure indication that the whole bony structure is too heavy. The mouth should be large and broad; the eye bright and sparkling, but of a peculiar placidness of expression, with no indication of wildness, but rather a mild and feminine look. These points will indicate gentleness of disposition. Such cows seem to like to be milked, are fond of being caressed, and often return caresses. ”

“ The cow’s memory is far greater than many suppose; and the loss and injury sustained by removing the calf after it has been allowed to suck her for a longer or shorter period is never known exactly, because it is not usually known how much milk the calf takes; but it is, without doubt, very considerable. If the udder is all right, there seems to be no good reason for leaving the calf with the cow two or three days, if it is then to be taken away. ”

“ In the natural or wild state, the cow yields only enough to nourish her offspring for a few weeks, and then goes dry for several months, or during the greater part of the year. There is, therefore, a constant tendency to revert to that condition, which is prevented only by judicious treatment, designed to develop and increase the milking qualities so valuable to the human race. ”

“ A cow that is of a quiet and contented disposition feeds at ease, is milked with ease, and yields more than one of an opposite temperament; while after she is past her usefulness as a milker she will easily take on fat, and make fine beef and a good quantity of tallow, because she feeds freely, and when dry the food which went to make milk is converted into fat and flesh. But there is no breed of cows with which gentleness of treatment is so indispensable as with the Ayrshire, on account of her naturally nervous temperament. ”

“ These different objects should, therefore, be kept in view, in the selection of cows; for animals which would be most profitable for the milk-dairy might be very unprofitable in the butter-dairy—a fact of almost daily experience. The productiveness of the cow does not depend on her breed so much as upon her food and management, her temperament and health, and the activity and energy of the organs of digestion and secretion. ”

“ The best milkers often look coarse and flabby; for, even if their bony structure is good and symmetrical, they will appear, especially when in milk, to have large, raw bones and sharp points, particularly if they are largely developed in the hind quarters, which is most frequently the case, as is strikingly seen in the form of the Oakes cow, a native animal, the most celebrated of her time, in Massachusetts, and winner of the first premium at the State Fair of 1816. ”

“ If gentle and mild treatment is observed and persevered in, the operation of milking appears to be one of pleasure to the animal, as it undoubtedly is; but if an opposite course is pursued,—if, at every restless movement, caused, perhaps, by pressing a sore teat, the animal is harshly spoken to,—she will be likely to learn to kick as a habit, and it will be difficult to overcome it ever afterwards. To induce quiet and readiness to give down the milk freely, it is better that the cow should be fed at milking-time with cut feed, or roots, placed within her easy reach. ”

“ For milch cows it is much better than Timothy. The rowen crop is better than any other for calves.”
Indian Corn makes an exceedingly valuable fodder, both as a means of carrying a herd of milch cows through our severe droughts of summer, and as an article for soiling cows kept in the stall. No dairy farmer will neglect to sow an extent in proportion to the number of cows he keeps. ”