Milk cow

“ The wandering cow feeds herself, in fact, from what might be the choicest product of her own milk, tramps the life out of much more, and tosses her head in disdain at much that if cut and properly fed in the stall, she would eat with a relish; so that it may be safely said that two, and some practical men say three, cows might be well-fed through soiling, on the same land that one is by the system of exclusive pasturing. ”

“ All farmers are aware that a first-class milk cow may, by injudicious feed and treatment, especially as regards milking, become a second-class animal. Now, such a system, carried out generation after generation, must certainly degenerate a milk breed, however good their marks and quality.
“Among the Short-Horns, probably the best milkers have good escutcheons; but an Ayrshire cow, with an inferior escutcheon, might be found to give more milk than a Short-Horn with a superior escutcheon, simply because one breed has been bred especially for beef, the other especially for milk. ”

“ She has been bred to withstand hardships instead of using all efforts to produce milk. Never let a good cow go hungry for pasture or hay.
Water. A milk cow requires about twelve and one-half gallons of pure water per day. In summer it should be fresh and cool water. In winter it should be fairly warm. The water should be as accessible as possible at all times. Twice a day is not often enough for milk cows. Especially when cattle are on dry feed, the more water they can be induced to consume, the more butter fat and milk solids it will put into the pail. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Leeks are not the only weeds which taint the milk before it is taken from the cow. All rank vegetable growths lend a similar influence to injure flavor. Indeed, that which the cow eats is what she makes the milk of, and if these offensive things are taken into her system, she cannot be expected to turn out milk that will not partake of their qualities, any more than a man can be expected to make sweet cider of sour apples by running them through the mill and press. Even the atmosphere which the cows breathe affects the flavor of the milk. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The red farmer’s cow is often called the dual-purpose animal. She is about half way between the beef and the dairy. She protects herself well but not to the limit as does the Hereford. She produces milk well but not nearly so well as do the highly-bred and highly-developed strictly dairy types. Not one of these three types of cows will do to substitute for any other. Each has a place to fill and each is the best animal in her place. ”

“ Nearly the same food and care are requisite for the cow as the ox; but the cow that suckles requires more particular attention, as well in the chusing as in the management. It is said, that black cows give the best milk, and that white cows give the most: but of whatever colour, she should be fleshy, have a brisk eye, and be light in her walk; she should be young, her milk plentiful, and of a good kind; she should be milked twice a day in summer, and once in winter; and, if we would increase the quantity, she must be fed with more succulent food than herbage. ”

“ The cow should not only be a good milker, but give milk suited to the line of dairying pursued. If cheese making is the object, there must be a large flow of milk rich in caseine. In butter making, a large flow of milk is not essential, but there must be a large percentage of fat in it. And the breeding must be such as to keep up the status of the herd. Some depend on purchasing cows, and exercise great care and judgment in so doing. In exceptional cases, a herd may be kept up in this way. But somebody must breed and rear good cows, or soon none can be had at any price. ”

“ 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. ”

“ An old cow will eat more than a young one, but will give richer milk. If you can get a cow with her second calf, you can keep her profitably for five years, when she should be sold to the butcher. There is nothing that [14] will keep your cow-shed so neat, and add so much to the value of your manure pile, as a few shovelfuls of dry earth or muck thrown under the cow. It will absorb the liquid manure better than anything else. Don’t allow your milk pans to be appropriated for all sorts of household uses; you cannot make sweet, firm butter if the milk is put into rusty old tin. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is perhaps needless to state that the milk must be perfectly pure and unadulterated, and that it will fail of being this if yielded by an unhealthy cow. The animal’s food and habitat also exercise an important influence on the quality of the milk, that given by grass-fed cows roaming in open pastures undoubtedly being the best and richest. ”

“ The cow that is from a stock famed as heavy milkers, does not tend to lay on flesh, but, on succulent diet especially, the greater part of the nutritive matter assimilated goes to the production of milk, and she remains thin in flesh no matter how heavily she may be fed. Many such cows never go dry, but give a liberal yield of milk up to the day of calving, and if measures are taken to dry them up, it is done at the expense of a sudden plethora, as the milk giving system does not at once accommodate itself to the laying up of fat and flesh. ”

“ The color of the cow is the result of a condition. The red cow has been better suited to a farmer’s conditions and requirements. Dairy cattle can not rough it like beef or dual-purpose cattle. Where the custom is to stable feed and give good care to cattle, dairy breeds naturally take the lead. Where the dairy business is a side issue, and besides giving milk a cow is expected to face cold winds and to withstand periods of semi-starvation, the dairy type is not in it. ”

“ The safest and least troublesome manner of raising calves, is at the udder of the dam; and whenever the milk is converted into butter and cheese, we believe this to be the most economical. The milk of one good cow is sufficient, with a run of fresh, sweet pasture, to the feeding of two calves at the same time; and if we allow the calves to arrive at three or four months of age before weaning, we may safely estimate, that one good cow will yield a quantity of milk in one season, fully equivalent to bringing up four calves to a weaning age. ”

“ The time from calving, has also its effect. The first milk drawn from a cow after calving, has been found to yield over 15 per cent. of casein, while in its ordinary state it gives only three to five and a half. As the quantity of milk diminishes in a farrow cow, the quality improves within certain limits. Pregnancy affects the quality injuriously, and especially towards its latter stages; and a cow that is predisposed to giving milk, should be dried off a few weeks before its expiration, as it is then unfit for use.
Fat cows give poorer milk than such as are moderately lean ”

“ The objection voiced against cow's milk is that it is an unnatural food for man, only fit for the calf, which is equipped with several stomachs and is therefore able to digest the curds which are larger and tougher than the curds formed from human milk. It is said that the curds of cow's milk are so indigestible that the human stomach can not prepare them for entry into the blood. ”

“ I think it cruel to keep cows tied up all summer. They do not require much exercise, but fresh air they must have, and it is a great comfort to them to lick themselves, although they ought to be well curried every day. It is better to milk after feeding, as they stand more quietly. Don’t allow your milk-maid to wash the cow’s teats in the milk pail, a filthy habit much in vogue. Insist on her taking a wet cloth and wiping the cow’s bag thoroughly before she commences to milk. A cow ought to be milked in ten minutes, although the first time I undertook to milk alone, I tugged away for an hour. ”

“ The breed of the cow has undergone great improvement in modern times as regards both the quantity and the quality of the milk which she affords. Although milk in its natural state is a fluid, yet, considered as an aliment, it is both solid and fluid; for no sooner does it enter the stomach than it is coagulated by the gastric juice, and separated into curds and whey, both of which are extremely nutritious. The milk of the human subject is much thinner than cow's milk; asses' milk comes the nearest to human milk of any other; goat's milk is somewhat thicker and richer than cow's milk ”

“ The best cow rarely gives more than two or three pints of milk daily, and, should her calf die or be taken from her, she absolutely refuses to give any at all, in which case it is necessary to resort to artificial means. ”

“ When a cow has been milked for several years, and begins to grow old, the most advantageous way is to make her dry. To effect this, bruise six ounces of white rosin, and dissolve it in a quart of water. The cow having been housed, should then be bled and milked; and after the mixture has been administered, she should be turned into good grass. She is no longer to be milked, but fattened on rich vegetables. Cows intended for breeding, should be carefully selected from those which give plenty of milk. ”

“ If artificial feeding becomes necessary, clean cow’s milk is the best substitute. Cow’s milk is made for the calf, whose stomach and digestion are much coarser, and development much more rapid, than the baby’s. As produced, it contains too high a percentage of protein and lime, too low a percentage of sugar and phosphorus, and the curd is too large and coarse for the baby’s digestion. It is difficult to produce perfectly clean, and to keep perfectly sweet until feeding. ”

“ 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. ”