Feeding winter dairy cows

Abstract

<p>Continuing the work of this station in dairy lines, we grew cabbages, mangel wurzels, white flat turnips, and rutabagas, made com fodder and ensilage during the summer and fall of 1893, and fed them to twenty cows during the winter of 1893-4. The object in view was to get indications of the effect these feeds would have on milk giving and its quality, the grade of butter each would make in the creamery, and what the chemist might find from analyses in his laboratory, so that Iowa farmers might get suggestions regarding their relative value. The plan was to feed a uniform ration of hay and meals while cabbage, mangels and turnips were being tested, and get the effects of each, and when corn fodder and ensilage were being tested, to arrange meal rations to be fed with them, so as to get the effects of both in comparison with roots. Ten of the twenty cows were advanced in their periods of lactation; the average time they had been giving milk was 209 days. Their milking periods ended at the close of the experiment or soon after. Ten were fresh fall cows, and had been giving milk thirty-five days on an average. The ten fresh cows would have made the best showing, but would not have represented the average Iowa winter dairy herd. Eighteen were selected that could be milked from November 15 to February 19, and two that would be replaced during the experiment by two fresh cows. The trial lasted ninety-seven days; thirteen days were given to cabbage; twenty to mangels—first period; eighteen to turnips; eight to mangels—second period; seventeen to com fodder; and twenty-one to ensilage. The variation in time was controlled by the amount of the tested feeds on hand to some extent. The second period given to mangels was suggested by the sharp decline in per cents of fat from the turnips after feeding mangels, and the desire to ascertain whether the per cents of fat would advance if mangels were fed again, which will be discussed farther along.</p>