Oklahoma Farmer (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 22, No. 12, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 15, 1912 Page: 3 of 20
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Oklahoma Farmer
Volume 22
Number 12.
GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA, OCTOBER 15, 1912.
Subscription
80 Cents a Year.
I
FALL AND WINTER MANAGEMENT
W'
.INTER DAIRYING: For
a great many years pro-
gressive dairymen have
followed the plaji of having
most of their cows freshen dur-
ing the fall months. The reasons in favor of this
practice are as follows: 1. There is usually a
better market for dairy products in winter as a
large number of cows in the country are dry at
that time. 2. The fall fresh cow will give about
one-fifth more milk or butter during the year. 3.
It is better for the dairyman, especially for the
man in the retail milk business, to have a uniform
amount of produce to sell during every month of
the year. 4. Dabor is cheaper and work less
pressing on the farm during the winter months.
5. The fall-fresh cow has chance to rest during
the worst months of the year, July, August, and
September. 6. The calves, dropped in the fall, can
be kept in good condition during the cool months,
in fine shape to be turned out on grass in the
spring, while the spring calf should be kept in for
a year.
The reason why the fall-fresh cow gives more
milk in a year than the spring-fresh cow, is be-
cause the spring pasture helps prolong her flow of
milk at a time
when she would
naturally begin to
go dry; and she
may milk well on
into July or Aug-
ust, till within a
month of freshen-
ing again. On the
other hand the
spring-fresh cow
calves in April or
May, when pas-
tures are good,
and milks heavily
during the early
summer months.
Then when tne
hot, dry montjis
come she falls off
rapidly in milk
flow and goes dry
on the cold wea-
ther and dry feed
of November and
December; giving
no milk for at
least four months
every year. With
plenty of late soil-
ing crops, silagre,
and good manage-
ment the spring-
f resh cow may
milk for 10 or 11
months, o r the
full year, and give
profitable returns,
but with equal
care the fall-
fresh cow will
give about one-
sixth more per
year. With heavy pastures or forage crops, it
may cost less to feed the cow that freshens in
the spring but this advantage is offset by the
increased prices of winter products, leaving a
clear gain of the extra 1000 pounds milk or 50
pounds butter from the fall-fresh cow. The rela-
tive cost of feeding in winter or summer will vary
under the different systems of management, ac-
cording to the kinds and amounts of feed used.
Winter dairying really means dairying all the
year round, as there are always a number of cows
in a herd that will come in in the spring ar.d
early summer, making a fairly uniform output
for the herd all through the year.
The Oklahoma farmer is more fortunate than
the northern dairyman in not requiring such high
priced stables. In the north, thick-walled, ex-
pensive buildings are needed to keep the stock
warm in winter, while practically all that is re-
quired in this latitude, from the standpoint of
shelter, is that the barn be wind proof and rain
proof. This makes the cost of construction con-
siderably less. It must not be supposed, however,
that any kind of shelter Is sufficient. The dairy
cow with her highly developed nervous system,
lean body and sensitive udder, should not be sub-
jected to the same exposure that may be per-
OF DAIRY CATTLE
By C. I. Bray, of the Animal Hus-
bandry Department, Oklahoma
A. & M. College
missible with the beef steer, with his heavy cover-
ing of fat. Experiments with cows show that tno
actual cost of inadequate shelter may amount to
ten cents or more per cow per day during ordinary
winter weather, in shrinkage of milk yield, while
in extremely bad weather the damage may be a
great deal more. The shock to the nervous system
of a fresh cow, occasioned by a freezing rain or
sleet storm, may bring on an attack of garget,
and reduce her productive capacity 25 per cent or
more for the entire year. Although feed may be
used to keep up animal heat, it is poor policy to
use it for that purpose, leaving little for milk
production.
The question of shelter is closely related to that
of comfort. Comfort is an important consideration
plenty of bedding to keep the
cows clean, but is almost ideal, as
regards the comfort of the cattle.
A most practicable and con-
venient plan, in tills latitude,
at least, is to have this shed or stable open into
a large well drained lot, where cows can go at
will. This does not save as much of the manure,
but there can be no doubt that it is healthy,
clean and comfortable for the cows. Feeders of beef
steers discovered long ago that their cattle seemed
more comfortable and usually put on more flesh
when dehorned and turned loose into dry lots or
weU bedded sheds, lhan when chained in stalls.
The writer's previous experience with southern
cattle has been that except in the case of a cold
rain, or snow or sleet storm, cows seemed to do
better out-doors, even on cold nights, than when
shut in the stable. This was partly due to the
fact that they got water in the lots, no watering
devices being in the barn. There is no doubt that
the cows in this latitude, accustomed to being
outdoors almost all year, do not take to confine-
ment in a stall, as readily as the northern cow,
accustomed to it all her life,
tem is very satisfactory for
Dairy Barn, A. & M. College, Stillwater, OUIa. The silo on the right Is of cement, capacity 110 tons and the one
on the left is a steel silo. Both silos have just been filled.
in the successful care and management of farm
animals in general, and dairy cows in particular.
Successful stock feeders know that the best gains
from fattening animals are secured only when the
animals are comfortable and contented, and it is
necessary for a dairy cow to have equally com-
fortable surroundings, at least, to give the great-
est returns from feed consumed-
The Stall-less Stable and the Open Shed: Years
ago, Prof. I. P. Roberts advocated having a large
«hed adjoin the milking stable, into which the
rows could be turned at night. With the cows
dehorned, the shed well bedded, and a water trough
put in, the cows had practically all the comfort
and freedom they would have out-doors in sum-
mer time. The plan while practicable has not
been very generally adopted. H. B. Gurler in "The
Farm Dairy," outlines a method of his own, which
he promises to adopt if he builds again. This will
be to have only a few stalls, in which only a few
cows at a time may be milked, fed grain, and
turned loose in the main part of the barn to be
replaced by others. This main part, a large cover-
ed shed, with hayloft above, will be equipped
with a water trough, and a long row of hay racks
down the middle of the barn in which the cows
will be fed their roughage. This plan requires
This out-door ays-
handling bulls and
young dairy stock.
Large box stalls
ct a n be used,
opening out-doors
into' dry lots, a
separate lot being
provided for each
group o f young
stock or similar
size or sex, and Is
equally satisfac-
tory in summer as
in winter.
The successful
care and manage-
ment o f dairy
cows must be
based on three
fundamental
facts: 1. Cows
give their largest
yields of milk, at
the least cost,
under early sum-
in e r conditions
and these condi-
tions should be
duplicated as
nearly as possible
during the entire
year. 2. The good
dairy cow has a
much more highly
developed nervous
system than any
other domesticat-
ed animal, with
the possible ex-
ception of the
race horse, and
her productive
powers are so in-
timately connect-
ed with this nervous system that a shock to the
latter affects the other. 3 In a state of nature the
cow gives her milk only to her calf, the object of
her affections; and is more likely to produce to the
limit of her ability when her milker and feeder
makes a pet of her than if he mistreats or frigh-
tens her.
Water: Water is necessary to the well being
of the animal body, which is more than 50 per cent
water. It is needed to carry the food through
the digestive system; to assist in the digestion and
absorption of nutrients, and in the excretion of
waste matter. It is a regulator of the temperature
of the body cooling the; surface by evaporation.
In the dairy cow especially, water is necessary
for milk production, as milk is 87 per cent water,
and a cow giving 4, 6 or 10 gallons of milk daily
must drink a corresponding amount or more, in
addition to that required for digestion and evap-
oration. The amount of water required by a dairy
cow is given by Henry as 4 to 6 lbs. per lb. of
dry matter fed, or 10 to 15 gallons per day for a
1000 lb. cow in milk. Water given twice daily may
be sufficient in winter, but should be given once, if
possible, between the evening feed and the next
morning's feed, else the morning milk yield will
euffer.
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Crowther, M. L. Oklahoma Farmer (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 22, No. 12, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 15, 1912, newspaper, October 15, 1912; Guthrie, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc88354/m1/3/?q=%22new-sou%22: accessed July 17, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.