If a flesh and milk-making food, like clover, is the source of the fodder, then a fat and heat-producing food, like corn, should furnish a large proportion of the grain fed. But it is not more profitable in all instances to feed foods in exact balance. Some of the factors may be so high priced and others so cheap that it will pay better to feed them more or less out of balance.
When good clover hay or alfalfa is being fed to cows in milk, any one of the following grain supplements will give satisfactory results.
(1) Corn meal and wheat bran, equal parts by weight.
(2) Corn meal, wheat bran, and ground oats in the proportions of 2, 1, and 1 parts.
(3) Corn meal, wheat bran, and cottonseed meal in the proportion of 2, 1, and 1 parts. Whether corn meal or corn and cob meals is fed is not very material. Barley meal may be fed instead of corn.
Should corn ensilage be fed to the extent of, say, 40 pounds per day along with clover or alfalfa, any one of the following grain supplements should suffice:
(1) Corn or barley meal, wheat bran, and ground oats, fed in equal parts by weight.
(2) Corn or barley meal and wheat bran, fed in the proportions of 1 and 2 parts.
(3) Corn or barley meal, cottonseed meal, and wheat or rice bran, fed in equal proportions.
(4) Ground peas and oats, also fed in equal proportions. The succotash mixture may be fed alone or in conjunction with other meal added to make the food still more in balance.