Keeping one cow / Being the experience of a number of practical writers, in a clear and condensed form, upon the management of a single milch cow

by Various

THE ELLSWORTH OR “BARRE” SYSTEM OF FEEDING.

BY D. D. SLADE, CHESTNUT HILL, MASS.

My own experience, as well as that of others, has taught me that a cow properly fed twice a day, will give more milk, and be in better condition than when fed three times, or more frequently. This plan, which is known as the “Barre” system of feeding, may be adopted throughout the year, although it has been chiefly applied to the winter months, in the region where it has been most extensively pursued.

The poorest quality of fodder is given first, at the commencement of each meal, and before this is entirely consumed, another foddering of a better quality is placed before the cow, and finally a third, of the best hay. After this is consumed, roots, grain, etc., may be given immediately. In this way, the animal employs on an average about two hours at a meal—which occurs only twice during the day, with an interval of from six to seven hours between the morning and evening. Water, always slightly warmed, in cold weather, is offered at once, and it will be found that the cow will not drink so freely after she has begun to chew the cud. No food should be given between the meals, which should be at regular hours, and served with punctuality. So long as she chews her cud, which in the well-fed cow is about six hours, we can rest assured that her digestive organs have work enough before them, and that we cannot reasonably call upon them to do more.

The why and the wherefore of this system of feeding, which we heartily advocate, are well told in the words of Mr. Ellsworth, the originator. “The idea that a cow needs only two meals a day during the winter season, as long as she is kept upon hay or other dried fodder, notwithstanding the fact that she will eat much oftener, when obtaining her living from the pasture, may appear to the casual observer, to be contradictory to itself; but on a closer investigation we shall notice a rational, and I believe satisfactory reason for it. Of all the elements of which grass is composed, by far the larger part is water, which must render it much more bulky than an equal amount of hay, and for this reason, more is required to supply the wants of the system. During the season, therefore, when the cow must live by her own exertions, she must labor most of the time to obtain the requisite amount of nourishment, which she is not required to do while in the barn. We must not forget, also, that pastures in general are kept down so close during the greater part of the summer, that only by continual labor can her wants be satisfied.”

The same rules are applicable to the soiling of the cow during the summer months, the only difference being that green food is given in the place of dry. This may consist of rye, oats, barley, millet, or Hungarian grass, corn, English grass, etc., cut while in the milk. It will frequently be found that a proportion of dried hay will also at times be highly relished, and may be essential to allay any excessive looseness of the bowels, which may be produced by the succulent food.

During the time of eating, the milking and other necessary work may be done about the cow house, so that time may be thus economized.

As to the requisite amount of food, it may be taken as a safe rule, that a milch cow demands in food, three per cent of her weight. An average cow, then, will require from eighteen to twenty pounds of hay, in addition to a peck or two of roots per day, or the equivalent of this amount in green food during the summer months.

If the hay is good, and has been properly cured, or if rowen can be given, then there will be little or no demand for grain in any form. If otherwise, from one to two quarts of Indian meal, with two quarts of shorts per day, should be fed out, if we are to expect a good flow of milk. We have found excellent results to follow the practice of stirring the meal and shorts, or a portion of these, into a bucket of warm water, and offering this mixture immediately after the animal has consumed her dry food, and before any roots are eaten. This extra amount of fluid will be greedily taken, in this way, without any interference with a liberal supply of water at the end of the meal. Salt, at all times, should be accessible to the cow, and perhaps this article may be best supplied by placing a large lump of rock salt in the manger, to be licked as her wants may require.

Taking Central New England, as before remarked, as the latitude of experimentation, it will be found that one square rod of oats, Hungarian grass, barley, rye, and similar grasses, in proper condition, growing on land in a high state of cultivation, is amply sufficient for a cow for one day. Or in other words, to be within perfectly safe bounds, and considering the chances of partial failure, we may say, that under the conditions above mentioned, forty square rods, or one quarter of an acre, will produce ample food for one cow for thirty-five days. On this basis, upon one acre can be grown soiling material sufficient to keep a cow through the year, allowing also, a liberal amount of roots. How is this to be done?