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The Mineral Metabolism of the Milch Cow

Glenwood, Illinois^*

Abstract

This investigation was suggested to us by the phenomenal mineral content of milk, and by observations on the behavior of milch cows which raised a question as to whether the mineral metabolism might not become a matter of critical importance in conditions of stress, especially as resulting from extreme development of the lactating function through selective breeding.

These observations were the following: (1) That there is greater difficulty in getting a cow with calf after heavy and prolonged lactation than if bred comparatively soon after calving, (2) that cows bred too young tend strongly to remain permanently small, (3) that occasionally a cow will fail, unaccountably, after calving, to approach her normal milk production, (4) that cows calving while in especially thin condition, or calving without having had an adequate dry, resting period, are apt to begin lactation at less than the normal rate, or, after a brief term of production, to fail abruptly, and (5) that performance tests of milch cows, under conditions of forced production, have resulted in the loss of breeding capacity of so many superior cows as to occasion frequent comment and discussion among dairy cattle breeders.

^* The investigations summarized in this paper were conducted by the author at the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station.