apples and milkproduction in cows

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Hi, this is a question, that I'm posting for a fellow homesteader. There are quiet a few around here, but not everybody is lucky enough to be able to afford a computer. They have a milk-cow, that has been bred back to calve again in april. For the last three weeks her milk production has dropped significantly. She doesn't appear to be sick. Somebody has told them, that it came from the cow eating apples. All their pasture land has appletrees in it. They've been trying to pick the apples up, as they drop, but they simply can not keep up with it. I have never heard , that apples will do that. My cow loves them as a treat. Anybody here ever heard of this? She is their only source of milk, so they are very concerned. I will pass the replies on to them. Thanks Karin

-- karin morey (wind_crest@hotmail.com), September 23, 2000

Answers

I'm speaking from ignorance here, but a couple of thoughts come to mind. One is that a sudden change of feed will throw any animal off - - even if it is a feed they like (especially if it is something they like, because then they eat too much of it). The organisms in the gut that do the digesting don't have time to adjust, and digestion will be thrown off. Second, apples, while tasty, are very low in protein. They are mostly sugars with a few vitamins and a little fiber thrown in. The cow needs a high protein level in order to produce milk. So if the apples are forming a significant portion of her feed right now, she's probably not getting the protein her body needs. Is there any way your friends can take her out of the orchard most of the time, just letting her back in cor short periods of time, so she doesn't eat too many apples? Most cows can be tied out, as long as someone is around to keep an eye on her, if they don't have another fenced area for her.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), September 23, 2000.

I don't know a whole lot about cattle, but I feed my goats apples every fall, and if anything, the apples seem to increase the milk. Unless she is scouring or showing other signs that the apples are upsetting her digestion, I wouldn't worry too much about the apples. I don't know what breed this cow is or how well she produces, but some of my does have a tendency to dry up soon after they are bred, and most of them will show some decrease in production as the pregancy progresses. Perhaps if they gradually increase the protein and amount of grain, the cow will pick back up on her production. She could also have twins, which although not as common as in goats, does occur in cattle. That would be even more of a demand on her. Unless she is showing an upset rumen form the apples or has gone off her hay and grain because she is overeating them, I would suspect something else.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), September 23, 2000.

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