Show dr L D legear by V S st lour louis mo D dr legear is 8 a graduate of ontario veterinary college 1892 thirty eight years of veterinary work eminent authority on diseases and raising of dairy cows other livestock and poultry nationally known lecturer writer and author WHEN THE TIIE CAI C A IF F BECOMES A VEALER many classifications are now used in judging the meat of I 1 loung oung I 1 alves to sell or not to sell that s the question it if shakespeare had been a dairyman he plight might have quizzed in some such fashion when the question of what to do with his new born calves came up the owner ot of pure bred stock has the problem pretty well solved he ile has a market for all the calves he does not want to keep but the of the average catry herd must dis of hia his excess stock the market for ve I 1 is a big one in this country neaily one million pounds of dressed veal are produced every year which is quite an indus try in itself to the average customer of a butcher blitcher shop veal is calf meat but when you get into the subject you will find out differently there are different grades of calves and many classifications of calf meat gov eminent officials found that out a few years ago when they attempted to call the offspring of a cow under one year of age a calf technically thea were correct of course even today in some sections country animals under one year are sold as calves at so much a head go into stockyards and you will hear buyers discussing dealers veal calves range calves dairy calves etc in the dressed meat coolers of the packing plants you will again find many different names tor for the carcasses hanging there although to the inexperienced one they may all appear to be just veal there is a split veal grass veal calf carcass and others first let us define our terms and then we will discuss the business side of calf raising the depart ment of agriculture has set up two classifications the vealer Is a young calf which in most instances has been fed on whole milk and may be anywhere from three weeks to three months old the carcass ol 01 such a calf is very light almost a white in fact the bones are soft and red there 1 L very little tat fat and the lean meat is fine and smooth grained it is called veal by the government the term calf Is ap piled plied to animals around elx six months of age which have run on pasture and which show the effects of age and exercise tte the meat from a calf is darker more like the red of 1 beef the bones are hard and white and the tat fat more abundant it Is called calf carcass in other words a vealer is 14 a a young milk fed calf and a a f Is a slightly older animal that hos lis been to pas ture and has been raised on other foods in combi nati n with milk now the question of whether you should sell you oplus calves at an early age Is an economic one and depends entirely upon condl condi eions the season of the year the markets and othea factors there is one simple rulo rule you can always depend on when the cost of milk is low and the price of e veal Is high raise veal when 1 I 1 e conditions are de versed that is ahen milk Is val bable and the maibet is oft off on veal better keep the calves tor for beet beef or milk in raising alves tor for veal on a milk diet it takes about 10 ibs lbs of milk lor for each I 1 ib lb of veal calves weigh around 90 to ibs lbs at birth the market haa hag ohp th best demand for dealers that weigh from to ibs lbs it Is very easy to figure then what it will cost to pet get the calf ready tor for market A hundred pound calf that Is sold as a vealer when it reach es ibs lbs will require ibs lbs of milk 1 it may take as much as to 1000 ibs lbs of alik before the vealer is sold these are things to be taken into consideration when the calf is born I 1 might add that ibs lbs Is a pretty good weight at birth brown swiss and holsteins are the largest at birth and will average from 90 to ibs lbs the jersets are the smallest and will average 55 to 60 ibs lbs tor for both sexes male calves will average beav ler ter than the temples and the first and second calves are lighter than those which follow when the mother ia Is in the prime of life I 1 fould also like to make it clear that the figures I 1 have given both as to the age and weight of dealers and calves are not fixed the things that will determine whether you are sell ing veal or calf carcasses is the con of the meat itself copyright 1930 by dr L D le igar egar V S st louis |