OCR Text |
Show CARiNG FOR THE YOUNG COWS EARLY BREEDING OF THE HEIFERS ADVOCATED J.g BY A DAIRYMAN HIS REASONS FOR SO DOING. TV. H. Underwood. lij m I havo long followed the plan of raising ten to a dozen calves ' each year, thus being allowed to replace tho inevitable losses of the dairy and to constantly cull and sell thoso which I consldor least desirable. I think this practico ought to bo followed fol-lowed on every farm where skim milk Is available, becauso a dairy calf offers ono of tho very best markets for this dairy by-product. I let these calves becomo mothers rather young. It is surprising how very early a vigorous young heifer will breed if the opportunity Is given hor. I hod onco a Jcrsoy-Holsteln cross-bred heifer that gave birth to her full torm calf when only fourteen and one-half months old. It In the business of a dairy cow to give milk and to learn to turn all her products and energies along this channel, and so -tho earlier sho can go- started in tho right way tho better. It is sometimes said that early breeding stunts or dwarfs a heifer, but I have had many heifers to drop their first calves at from eighteen to twenty months of age, and aftorward they developed Into cows which were largo and vigorous for their breed. I like best to start with a September or October calf and then, if they spend their first winter under favor-ablo favor-ablo conditions, with plenty of skim milk and early cut hay. bran and ground oats In addition, they will be sleek and plump when thoy go to pasture In tho sorlnir. About mid-summer or early fall, when Ihey aro ten months or a year old, add a yearling bull to the bunch and the matter of breeding will be tended to without caro or attention. I never expect to ralso tho little elves of theso calf-mothers, so I care llttlo about the breeding of the bull or tho dates of service. There will bo a good deal of variation in tho age of dropping the first calf. Permanent barrenness has with me been very uncommon. The young mother sees very little of tho calf after It is born. The quicker It is taken from her tho hotter becauso if sho has time to become strongly attached to It. sho will worry moro when it is finally removed. I want hor to understand that it Is her mission to yield her milk readily to the man who milks her. By thus removing tho first two or threo calves, tho maternal instinct becomes be-comes largely dormant and sho comes to consider a pall rathor than a calf as the natural channol for her milk. In most cases, tho "breaking" of a heifer to milk Is no great task, I usually milk tho young heifer myself for the first few times. It Is hardly necessary to say that tho application of the milking stool In tho vicinity of tho short ribs is worse than useless. A soft volco and gcntlo phrase and self restraint will not do everything cither, nnd if sho will not bo reason- ab,lc, there can be no harm In putting a rope or strap around her legs Just ? jf above the hocks in tho form of a . ,1 figure eight. It causes her no dls- v 1 0 comfort until sho begins to kick and li thon it cannot cause her the slightest k Injury. J ( The hclfor will, of courEC, not eat lM as much as tho mature cow, becauso fa the capacity of animals to consumo iJll food Is largely In proportion to their Ivjj size. A heifer may give as much milk jfofi in proportion to tho food eaten as a ffat mature row and make somo growth Hjtfl in addition. fSft But their first year's ration should VM bo liberal with at least a fair amount Ijf of grain, because she needs food, not ! A only for milk production and growth ' Jt Champion Holsteln Bull, Illinois I? Stato Fair. . jjj as well, but in addition sho is satis- -!) fying her life habit and developing ,li her digestive sytsem and sho ought to jl bo accustomed to handling a liberal I? and concentrated ration, If she Is to ' - I bo a useful dairy animal for the next I dozen years. : Tho cows should bo kept clean and I tho long hair clipped so as to provent i S dirt hanging and falling into tho pails ji while tho cows aro being milked. : ?. They should be milked rapidly and tho milkers should keep their hands 0 dry whllo milking. Ono of the most j filthy habits connected with dairying : 13 wetting the hands whllo milking. i I Cows should not bo fed cabbage, j I turnips or other foods to produce . f 1 bad flavor or odor in their milk. . , i |