Show SPECIAL ATTENTION TO FEEDING CALVES 4 T I 1 I 1 W t M I 1 THESE ARE GROWING INTO MONEY DAY AND NIGHT from the united states department of 0 agriculture feeding the calf should begin before it Is born says farmers bulletin feeding and management of dairy calves and young dairy stock recently issued by the united states department F part 1 1 ment of agriculture poorly nourished 1 aed cows give birth to weak puny calves which are hard to raise cows which have an abundance of palatable and succulent feed and are in good flesh and healthy thrifty condition at calving time tire are more likely to produce wll developed strong aud and sturdy calvers which will respond normally to proper feed and care the calf should always receive its mothers mother s milk at first as the or first milk stimulates the stomach and other digestive organs to action most alost dairymen prefer to keep the calf with the cow for about fort eight hours immediately after birth it may be best to allow a weak calf or one that does docs not gain strength readily to remain a longer time but it Is sometimes difficult to teach the calf to drink after sucking the cow for a time and ami serious trouble way may result from its failure to obtain food cleanliness essential successful raising of calves requires absolute cleanliness calf pens should always be kept clean and be supplied v gath plenty of dry bedding discarded feed should be removed from the feed boxes which should be thoroughly brushed and cleaned each day all milk fed should be fresh and clean Ls Is true also of other feeds milk 3 fine young holstein pens palls should be scalded tho thoroughly lushly ital with boiling water or sterilized with steam if possible milk from cows having a communicable disease as aa tuberculosis should be pasteurized heated to degrees fahrenheit and held at that temperature tor for 30 minutes before it Is fed to calves separated milk from a creamery also should be pasteurized because it Is practically impossible to know that such milk Is free from infection bitter better results are obtained by feeding young calves three times a day with the periods between feeding as nearly equal as possible when fed in this way the alie calf does not overload its stomach ston rach and the digestion of the feed la Is more evenly distributed throughout the 24 hours regularity in feeding Is important when calves are fed but twice a day the feeding should de be as neatly nearly as possible 12 hours apart amount of milk for calf at birth a 50 pound calf should have about eight pounds of whole milk a day while a pound one should have about twelve pounds for the first tour four days milk from the dam should be fed then that from any of the other cows in the herd preferably not from any that are nearly dry milk containing not more than 4 per cent butterfat butter tat 1 Is considered best at the beginning of the third week either cither skim or separated milk may be for whole milk at the rate of one pound a day the dally daily ration may be increased from two to tour four pounds depending upon the vigor of the calf when the calf does not drink eagerly what Is offered the quantity should be cut down the ration at the end of the third week usually should be approximately one hulf half whole and one halt half separated milk during the fourth week the change should be continued until by the end of the week only separated milk Is fed unless the calf is very delicate with especially vigorous calves the change to separated milk can ha be made about a week earlier the quantity fed can be increased gradually to 18 to 20 pounds a day time for weaning six months Is probably a good average age at which to wean calves from milk the age depends upon the cost of the milk in rela relation tiou to the value of the calf its breed size vigor etc the season of the year and the other feeds available also must be considered when the best of hay silage and a good food variety of grains are available or tien good succulent pasturage can be provided the calf can be weaned ea earlier rise also the stronger and more vigorous the calf the earlier it can be weaned on the other hand the more valuable the calf the more e expense the owner Is warranted in de developing ve lopIng it and the later it probably will be weaned if skim or separated milk Is plentiful calves may be fed profitably until eight or ten months old when the calf Is in its second week it should begin to grain and when one month old it should eat cat about half a pound a day after this time the quantity of grain may be gradually increased feeding all that the calf will eat until three pounds a day is reached probably during the third month grain fed t od to supplement separated milk should never be mixed with the milk it is questionable whether the prep preparation ara of grain in tiny any way such as soaking in or boiling Is under most circumstances wheat bran Is eaten readily by young calves corn has an excellent physiological effect and to a great extent may take the place of fat removed from skim or separated milk experiments tend to show that corn fed to calves should be cracked rather than finely ground ground oits oats are good in grain mixtures when available but in many cases cost much more per unit of feed than corn and bran the following grain mixtures are recommended in the bulletin 1 three parts cracked corn and one part wheat bran 2 three parts cracked corn one ona part wheat bran and one part ground oats 3 three parts cracked corn one part wheat bran one part ground oats and one part linseed meal 4 five parts cracked corn one part wheat bran one part ground oafs and one part blood meal 5 oats ground feed palatable roughage clover hay til alfalfa falfa hay or the most palatable roughage available bould be given the calf after the he r second week alfalfa Is liable to cause scours and should be fed sparingly at first and increased only otter the calf gets accustomed to it at first hay should be furnished fumi shed only in a handful at a time and be placed so that it cannot bo a soiled for the first six sis mouths months at least the calf should receive all the roughage of good quality that it will eat cat up clean when the calf has access to good pasture during the first six months it need not receive other roughage it Is not advisable however to have the calf under two months of age on oil pasture in the early spring |