236
ABSTRACTS
production. Here again the ideal type must be well known. The use of a score card
or thorough familiarity with it is a very good aid in type selection.
In heifers the first essential is health. An unhealthy, slow growing heifer of weak
constitution will not develop into a good milking cow. Good dairy form, feeding capa-
city, refinement and symmetry are essential. Faults in constitution and general con-
formation cannot easily be corrected and should be avoided for this reason.
Masculine features are of the greatest importance in type for a dairy bull. Good
feeding capacity, good size and good style characterize a good bull. The mature weight
of a bull makes good straight bones and strong feet very essential. Many faults may be
detected in a young bull which may cause him to become useless in mature life. These
should be detected early and such animals not used for breeding purposes. (J. N. W.).
Inadequacy of a whole milk ration for dairy calves as manifested in changes of
blood composition and in other physiological disorders. G. H. WISE, W. E.
PETERSEN AND T. W. GULLICKSON (1939), Jour. Dy. Sci. 22, 559-72.
T HIS study was made for the purpose of obtaining further information as to the
symptomatology of prolonged feeding of whole milk as a sole diet of calves, which
earlier work has shown to be detrimental.
Twelve calves from normal dams were placed on experiment shortly after birth.
All but one received colostrum the first two or three days and then whole milk twice
daily from a pail. The milk was produced by animals on ' medium quality alfalfa hay,
corn silage and a grain mixture of 250 lb. yellow corn, 250 lb. barley, 250 lb. oats,
100 lb. bran, 100 lb. linseed meal, 50 lb. cottonseed meal and 15 lb. common salt.' Access
of the calves to water was restricted. Commercial iodized salt was supplied ad lib.
Calves were observed, for the effects of their diet upon 1. general health, 2. growth,
3. blood analysis, and 4. post-mortem examinations.
All calves seemed healthy and vigorous at first but soon developed a gross symptom-
atology in somewhat the following order : depraved appetite with desire to gnaw
boards, long rough coat, dry skin, paleness of unpigmented areas, emaciation, sluggish-
ness, occasional nervousness and anorexia, colds and digestive disturbances were fre-
quent. Symptoms varied in kind and degree with individuals. Many symptoms
were restricted to individuals, such as paresis, rachitic -like condition, edema of joints,
excessive salivation, tonic clonic convulsions, retarded growth, cachexia, etc.
The milk intake varied from day to day for erratic appetites ; with good appetite
the daily intake increased with age, although on a body weight basis it was actually a
decrease. Extremes were probably due to genetic heterogeneity of experimental animals
and variation in nutrient intake.
Anæmia and low hæmatocrit values were pronounced in advanced stages. Of seven
calves studied, within the first ten days only two had normal hæmoglobin values. Blood
sugar values were high and variable. Plasma fat content seemed to follow the general
condition of the calves. Plasma calcium was normal in all but two calves. Inorganic
phosphorus of the plasma varied. A general decrease in plasma magnesium occurred
during the first three or four months, the rate of reduction being further evidence of
variable response to apparently the same treatment.
Post-mortem examination of five calves of 55 to 270 days of age revealed under-
developed rumens in three cases. Debris made up the rumen contents, while lumps of
undigested curd were in the abomasum. Pyloric ulceration occurred in some cases.
The heart was atonic and petechial hemorrhage on the external surface of the auri-
cular region was frequent. Atrophied spleens, enlarged adrenals, anæmic livers and
bones osteoporotic on the articulating surface were other symptoms revealed by autopsy.
Many results cannot be assessed because of the variable and complex symptomato-
logy. In some instances the findings of other workers were confirmed, whereas in other
instances questions remain. Iron and copper deficiencies were pronouncedly manifest
by anæmia. The data shows that calves cannot tolerate hæmoglobin values of less than
3.00 gm. per 100 mls. of blood.
The Mg content of the milk suggests hypomagnesemia, a result of faulty untiliza¬
tion, and it is hardly conceiveable that the Ca : Mg ratio of the milk is a factor in Mg
utilization. Absorption or retention of P was apparently affected by diarrhoea, as
changes in this element followed this condition.