Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-11-10
Calves in Summer.

Successful farmers know that it is impor-
tant to give calves the right management in
summer to have them thrive, and that some-
times when it is supposed that they have had
a "good chance" calves will not do well.
We do not remember to have seen one Of
the reasons so well stated as by Mr.. Cheever
of the New England Farmer, in reply to q
correspondent. Mr.. Cheever has a way of
surrounding a question" as one may say,
bringing all the facts up in order and stat
ing their bearing. His treatment of this is
so good that we give it entire.
"MR. EDITOR Il would like to inquire
through the columns of the Farmer, what
allied my calves. | commenced to raise four
last spring, that were nice ones, and l took
a great deal of pains with them. | pas.
tured them in a small field back Of my build.
ings, in an orchard, fenced off expressly for
them and they were not turned In until the
middle OF June, when their food consisted of
two pailfuls Of sour milk per day, with a
quart of scalded shorts and cotton seed meal
added, and the whole given at three meals,
making about three gallons and three quarts
each per day. Sometimes they would have
a slight attack of scours, but nothing that
seemed to be serious, being all right again
in day or so--in fact they were not very
loose. On the fourth Of July two Of them
were loose,-it was a hot day, and we had n
powerful shower in the afternoon, but OF
short duration. That night two of them
seemed to puff little, and the next morn.
ing they did not eat much, and seemed to be
worse. took them out, put them IN a
good dry place under cover they seemed to
pass manure and water all right, though
not in large quantities would eat some ;
did not swell auy until after they had been
dead some time, except little forward next
to the chest ; they seemed to breathe harder
and harder, with grunting sound and some-
times a gulp; one lived few days longer
than the other. On the night of July %,
we had rain storm which lasted n part Of
the next day also. Upon the oath,
noticed another calf securing some, and in a
day or two he was taken as the others we're,
only the discharges seemed to be all right
while sick. opened him after he died, and
found his bowels were all right and not in
famed, except the inside lining or membrane
to the paunch, which seemed to scrape off as
easily as it does from tripe after boiling /;
even cleaved off in places with the manure.
The wlndpipe and the tubes in the lungs
were filed with a frothy substance.
Last fall, the Portland Water Co. had
their mortar pens in the orchard and strewed
around some of the cement upon the ground.
There had been'a hog pen in the orchard,
and there was a shelter for them to run
under. There was no paint that they could
get to, nor did they seem to be poisoned.
One we dosed with salts, another with thor
ough-wort tea, and the last with saleratus
water. One was about three months old,
the other two were steers two months old.
Now the question is, what allied them, and
what should have been done for them
They were fat enough for veal. We never
had any trouble with calves before, because
we always turned them away to pasture.
Sometimes | think | fed them too we'll, for
my neighbors had calves not as old, that
they hitched out in the scalding SUI all
through the haying season, without shelter at
night, and fed irregularly, yet they seem to
be rugged, but poor. This is a lengthy in.
quiry, but it doubtless interests others as well
az myself" II, E. s,
Whits Rock, Me-, 1876.
REMARKs.-Of course, we cannot say
with certainty what allied your calves. We
do not think they were poisoned with ce-
ment or anything else, nor should a single
shower kill calf that is n perfect health
But we can see that the treatment you gave
them opened the way for diseases and made
them more sensitive TO extreme changes OF
weather than if they had been managed dif,
ferently. Milk is good food for calves, so i,
grass, but they should not have too much Of
either. Calves kept constantly in a good
pasture, after they are old enough to live
upon grass alone, will rarely injure them.
selves by over-eating. But if they are fed
large quantities Of milk in addition to the
grass, they are in danger of getting too much
liquid into the system, more than can b
disposed of without weakening the digestiv,
organs. Indigestion causes scours and weak
ness, and leaves the system subject to al
those diseases which are produced by sud
| uon OhhuBeS VI WeatucT. WIN g00Q ulgeS
tiOn comes good blood, with good blood there
is lively circulation, and an ability to keeE
warm under unfavorable conditions, as whe i
the body is wet by showers. Milk contains
eighty-seven per cent Of water, grass con
tains seventy-fVe per cent Calves living
on milk alone need no water. If they have
nothing but grass they need some water, but
not as much as If fed entirely on dry hay
If calves are fed principally hay, they may
drink considerable milk, or they may have
water instead of milk, though milk is mucl
better for them than water, but if they arr
eating largely Of green grass they SHOULD
have no more milk or water than is neede(
to quench thirst, no more than is needed Il
make the grass as watery as milk, that is
five parts water to one part solid matter
Skinned milk alone is not hearty enough
as an exclusive feed for growing calves
They should have, 10 addition, little mea
or dry hay, something to take the place o