New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1885-09-09
Young stock The First Year.

Young Stock The First Year.
Farmers and other stockmen too
often forget, or fail to give heed to, the
Importance Of good care and feeding
OF young animals the first year. Ii
stinted in food the first year, or given
that which is nutritious, young ami
mails, colts, calves, lambs, pigs and
even chickens will become so stunted
and dwarfed that they will never re-
cover therefrom, but will always re-
nam understood and perhaps thrift
less; while it not infrequently happens
that a petted and highly fed young ami
NAL will grow up to be twenty-five or
fifty per cent, larger than the average
of his kind I2ts
A dairyman friend OF ours, a few
years since becoming disgusted with
the low prices of butter and cheese, re-
solved to let his score of calves have
the milk of their dams, and he raised
a lot of calves that would weigh, in
autumn, from fifty to seventy-five per
cent. more than calves OF their age, as
ordinarily fed. We saw the same lot
when two past, and they were unusual
ly large Of their age. We would not
advocate, ofcourse, giving youngc calves
the entire milk of their mothers, for
that would be too expensive, but when
reduced to skim-milk, wewould supply
the fat, removed in the cream, with
gradual additions of oil-meal, mid
dlings or some other nutritious food.
One great reason why calves do
poorly the first season is because they
are not fed with sufficient regularity
and their rations often vary so much.
Several calves will often run together,
the milk will bepoured into a common
trough, and the larger, or more greedy
will get more than their share and the
weaker will secure less than their
share. At one time they will oyereat,
cloying their appetites, causing indi-
gestion, and loss .ofappetite; at anoth-
er they get less than enough to satisfy
their wants. Every calf should have
his ration separate, where he will not
be annoyed by others, and should re-
ceive at regular times, just enough to
fully satisfy; without surfeiting.
The colt usually has all the milk
that his dam will yield, but the dams
capacity is often reduced by lack of
sufficient food OF proper quality, or
from being overworked. The mare
should not only be well fed, but well
feed with such food as will furnish an
abundance of rich, nutritious milk.
A plenty of good, lush pasturage will
furnish about as much milk as any
thing, but, should that fail, grain
should be fed to supply the deficiency.
The colt will soon begin to crop lit
tie grass, but should there be any
signs of his losing ground, he should
be fed a little fine middlings and be
gradually accustomed to taking a little
oil-meal-
After young animals are weaned es-
pecial care should be used to supply
them with good, digestible, nutritious
food, and at no time during the life of
an animal can care be relaxed with
more depEorable results than during
their first year. Especial care should
be exercised IN supplying young ami
mails with warm, healthful quarters
during their first winter, because they
seldom have sufficient capacity to,
digest enough food to enable them to-.
resist the rigors and keep up their or
binary flesh, unprotected.
In thus earnestly urging extra care of
young ANIMALS we would not have it
inferred THAT we would approve of any
subsequent neglect. Domestic animals.
can never be scrimped or neglected.
without loss The only way they can be-
Indispensable is by keeping them In
good thriving condition all their lives.
Thus kept, they augment The profits
of the farmer very much: neglected.
underfed, maltreated, they are costly
encumbrances.