Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-01-24
Raising Calves.


| like to have some of your most expert
enced breeders Of dairy stock state how
| heifer calves should be raised To pro-
\ duee the best milk and butter cows?
Does the raising have anything to do
with il? Is il all in the breeding?
+. H. B.
Bdrlo,O, o.
There is much in the breed no doubt,
but breed is after all only lOng-con-
tinued course of selection. feeding and
training. One may make beginning
IN this way for himself, and in time-if
he lives long enough-may establish a
breed of his own having very desirable
qualities. The best bred stock may be
spoiled by bad rearing, and common
stock may be improved by good man
agement. So that it should be the
great aim of all dairymen to manage
their heifer calves in the best manner
whether their herds be of the best of
the pure-bred kinds or the ordinary
native stock.
In rearing cows for the dairy there
are several Important points to be con-
sidered - constitution, docility, good
feeding qualities, strong digestive abil-
ity, productiveness, early maturity, and
continuity ofmilking; and these are all
more or less developed by good man-
agement of the calves, or are lost or
missed by bad management. 1t is very
desirable to start with the best stock
that can be procured, and then do the
bes that is possible in rearing the pro-
geny, and this must begin before the
calf is born and through the cow. The
hoof Hix1d Af hull chAItlH hQ
cured for breeding, and the best atten-
ton should be given to the cow while
she is pregnant with the calf. The
COW should be well fed and gently
treated, because the good feeding helps
the calf and tends to secure the robust
constitution which is desirable, and the
kind gentle treatment tends to give the
calf the docile temperament which
makes its after management easy and
effective. All the other good qualities
are inherited to greater or lesser extent,
and whatever may be effected with the
COW will to this extent be reflected in
the calves.
| PARTURIENT CoWS-FIRsT DETAILS.
When the calf is expected in a week
or so, the COW should be removed to a
| QulCU Stblts away tAAO VCAACA So"Si
and well tended. For a month previ-
Ously, no grain should be given, except
ing bran mash occasionally, but plen-
ty of good, bright clover hay. This is
during the winter season; in the sum-
mer the COW should be brought into a
nearby grass lot or yard kept for the
purpose, and where she can be watched.
This is to facilitate the first part of the
rearing of the calf, viz, its separation
from the dam, which should be before
it has sucked. We consider this very
important point, as it tends to make the
coming COW more docile, and avoids
that common and annoying vice, the
holding up of the milk, and also that
troublesome habit of sucking various
things, each other and themselves, af-
terward.
AS soon as the calfappears, it is taken
from the dam to a distant pen provided
for the purpose, in which each calf has
a separate stall, smoothly boarded in
side, with nothing whatever in it that
it can suck. At the front, near the door,
there should be a small opening, with a
slide door, large enough for the calf to
put its head through, with a box
in front of it, in which pail with milk
can be set, after the calf has learned to
drink from the pail.
The COW is then left by herself for
six hours, when she is milked in pail
warmed by hot water, to keep the milk
warm until the calf can be fed. The
milk is taken at once to the calf and
given to il. This is the first lesson for
the calf to learn, and it should be taught
patiently and kindly. A calf should
never be beaten, nor taught to fear its
keeper, or become hostile to him. The
calf is backed up into a corner. and its
head is held by the left hand, while with
the other little milk is put into its
mouth. 1t will begin to suck the fin
gers, and its head is then gently forced
to the pail which is raised somewhat,
until it's nose is in the milk and it begins
to drink it through the space made be-
tween two fingers, held little apart.
This lesson may be soon learned with
some calves, and some will learn it
slowly, but with patience the calf will
get quart or two of milk down. AS
soon as the calf drinks, all trouble is
over; and its meals are given in a pail
set in the box at the sliding door. By
this method a number of calves can be
fed and the pals taken away in ten
minutes.
SUBSEQUENT FEEDING AND CARE.
After the fourth day the calves will
not need any fresh milk; sweet skim
med milk warmed to 800 is the best
food for calves up TO month or two
old, and it is point for care that they
are not over-fed. Six quarts of milk
daily is enough for the first week; s
quarts for the next two weeks; and 1C
quarts for the next month, after which
time I have always given the calves a
small quantity of mixed wheat, bran
and fine corn meal, beginning with
two or three ounces and gradually in
creasing up to a pound daily, when the
calf is three months old. In the grass
season, the calves should be put or
grass and tethered by light chain with
swivel in it to stake in the ground
In the winter they are given some o.
the best young clover hay as soon al
they will eat it. I have given my
calves the warm milk for or months
and have found it most useful in Civ
ing them strong and robust constitu
tions, plenty of bone, large digestive
power, and making them excellen
cows. I have had calves so reare(
which came in ith their first calve'
at 20 months to years old and made
5 to 81 lbs. of butter weekly.
The calves are put in stalls in the COW