Arizona republican., 1898-04-21
DEVELOPING DAIRY CALVES.

HOW shall we lTdlu duQ IudLuIS IAO dairy calf, is a question of much inn portance, and, in my opinion, one which will to- great extent determine the usefulness of the dairy herd, writes trotting bred colt is gradually educat- ed up to it's work, and it has been well established that better results can be reached by beginning that education at very early age. The youngest takes to it's lessons from a natural instinct which is born and bred characteristic. The development of the dairy calf pre- sents similar lesson. and she must be trained, not to conflict with natures laws, but to that end for which she was born and bred. She is like the colt in that by unfavorable training she may never reach her best, yet that function, endowed by nature, must crop out in some form, showing her willing ness and ability to respond, perhaps approximately to her education, to her true nature How this education should be conducted is a question upon which we are not infallible, and I can only give a method which has brought to me very satisfactory and flattering results. My practice is to allow the calf to remain with the dam only about six hours. This for the reason that the early removal excites less anxiety of the mother, and I think the calf takes more readily to drinking milk from the pail. I have roomy box stalls for my calves and unless crowded for room each one has a separate stall. Here the education begins. I feed lib orally of whole milk for the first six weeks, after which the youngster is gradually weaned onto sweet skinned milk, warm as it leaves the separator. At this time I think it necessary to add some substitute for the butter fat found in the skinned milk, and for this purpose I use old process oil meal, scalded to a jelly and mixed with milk. There is soon developed an ap- petite for grain, and while they will consume at first very small quantity, It must be remembered that this small amount does the calf just as much good as a approximately large amount does matured animal. I aim to feed all they will eat of ground oats and wheat bran, mixed equal parts by measure. They also have access to good hay, clover preferred, and small amount of corn silage as soon as they will eat it. I prefer skinned milk, oil meal and this grain ration, be- cause they are bone and muscle mak- ing foods, and I consider whole milk, containing butter fat worth 20 cents a pound, an extravagant food, when we can do the work effectually with oil meal worth only 1 cent per pound. ,rif are what seek to develop in the dairy calf, and with the foods mentioned 1 push them, realizing that there is no time in an animals life when the food cost of 100 pounds, live weight, can be produced so economically as when they are young.
 But growth is not all to be consid- cred, and another point of no less inn portance is health and constitutional vigor, which is promoted by good sani- tary treatment, free from exposure ! cleanliness of pens, plenty of fresh air, sunlight, exercise, occasional groom ing and kind treatment My fall calves are kept in their pens until the warm, sunny days of early spring, when they are daily given a frolic in the yards. In June they are turned into a small pasture, but are stabled nights and inclement days, and are fed throughout the summer Spring calves are stabled during the summer, but are given open air exercise. In the winter they are given an hours airing every day, which develops fondness to be with the herd, so when turned | out in the spring, they have learned 1 to rustic among the older ones, take readily to eating grass and soon grow
 independent of stable feed. Those
 twelve months of age I think thrive
 and find sufficient nourishment upon good pasture and should be fed milk
 until about this age. I desire a cali
 to always be in good thriving condi- tion, but do not encourage any dispo- sition to taking on flesh, for if beefy
 she is out of her place, and we are de veloping a fictitious nature for which she was not created. I believe there is
 today an existing evil in the Amer
 ican show yard, in judges giving toe
 much encouragement to beefy dairy
 cattle.