Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1905-01-17
Cost of Rearing Dairy Calves.

What is the cost of raising calves, or
what should the cost be? is a question
of general farm interest which the de-
partment of agriculture attempts to an
swer in farmers bulletin. No little
prominence is given to the results of an
exhaustive experiment made at the New
Hampshire station for the purpose of de-
termining the average cost Of raising a
dairy COW from calfhood to maturity un-
der various methods of feeding.
For considerable period records were
kept of the food consumed and the cost
of the gain made by thirteen heifer
calves from the time they were weaned
until 10 months old. The calves were
taken from the cows as soon as the lat
ter's milk was fit for creamery use and
were fed whole milk. This was grad
ually replaced by skim milk until by the
end of the second week only separator
milk, which was almost free from fat,
was fed. To replace the fat, ground
fiaxseed cooked To jelly in water Zone
pound of fiaxseed To four quarts of
water) was added to the milk. Seven
to ten quarts of skim milk and one to
tv quarts of the haxseed mixture were
fed daily per head IN two feeds. Dur
ing part of the time middlings was sub
stituted for fiaxseed. As soon as possi
BILE the animals were encouraged To eat
grain aud hay. The amount of these
feeding stuffs was increased as the ami
mails increased in size and weight, while
the skim milk and flaxseed remained
nearly constant until they were discon-
tinued, when the calves were six to eight
months old and were turned out to pas
ture. Some of the calves were taught to
drink from a pail, but most of them were
fed by means of "calf feeder" which
greatly leSsened the work of feeding.
A careful watch was maintained To note
any indigestion. Diarrhea or securing
was quickly stopped by reducing the
amount of food and adding lime water
TO the milk.
In discussing the cost of the gains
made the different feeding stuffs are rat
ed per 100 lbs, as follows: Milk, 81;
skim milk 20 cents; tlaxseed, S %; mid
dlings, 50 cents; bran, 20 cents; linSeed
meal, Sl.25; oats, 81; otena, 65 cents;
mixed grain (middlings, oat feed and
linseed meal, 2:2:D, 80 cents; hay, 80
cents, and green barley fodder, 10 cents.
Ii is stated that little difficulty was ex-
perienced in keeping up steady growth
in size and gain in weight. Differences
were always noticeable between in
dividual animals in the rate of growth
and the amount of food consumed.
Large animals invariably require more
food to maintain their condition than
small ones.
Ii was found that eight calves under 5
weeks old made an average weekly gain
of 7.6 lbs, at a cost of 40.6 cents; from D
to weeks the average weekly gain was
81 lbs. and the cost 36.1 cents. The
same number of calves from 9 to Is
weeks old made an average cost of Al.
cents. Eight calves from Is TO 20 weeks
old gained per week on an average of 10
lbs, at cost of 52.9 cents; calves from
to s months old made an average
weekly gain of ILL lbs., at cost OF Us.
cents:2 calves from s to Is months old
made an average weekly gain of 5.2o
lbs, at a cost of 5S.3 cents; 4 heifers Is
10 10 months old made an average week
ly gain of 6.l2 lbs, at cost OF %.
cents per week; of the heifers were
maintained on pasture from July "A to
Oct 90 and the total gain in weight of
the four animals was 3l3 lbs.
In conclusion it is stated that high
priced feeds, such as whole milk, flax
seed, linseed meal and oats, will cause
the cost of the weekly ration to increase
out of proportion to the gain, if fed free
". They cannot be used with economy
except in earlier stages, and whole milk
should be discontinued as soon as possi-
Michigan Farmer.