Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1913-04-04
Starting the Calf Right.

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From this time on calves will be
coming In great numbers, especially
in dairy sections and In districts
where farmers patronize a creamery.
Now that stockers weighing five or
six hundred pounds sell around even
cents in the Chicago market, 1T is i'm.
portant that these young things be
given a fair start on their brief life
journey. Let 1t be a pleasant journey
for them; for the more pleasant for
them, the more profitable it will be
for those who own them. Many calves
never fill out their full measure of
pleasure to themselves or of profit to
the owner. because they are not
started right. There is no trouble for
the beef-born calf. His mother sees
that he is started right, and that his
life Is n sweet song; for he does the
milking himself, both to his WI COM
fort and satisfaction, and the relief
and satisfaction of his mother. 1t is
otherwise with the calf that must be
raised by hand. It's life is not always
pleasant one, nor is it always a profit
able one, because often the wner of
the dam and the calf does not know
how to give it the right start, when
it is forced to lead an independent ex-
istence. Hence collie, dyspepsia-me-
lancholy, pessimism-a wasted life
and Improbable death.
Before it's birth this calf has been
fed through the umbilcal cord or
navel by its mothers blood. This
blood does not leave much focal mat
ter, but it does leave some, which
learned men call the "meconium."
The first thing the calf needs is a
good purging and a stimulant, a sort
of push for the journey. Nature pro-
vides this in the first milk OF the dam,
which is at once a powerful %aperient
and tonic, cleaning out the bowels
and making the world look to the
little calf like a May morning. There
fore it is important that the COW
should have the food and medicine
which a wise Providence has provid-
ed. Give the calf it's mothers milk.
Whether you allow 1t the great salts
faction of drawing it itself, or feed it
to it, give the calf its mothers milk.
This is better than anything else to
give it a fair start; and surely it is
easily done.
II you want to ruin this calf, turn
it off on skim milk as soon as you
deem the mothers milk fit for your
use. If you are determined to do this,
probably as good a thing as you can
do is to kill the calf at once and put
it out of its misery. 1t will pay you tc
allow it to have the whole milk.
warm and sweet, for ten days. We
said swarm" Why? Because nature
gives the milk warm. somewhere In
the neighborhood of 100 .degree Fa.
{ hrenhelt. Nature also gives it sweet,
Therefore, if you wantssto get the
system of this young thing started
wrong, just give it cold milk soured.
Y If you are to succeed in growing live
Z stock. you must follow nature as
= closely as possible. Nature gives milk
3 warm and sweet, and gives it often
Therefore, don't allow this youngstel
4 to bawl and starve from morning till
Y night. You can afford to feed 1t
. three times a day for the first ten
days, at least, il you are raising it by
hand.
q You expect to grow this calf or
skim milk, but don't commence it al
, once, or suddenly. Take ten days tt
get it onto skim milk. BY that time
you can give it supplementary feed
!. The best would be flaxseed meal; that
{. is, ground flax-seed. You don't have
: it, you say? OF course not, if you are
q not living in a flax country. When i,
is a month or three weeks old, how
ever, induce it to eat a mixture o.
ground oats and corn meal. When II
q is six weeks old let it do its owl
" grinding.
II you are raising a number OF calv
es, you had better make stanckious ir
the stable. This you can easily do
You had better first feed them milk
warm and sweet. Then after the
flow of saliva has ceased, give them q
:. little of this meal. Don't put it ir
. the milk, as some farmers do, but
feed it separately. They may not
know what it is and be rather suspi
cious of it; but If you will take a little
!, of it in your hand, slip it into the
Calls mouth, and watch the expires
sion that steals yer it's face, indicat
t ing surprise and pleasure at fndine
d something that tastes good, it will be
worth your while. II you have some
:, sweet clover hay, let some of that be
where the calf can get at it, and not
ice the contentment with which the
youngster, after having its milk ano
: its meal, will nibble at that hay. Be
fore you are aware of it, it will be
chewing It's cud. This starts the cal
right. The danger is that you will
give IL too much feed. Calves vary il
their capacity with age, and to some
: extent individually. You had better
: give too little rather than to much.