The Ordway new era., 1915-12-24
CARE OF DAIRY CALVES
Tho Production Of Profitable Cow
Depends Largely upon the Methods
of Handling the Calf.

Tho PRODUCTION OF . ffOntaDlo NOV
Depends Largely upon the Method
of Handling the Calf.
Careful attention on the part Of q
dairyman during the two weeks thai
follow a calf's birth will often NEAR
the ultimate addition to his herd oi
q large, well-developed milking COW
instead Of sickly. undersized. stunt.
ed animal. The problem Of raising
calves is today more complicated
one than when 1t was customary to
feed a larger amount of whole milk
The dairyman will therefore find 1t to
his advantage to take the best pos
sible care of his calves from the very
beginning
immediately after birth the navel
Of the calf should be washed with an
lantiseptic solution and tied with q
silk thread In order to prevent infec-
tion. For the first feed the calf
should have the first milk from the
COW after calving and should. have
its mothers milk for several feeds
thereafter. The sooner the weaving
takes place the better. but ordinarily
1t should not be postponed later than
the fourth day. The sooner the calf
is weaned the more easily 1t is taught
to drink. When first fed from the
pail, 8 to 10 pounds Of milk a day,
fresh and warm from the cow and
divided into two feeds, are sufficient.
The feeding times should be an near
ly regular as possible. and at first 1t
is advisable to feed more than twice
a day. The amount fed should be
constant: and to insure this. scales
should be used. as variation tends to
get the digestive organs out of order.
At all times the utmost care should
be taken to prevent any digestive dis
order, as all such trouble hinders the
growth and development of the ami
NAL. Calf scours is the most COM
mon Indication of this condition.
The following-named precautions,
to a great extent. tend to prevent
scours:
Feed regularly.
Be sure that the milk is always
sweet and warm.
In feeding use only clean pals.
Feed the calf a little less than it
wants.
Reduce the amount Of milk one
half II. the animal becomes sick.
The amount Of milk fed can be
gradually increased until at the end
of the second week the calf receives
from IA to 16 pounds of milk day.
At this time the gradual substitution
of skim milk for whole milk may COM
mence. Hay and grain should be
placed before the calf at this period
and 1t will be found to nibble at them
a little. At the end of the third week
the substitution of the skim milk will
be complete. BY slow changes the
milk can be Increased thereafter until
20 pounds day are fed; this amount
WAL be found sufficient when fed with
the grain and hay. II skim milk is
plentiful more may be fed. but the
duueu VIM NV CIV
tionately better results.
Corn meal, bran. and oil meal. mix
ed in the proportion Of three, two,
and one, make an excellent grain
mixture. This grain when fed with
plenty Of fine clover hay makes an
ideal supplement to skim milk in
balancing the ration.
Calves should be allowed all the
grain that they will eat until they
consume pounds day; from this
point the feeder should use his judg-
ment as to whether an increase is
justified.
The calf, from the time 1t Is two
weeks of age, should always have ac-
cess to plenty of clean, pure water.
The general practice is to feed cal
YES skim milk for from two to six
months. In the latter case, with fall
calves the time of final weaving from
milk comes, in the spring. when pas
lures are ready. Under this system
the calves usually make excellent
growth during the entire period with
out any break in gains.
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