Carroll County democrat. (Huntingdon, Tenn.) 188?-1971, 1917-08-31

By PROF. JAMES WILSON, South Da-
kota Agricultural College)
Breeders OF Shorthorn cattle should
be interested In the cost Of producing
a Shorthorn bull to the age Of twelve
months. OF course this varies In diff
ferent localities and with different
breeders, but having produced hum
dreds Of purebred calves, appreciate
the fact that some do not care to have
their twelve months old calves as
large or as heavy as this one was, but
for early maturity the calves must be
fed. / know of no better place to crib
grain than In purebred Shorthorn
calves-even II 1t does cost two and
three cents a pound.
interested In Cost
/ A few years ago l was interested in
knowing how much 1t actually cost the
state to produce bull at twelve
months Of age at the pace we were go
Ing, 80 / selected a calf that was ten
days old and weighed him for the trial.
A daily record was kept Of his feed,
also that of his mother, and he weighed
every 80 days. He received just or
binary attention, no more than hum
dreds Of bulls that I have fed Of this
breed under similar conditions. This
calf was born December Z, 1912. He
received his mothers milk (no nurse
cows; would not give much for the
COW that cannot nurse her own calf),
and because of his age was not al
lowed to run with her and the re-
mainder Of the herd when she was
turned on grass, May 16, the following
year, The mother is pure Scotch
! COW Of less than medium scale and
only an average milk producer. Bull
calves of this age do not do well when
turned with the herd In the spring to
fight files and worry all summer
Grazing In the evening would have
been all right for this calf, but not
having suitable pasture he was kept
4 in the yard day and night, and the
expense of growing is probably few
dollars more than 1t would have been
had we had a good pasture and sew
eral other bulls to have turned out
with him In the evening after he was
fed his grain ration.
Attracted Attention.
There was a something" about this
bull that attracted the attention OF
everyone who saw him. His type as
Shorthorn, his size for his age, his
character as bull, his solid dark red
color, all had a bearing. When calves
Of this age have great big thick horns
and the horns have been trimmed or a
wee bit sawed Off the ends 1t Is evil
dence that the calf has been neglected.
Probably he has lost his miIkfat and
an effort is being made 20 put 1t back
with grain.
The Shorthorn Is the most popular
breed of cattle In the United States to-
day. The popularity must be credited
to the fact that as breed 1t comes
nearer filing the dual-purDOse capacity
than any other. The cows are fairly
good mixers, and when put on the
market make good beef. Now I do not
claim this breed In It's entirety Is as
rood for milk production az a breed
developed along strictly dairy lines or
as food for beef production as breed
developed solely along beef lines, but
some excel in beef and some excel In
milk
MIX for Calf.
When this calf was ten days old he
weighed 122 pounds. not an extra large
weight for calf Of the breed. At this
time the mother weighed 1,10O pounds,
It was our intention to feed her ra'
ton out Of which she could make milk
for the calf and maintain her OWL
weight, as she was not an extra fat
COW, We made q mixture OF Nv
pounds Of oats, so pounds Of corn, 70
pounds OF bran and one-tenth as much
Of the total by weight Of oilmeal. The
idea Of adding the bran was to compel
more thorough mastication of the grain
before swallowing and to furnish pro
tein and mineral matter. In addition
to this ration she was fed ordinary
wild hay. At this time the cow was on
full feed, or II pounds Of the mixture
per day and all the hay she wanted Al
the end of 30 days her grain ration wat
increased to IA pounds of the mixture
and at the end Of go days the two wert
eating 10 pounds, as the calf at this
time had learned to eat grain with itt
mother. When the calf was eighty
. DAYS old he was fed in separate box
beginning with four pounds Of thu
same mixture and gradually increas
ing, giving him all he would eat aftel
he had sucked his mother.
Grain for Calf.
On May 18 the COW was turned t
grass and was brought In morning an'
evening to nurse the calf. Her grail
rations was gradually reduced am
that Of the calf increased. At this tim
the mother weighed 1.1SA and the cal
B54 The calf was now five month";