CATTLE. 



If the grain ration has not been given during the early part of the winter, so much the 

 more reason for feeding through March and April, quite up to good pasture. Feeding them 

 well through these months will greatly improve them, and cause a better growth through the 

 summer. This grain ration will prepare them for the change to grass. &quot;When animals are 

 poor, and fed wholly on poor, dry fodder, the change to grass is very violent, and often pro 

 duces scouring; but from a richer ration of grain to the sappy grass, the change will be 

 agreeable, and they will put on weight rapidly.&quot; 



Calves should be kept by themselves for the first year at least, and not be confined in an 

 enclosure with full grown cattle. Young stock are not unfrequently hooked and otherwise 

 injured by allowing the entire herd to run together. 



Castration. This is a cruel and painful operation, and should be performed as 

 humanely as possible by the use of chloroform. Those male calves which it is not desirable 

 to keep for breeding purposes should be castrated when two or three months old. It should 

 never be delayed until they reach the age of six months. The conditions attending this 

 operation in cattle, aside from the age when it should be performed, are essentially the same 

 as for the horse, the directions for which will be found in the HORSE department of this 

 work (Vol. I., page 756, which see). 



Spaying. This operation consists of removing the ovaries of the female, and corre 

 sponds to castration of the male. It is generally performed for the purpose of fattening, as 

 such cows will fatten more readily and make very fine beef. Spaying also prolongs the full 

 flow of milk, when performed at the proper time and manner. 



Such cows have been known to continue in milk for years. Spaying is, however, a 

 cruel practice, and attended with considerable risk, and is not to be generally recommended. 

 It is a delicate operation and should never be attempted by an unskilled person. Spayed 

 cows are not as generally useful as those that have not been operated upon, and tend, in 

 some cases, to the laying on of too much fat. We give no description of the process of 

 spaying, as it is a difficult and delicate operation, and should be seen as performed by a skillful 

 person, in order to understand it sufficiently well for successful practice. 



Animals that are to be operated upon should be fed lightly for a day or two previous, 

 and given bran mashes a few days afterward. Peritonitis is quite liable to set in, unless the 

 operation is performed with the greatest skill and care, and even under such circumstances 

 there will be an occasional loss from this disease. 



Care of Bulls. In order to be well fitted for stock purposes, the bull should be well 

 fed from the time of his birth. The aim of the breeder should be to keep up a steady 

 growth of the animal to maturity, without making him over- fat or forcing his growth; for 

 while it is a very injurious practice to stunt the growth of such stock with insufficient food, 

 or that of a poor quality, it is also an injudicious practice to feed too highly, and hasten 

 maturity with stimulating food. 



A bull should grow up naturally into a healthy, well-developed animal, maturing at the 

 time and in the way in which nature has chosen, liberal feeding, but no forcing being the rule. 

 Milk should be given for the first six or eight months; this is the natural diet and therefore 

 the best for the young animal. It may, however, be supplemented with a similar amount of 

 food as has already been recommended for young calves, such as oat, pea, barley, or oil 

 meal, and grass, hay, or ensilage, etc., according to the age and season. 



After weaning, he should be provided with a plentiful supply of succulent and nourish 

 ing, though not rich food. A young bull whose growth has been forced for show purposes, 

 although he may be a finer looking animal by such treatment, will not be as valuable for 

 breeding as though he had been fed more judiciously. It is found by experienced breeders, 

 that it is unwise to use a bull for breeding purposes until he is two years old. If used to 



