234 BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF CALVES 



end of the fourth week, and to 2\ at three months ; then 

 the calf may be weaned by gradually reducing the amount. 

 Some continue to feed with milk for six or even nine 

 months, in the case of pedigree stock, including young bulls, 

 which require to develop quickly to suit show and market 

 purposes. Dry cake and long food are also given in 

 gradually increasing quantities when the calf is old enough 

 to eat, and able to digest them. This method is expensive, 

 and therefore not much practised. Fattening calves should 

 have as much milk as they will drink, and they should also 

 be kept quiet and in the dark. 



^rd. Giving the full milk of the mother for a few days, 

 and finishing with fortified skim milk or milk substitutes. 

 The calf at birth should be rubbed with straw, or simply 

 covered up with straw, to keep it warm until it dries, and the 

 cow should not be allowed to lick or even to see it, as this 

 unsettles her when the calf is at last removed. Many allow 

 the calf to suck for three or four days, among other reasons 

 as an excellent precaution against milk fever, and then take 

 it away ; but the ordinary dairy cow in moderate condition 

 is apt to fall off in milk, the flow of which does not always 

 return to the full extent. When the calf is a week or ten 

 days old, the new milk may be gradually reduced, and skim 

 milk made up to a proper proportion by artificial substitutes, 

 such as boiled gruel, given at a temperature not exceeding 

 blood heat. It is a good practice to begin with a table- 

 spoonful of boiled linseed until the stomach is accustomed to 

 digest solids ; a larger quantity would cause indigestion. An 

 excellent mixture to follow the linseed, as the calf grows 

 older, is half and half linseed meal and pea meal, given after 

 cooking. Ground linseed cake may be used in place of 

 linseed meal, and may then form two-thirds of the mixture. 

 Oatmeal is a good ingredient, but it is more liable to pro- 

 duce acidity if the feeding be not well and regularly attended 

 to. Cotton-cake should not be used ; it kills young calves, 

 as they cannot digest it. One gallon of skim milk per day 

 with mixed meal, gradually increased to one pound and 

 then to two pounds, is enough for an ordinary calf before 

 weaning. In the last stage, sweet whey is sometimes 

 substituted for milk, or one quarter of the meal may be the 

 Lactina preparation. Calves are fond of the latter, but it 



