CHAPTER XX. 



CALF REARING. 



I. Findings of the Investigators. 



\j 515. Birth weight of calves. According to Krafft, l the weight 

 of calves at birth is from one-twelfth to one-fourteenth the weight 

 of the dam. This authority places the weight at birth as follows: 



Birth weight. 

 Pounds. 



Light-weight calves 48 66 



Average calves 66 92 



Heavy calves 97110 



Very heavy calves 115 128 



516. Whole milk for calves. Bertschinger gives the following 

 results for feeding trials with whole milk to calves in the Canton 

 of Zurich, Switzerland: 2 



Number of calves fattened 34 



Duration of fattening period, weeks 11J 



Quantity of whole milk fed, per calf, pounds 1,612.6 



Live weight of calves at beginning, pounds 102.5 



Increase in weight, pounds 166.4 



One pound of increase, live weight, was obtained for each 10.1 

 pounds of whole milk fed. 



Martiny 8 found that from 3.5 to 6 pounds of new milk were 

 sufficient to produce a pound of gain, live weight, with calves 

 between the first and fifth weeks, while from 16 to 20 pounds were 

 required for a pound of gain with older animals. 



At the Pennsylvania Station, 4 Hunt fed three calves full milk 

 containing an average of 4. 6 per cent, of fat for 161 days. These 

 calves gained 1.77 pounds each daily, requiring 8.7 pounds of 



1 Lehrb. d. Ldw., 3, 1890, p. 85. 



2 Fleischmann, Molkereiwesen, 1876, p. 150. 

 8 Die Milch, 2, 1871, pp. 9-15. 



Kept. 1891. 



