248 ELEMENTARY TREATISE ON STOCK FEEDS AND FEEDING 



2. Feeding the Dairy Calf. The practice of allowing the calf 

 practically all the milk it desires is not profitable in dairying. 

 Hence the calf must be weaned as soon as possible and substi- 

 tutes furnished to take the place of the whole milk. The calf 

 should stay with the mother for two or three days as the 

 colostrum (first milk) fits the digestive tract for later reception 

 of food. On the third or fourth day the calf may be separated 

 from the mother and fed 10 Ibs. of whole warm milk daily, 

 from a pail. This amount should be gradually increased until 

 15 Ibs. are fed. The old fashioned way of placing the fingers 

 in the pail is the best way to teach the calf to drink. There are 

 many arrangements on our market to serve this purpose but they 

 are not satisfactory as they are hard to keep clean, and there- 

 fore harbor germs. The calf should receive the whole warmed 

 milk at least three times a day and it should alw r ays be warmed. 

 At the expiration of two and one-half to three weeks, warm 

 skim milk may be partially substituted for some of the whole 

 milk. Just a little skim milk should be used at first and the 

 amount gradually increased. The changing from whole to skim 

 milk should take one and one-half to two weeks. When the 

 calf is on skim milk entirely, 18 Ibs. should suffice, although 

 sometimes a larger amount is beneficial. Often feeders give 

 calves too much skim milk and the result is sickness. It should 

 be understood that calves fed on skim milk are not so fleshy as 

 those fed on whole milk, because skim milk is deficient in fat, 

 but skim milk produces growth for about ^ of what it costs 

 with whole milk. 



Grain and Skim Milk. Some feeders utilize skim milk entirely 

 but an addition of cooked flaxseed meal or cooked oil meal is 

 more satisfactory. Cooked flaxseed meal is especially to be rec- 

 ommended. It contains high percentages of protein and fat, a 

 low percentage of carbohydrates, and is easily digestible. It is 

 laxative and tends to keep the young animal in good condition. 

 At the beginning, about a spoonful of cooked flaxseed meal or 

 oil meal may be placed in the warm skim milk. This amount 

 should be gradually increased until the calf is consuming y$ to 

 */2 lb. a day. Feeds as corn meal, shorts, bran, gluten feed, 



