428 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



quently fed to sickly calves. For example, Otis 15 found that sickly calves, 

 given at first a teaspoonful and later a tablespoonful of dried blood with 

 their allowance of skim milk, rapidly regained their health. Blood meal 

 which has been especially prepared for calves is best. In all cases it 

 should be carefully incorporated with the milk to prevent settling. (271) 



685. Salt; other mineral matter; water. As soon as calves begin to 

 eat grain they should be supplied with salt, the same as in the case of 

 older cattle. (100, 653) The best plan is to give the calves access to salt 

 and let them take what they will. 



If the calves have plenty of good legume hay and skim milk or other 

 protein-rich feeds, they will commonly secure ample calcium and 

 phosphorus for sturdy growth. In districts where the feeding stuffs are 

 low in calcium or phosphorus, or when straw or other roughages deficient 

 in these mineral nutrients are fed, then one-half ounce of bone meal or 

 ground rock phosphate per head daily should be added to the ration. If 

 only calcium is lacking, this may be supplied by feeding one-half ounce 

 of finely ground limestone or chalk a head daily. 



In case any calves at birth show evidence of goitre, or "big neck," 

 this should be prevented in the future by the use of iodine, as explained 

 in a previous chapter. (574) 



The calf should be amply supplied with pure fresh water, something 

 which is often neglected with calves fed milk. Skim-milk calves will 

 usually drink water several times a day, sipping a little at a time, some- 

 times soon after their feed of milk. Calves 2 to 4 months old, fed skim 

 milk, will consume from 10 Ibs. or less of water daily up to 20 Ibs. or 

 more. 



686. Self feeding calves. Because the self-feeder is used so successfully 

 in swine feeding (925), the question has naturally arisen whether calves 

 can be successfully raised by self feeding them concentrates in addition 

 to supplying milk and roughage. But few trials have as yet been carried 

 on to study this matter, but experiments' by McCandlish at the Iowa 

 Station 16 and Hulce at the Illinois Station 17 show that if calves are 

 allowed access, free choice, to grains, such as corn and oats, and also to 

 linseed meal, wheat bran, and other protein-rich concentrates, they will 

 eat much more linseed meal and wheat bran than needed to balance their 

 ration, therefore making it unduly expensive. Also, altho they will make 

 rapid gains, after 2 or 3 months they will eat much more concentrates 

 than are commonly fed to calves. Not only is this usually expensive, but 

 Hulce found that after calves thus self -fed reached the age of 4 months, 

 some became unthrifty and even had fits, quite probably due to the large 

 amount of rich concentrates they were eating, with only a small amount 

 of roughage. 



Experiments at the Nebraska Station 18 suggest the possibility of raising 

 dairy calves economically and with a minimum amount of labor by self- 



15 Kan. Bui. 126. "Iowa Res. Bui. 51. "Information to the authors. 



18 Nebr. Rpt. 34, 1921, p. 29; Nevens, Jour. Dairy Science, 2, 1919, pp. 435-443. 



