432 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



692. Hay for calvea. Calves begin to eat hay at about the same age as 

 they do grain, consuming nearly the same quantity of each at first. 

 As they grow and the paunch develops, the proportion of roughage to 

 concentrates should be increased until when 6 months old they will be 

 consuming about 3 times as much hay as grain. The majority of 

 dairymen prefer clover or alfalfa hay, but the allowance of these should 

 be restricted when the calves are young, to avoid scouring. Some prefer 

 bluegrass, native, or mixed hay for the first two or three months because 

 with these there is less danger from scours. The growing heifer should 

 be encouraged to eat a goodly amount of hay in order to develop the 

 roomy digestive tract desired in the dairy cow. Uneaten roughage 

 should be removed from the rack or manger before the next feeding 

 time, for calves dislike hay which has been ' t blown on. ' ' 



Tho it would not be economical to raise calves without roughage, the 

 question as to whether they can be reared on milk alone or milk and grain 

 is of much scientific interest. Most attempts have ended in failure, and 

 it has been assumed that perhaps some coarse feed is needed to fill the 

 first three stomachs before they can develop properly. Sanborn 23 main- 

 tained a calf for 6 weeks on grain and milk, when, thru its craving for 

 roughage, the sawdust used for bedding was eaten, causing death. 

 Davenport at the Illinois Station 24 and McCandlish at the Iowa Station 25 

 were also unable to rear calves on milk alone or milk and grain. More 

 recently this problem has been studied by Eckles at the Minnesota Sta- 

 tion 26 and Fitch, Hughes and Cave at the Kansas Station. 27 In trials by 

 Eckles calves could not be raised on milk even when vitamines were added. 

 On the other hand, when calcium was added to the milk, complete 

 recovery was secured. This suggests that what is needed in an exclusive 

 milk ration is not the bulk of the roughage but the additional calcium 

 supplied by the usual roughages. In the Kansas trials calves could not 

 be raised on milk from cows fed rations low in the fat-soluble and the 

 water-soluble vitamines. On the other hand, calves were raised quite 

 successfully on milk from cows fed normal well-balanced rations, even 

 when care was taken to keep the calves muzzled so they could take no 

 other feed. Salt was fed the calves frequently. 



693. Succulent feeds. A small amount of silage, free from mold and 

 not too acid, may be fed to calves after they are 2 months old. From 

 trials at the Connecticut (Storrs) Station, 28 White and Kuelling conclude 

 there is no advantage in offering it to them earlier, as the quantity they 

 will eat is small and with many rations, especially of a laxative nature, it 

 will increase the danger of scours. They state that vigorous calves will 

 consume about the following amounts of silage per head daily ; second to 

 third month, 2 Ibs. ; third to fourth month, 5 Ibs. ; fourth to fifth month, 

 7 Ibs.; fifth to sixth month, 10 Ibs. Should the calves not be gaining 



^Utah Bui. 21. ^Information to the authors. 



24 I11. Bui. 46. "Information to the authors. 



"Iowa Res. Bui. 48. ^Conn. (Storrs) Bui. 102. 



