RAISING DAIRY CATTLE 



433 



rapidly enough, the allowance of silage should be restricted, leaving 

 more capacity for concentrates and hay. 



Roots are also a satisfactory succulent feed, and pasture is excellent 

 for calves old enough to make good use of it. To avoid scours, they 

 should be accustomed to grass gradually, being turned to pasture for 

 only an hour the first day. Another method is to accustom them to 

 green feed by giving increasing allowances of soilage before turning 

 to pasture. It is well not to turn spring or summer calves to pasture 

 until they are 2 to 4 months old, for there is less trouble from scours 

 and the young things suffer less from the flies and heat. 



694. Normal growth of dairy calves. In order to obtain information on 

 the weight and the height at the withers of heifers fed according to 

 good dairy practice, Eckles weighed and measured the pure-bred 

 Ayrshire, Holstein, Jersey, and dairy Shorthorn heifers in the herd at the 

 Missouri Station 29 at monthly intervals. His data, condensed in the 

 following table, provide a convenient standard for any one to use in 

 determining whether individuals of these breeds are making satisfactory 

 growth. The Jerseys were of the * ' American type ' ' or carried no more 

 than one-quarter blood of the smaller ' * Island type. ' ' 



Normal growth in weight and height of dairy heifers 



It will be noted that at one year of age the Aryshire heifers averaged 

 456 Ibs. in weight ; the Holsteins, 558 Ibs. ; the Jerseys, 456 Ibs. ; and the 

 Shorthorns, 547 Ibs. During the first year the heifers of all the breeds 

 studied gained on the average over 1 Ib. per head daily, the average daily 

 gain of the Holsteins, which was the largest, being 1.28 Ibs. During the 

 second year the average daily gains of the various breeds ranged from 

 0.71 Ib. in the case of the Jerseys to 0.83 Ib. in the case of the Ayrshires. 



29 Mo. Res. Bui. 36. 



