516 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



In trials by Bechdel at the Pennsylvania Station 21 calves fed whole 

 milk alone for an average of 53 days after birth gained 1.85 Ibs. per head 

 daily, required 9.4 Ibs. of milk for each pound of gain in weight, and 

 sold for 9.7 cents per pound, live weight. Calves fed on milk substitutes 

 gained only 0.93 Ib. per head daily and brought but 5.6 cents a pound, 

 live weight. Feeding only a small amount of milk substitutes in place 

 of milk injured the color of the carcass. He concludes that it is inad- 

 visable to produce veal for the large markets on anything except a 

 straight whole milk ration, due to the inferior quality of the carcass 

 otherwise. 



Many farmers in certain districts of Europe make a specialty of 

 producing high class veal. The calves are allowed to suckle their dams 

 or are hand-fed in stalls or crate-like boxes. In Holland, where unusually 

 well-fatted calves are produced, the calves are often kept in small, 

 separate, box-like stalls, with a round hole in the door, thru which the 

 calf sticks its head at meal time. During the rest of the day a cover is 

 kept over the hole, and the calf is in darkness. The stall is kept well 

 bedded so the calf is comfortable at all times. In England the calves 

 are not usually confined in dark quarters, but they are kept quiet by 

 tying them to the manger or by placing each in a separate stall. Often 

 a lump of chalk is kept in the manger to supply calcium and prevent 

 digestive trouble. 



Porter 22 writes that during the first day a pint of milk, three times a 

 day, is quite sufficient. An average Shorthorn calf, weighing about 88 

 Ibs. at birth, should not be fed more than 1.5 gallons of milk a day by 

 the end of the first week, 2 gallons by the end of the second week, 2.5 

 gallons by the end of the third week, and 3 gallons a day by the end of 

 the fourth week. Feeding the milk 3 times a day is advantageous. He 

 states that 4 to 5 weeks is probably as long as it is advisable to feed calves 

 for veal on a dairy farm, or until they have reached 160 Ibs. live or 96 

 Ibs. dressed weight. An effort should always be made to have the calves 

 fat at the time veal commands a high price, or the returns will not be 

 great. 



III. GROWING BEEP CATTLE 



796. Summer care. Except where calves are being fattened for baby 

 beef (818), growing beef cattle are not ordinarily given any feed in 

 addition to good pasture. When necessary to keep the animals growing, 

 additional feed should be supplied, such as summer silage, soiling crops, 

 or specially grown pasture crops. Considerable fall pasturage is fur- 

 nished by aftermath on meadows or by the stubble fields, especially where 

 a small amount of rape seed is sown with the spring grain. 



797. Wintering calves. Calves should always be kept in vigorous, 

 growing condition during their first winter, but the ration should consist 

 almost entirely of roughage, except for calves to be finished as baby 



21 Penn. Rpt. 1916-17. M The Stock Feeder's Companion, 1915, pp. 146-152. 



