Calf Rearing. 311 



"3. Whole oats and corn chop, the latter gradually replaced by 

 shelled corn in four to six weeks. 



"4. Ground barley with bran or shelled corn. 



"5. Shelled corn and ground kafir or sorghum. 



"6. Whole oats, ground barley, and bran. 



"7. A mixture of 20 Ibs. of corn meal, 20 Ibs. of oat meal, 20 Ibs. 

 of oil meal, 10 Ibs. of blood meal, and 5 Ibs. of bone meal, changed 

 to corn, oats, and bran when calves are three months old. 



"8. A mixture of 5 Ibs. whole oats, 3 Ibs. bran, 1 Ib. corn meal, 

 and 1 Ib. of linseed meal. 



"The calf may be taught to eat grain by rubbing a little on its 

 mouth when it is through drinking milk. From this it will soon 

 learn to eat from the feed box. There is little danger of calves get- 

 ting too fat on any of these grains while being fed skim milk. Should 

 any of the dairy calves show a tendency to fatten, a little bran or oil 

 meal can be added to the ration and the corn reduced or removed. 

 After weaning from milk, greater care will be needed in selecting 

 grains containing the right amount of protein and mineral matter 

 for the proper development of bone and muscle. 



"There is also little or no danger of the calf fed skim milk eating 

 too much grain. The young calf makes better gains for grain con- 

 sumed than the older calf, which is an additional reason for giving 

 it all it will eat. Limiting the grain ration causes a loss in gain and 

 is seldom to be recommended. The calf is possessed of a good set 

 of grinder teeth and when four to six weeks of age is able to do most 

 of his own grinding. A number of feeders have obtained excellent 

 results with whole oats. Experiments indicate that calves do better 

 and are less subject to scours when fed shelled corn instead of corn 

 chop. Grains that are small and hard, like sorghum or kafir, give 

 better results ground. 



"When possible it is better to feed a mixture of two or three 

 grains than one, but a large variety does not seem to be of any special 

 merit. A number of calf meals may be purchased on the market. 

 While these undoubtedly possess some merit, they are usually high 

 priced and appear to possess no particular merits over a good com- 

 bination of farm-grown grains. It is not advisable to mix grain with 

 the milk. The calf needs to properly masticate it and not gulp it 

 down before the starchy matter of the feed is acted upon by the 

 saliva. This precaution will frequently avoid scours. 



"Calves will eat roughage at about the same time they begin to 

 eat grain, viz. two to three weeks of age, and will consume about the 



