312 Feeds and Feeding. 



same quantity of each at first. As the calf grows older the proportion 

 of roughage to grain increases, and by the time the calf is six months 

 of age it will have consumed about three times as much roughage as 

 grain. The quality of the hay should be of the best, always clean 

 and bright. It can be placed in a rack in one corner of the calf pen. 

 Any left uneaten should be removed at the next feeding time and a 

 new supply added. 



"The kind of hay may vary according to the needs and condi- 

 tion of the calf. Early cut blue grass is good, as is also hay from 

 mixed grasses. Clover and alfalfa are frequently used to excellent 

 advantage even with the young calf, although there is probably more 

 danger from scours with these. Their importance, as the calf grows 

 older, cannot be overestimated. Corn silage is also proving an ex- 

 cellent roughage for calves. It is usually safe to give the calf all the 

 roughage it will eat. 



' ' Some feeders have difficulty from scours in turning calves on pas- 

 ture. This may be overcome by allowing the calves to graze for only 

 a short time the first day and gradually increasing the time each 

 day until they become accustomed to handling the green feed, or 

 what is better, gradually get them used to green feed by an increas- 

 ing daily allowance of soiling crops. Sudden changes in feeding 

 should be avoided. It is doubtful if there is any gain in placing 

 calves on pasture before they are four months of age." 



The dairy calf should not be fed over 10 Ibs. of full milk daily 

 at first, ending with 15 Ibs. The skim-milk allowance should start 

 with 12 or 14 Ibs., not exceeding 18 Ibs. daily until the calf is 6 

 weeks old, and only in rare cases should it exceed 20 Ibs. Skim milk 

 is at its best when, still warm, it goes at once from the farm sep- 

 arator to the calf. Milk held for any length of time or chilled should 

 before feeding always be warmed to blood temperature, as shown by 

 the thermometer which careful feeders always use. Creamery skim 

 milk should always be pasteurized before it is returned to the farm, 

 that acidity be checked, and the dread danger of ever-threatening 

 bovine tuberculosis removed. 



The calf is best taught to drink milk from the pail by using the 

 fingers. The various calf-feeding devices are unsatisfactory and 

 usually dangerous, because the milk accumulates and putrefies in 

 concealed places that cannot be easily cleaned. Hand-reared calves 

 should be confined at feeding time in simple stanchions, to remain 

 for a time after the milk is drunk in order to consume their grain 

 allowance and pass the desire to suck each other's ears. It is im- 



