186 THE SCIENTIFIC FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



may gradually be introduced in the form of gruels or soups until they 

 completely displace the skim milk. By the time the whole milk is en- 

 tirely withdrawn concentrates of the above character should amount to 

 one pound daily in addition to 5 grams of phosphate of lime or pre- 

 pared chalk. By the time that the skim milk also is entirely withdrawn 

 (at age of 6 months) the concentrates should amount to 3 pounds per 

 day for heifers and 4 pounds per day for bull calves. 



As with all other animals calves should not be fed according to gen- 

 eral rules but rather according to individual requirements. General 

 rules, of course, are useful as guides, but should not be closely adhered 

 to. It would be a serious mistake to feed a stunted calf less merely be- 

 cause it was lighter in weight. On the contrary, such an animal would 

 require additional nourishment to enable it to make up for past losses. 



In order to increase the digestibility and availability of starchy feed- 

 ing stuffs it has been suggested that they be treated with diastase (dias- 

 tosolin) or with barley malt (which is more economical) and thus con- 

 vert the starch into sugar. Animals eat "saccharified" starch readily 

 and utihze it to good advantage. Compared with milk it reduces the 

 cost of calf feeding about 33 per cent. 



Probst recommends a mixture composed of 65 parts of wheat meal, 

 30 parts of coarsely ground linseed (flaxseed) and 5 parts of barley 

 malt meal. One pound of this mixture is added to 9 liters of skim 

 milk. In the absence of skim milk, the same author recommends the 

 following! 40 parts wheat flour, 25 parts coarsely ground flaxseed, 10 

 parts each of peanut, cocoanut and palm seed meal and 5 parts of malt 

 meal, 3 pounds per calf per day. 



The objection to saccharified starch, according to Pflugradt and Gut- 

 brod, is that its preparation involves too much trouble and loss of time. 

 While saccharified skim milk has been recommended for calves from the 

 time they are a few days old, the author is of the opinion that some whole 

 milk is practically indispensible for the first 4 to 6 weeks. Saccharified 

 milk is hardly to be recommended as the basal feed except under special 

 circumstances or for more mature calves. 



At the age of 6 months skim milk may gradually be displaced entirely 

 by buttermilk or sour milk. When a week old, calves should have access 

 to a little soft, fine meadow hay so that they can gradually become ac- 

 customed to solid food. The amount of hay can be increased gradually 

 to from 2 to 4 pounds per day. By the end of the first month thoroughly 

 crushed beets or carrots mixed with chaffed straw, crushed oats or corsely 

 ground peas or barley, oil meal, malt sprouts and sweet grasses (no 

 clover) may be given. In the marsh districts of Germany coarsely ground 

 beans are a favorite supplementary or "by-feed" for calves. Distillery 

 slops, brewers' grains, beet pulp (unless dried) rapeseed cake and cotton- 

 seed cake should be avoided for young calves. 



The temperature of the milk or fluid substances may be gradually low- 

 ered upon the approach of warm weather. 



