132 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



Calves, on the other hand, present a different 

 case. Their original food has a great commercial 

 value ; and whole milk for the market or for butter 

 is too valuable to be used as a feed for average 

 calves. Consequently, milk is not set before them 

 until after the butter fat has been removed. 



A practical way is to feed the new born calf whole 

 milk for a week or ten days, then gradually change 

 from whole milk to skim milk. During, or follow- 

 ing this change, the young calf will begin to eat 

 corn and oil meal, and never will notice the sub- 

 stitution either in temper or development. With oil 

 meal worth a cent and a half a pound, and butter 

 fat worth 25 or 30 cents a pound, it is apparent that 

 it is a heavy loss to feed butter fat when oil meal is 

 as wholesome and nutritious. 



Calf Feeds. Many especially prepared calf feeds 

 are on the market as substitutes for milk or for but- 

 ter fat. Many of these are excellent and perfectly 

 satisfactory. Their one objection is their cost. A 

 ton of prepared calf food may cost $50 to $100, but 

 practically all of the substances were obtainable at 

 $20 to $35 a ton. When linseed oil meal, boiled flax 

 seed, corn and pea meal, etc., are available, it is 

 possible for every farmer to secure his own supply 

 and to obtain a satisfactory substitute for the butter 

 fat that he removes from his milk. 



Feeding the Dairy Calf. Opinions vary as to 

 whether it is best to remove the calf from its mother 

 at once or to wait until some days after birth. It is 

 becoming more and more a custom to remove the 

 calf early, within two or three days at the most. 



