40 THE RURAL EFFICIENCY GUIDE STOCK 



possess. He should be pure bred and from a family of cattle having high milk 

 and butter fat production records. 



He should be a well developed, strong, vigorous, individual possessing 

 depth and length of body indicating feed capacity and a muscular and angular 

 condition of body indicating a dairy disposition. 



His dam should be of ideal type and character and capable of a large milk 

 and butter fat production. The proof of the value of every sire is in his get. It is 

 desirable to select mature sires that have proved themselves capable of producing 

 heifers that are of the most desirable type and character. Too many sires are 

 sacrificed before one has an opportunity to appreciate their value. 



The Calf Should Be Well Born. To give the calf as well as its mother a 

 fair chance, a cow should be carefully dried off six weeks before date of calving. 

 This allows her to feed well her unborn calf and to get ready for her period of 

 milk production. Cows that are not given such rest usually produce weak and 

 undersized calves. In such cases both the cow and her calf are seriously handi- 

 capped. 



From two to four pounds of grain a day, equal parts of bran and oats and one 

 pound of oil meal, make a good feed for the cow during the dry or rest period. 

 The amount of grain to be fed will, of course, depend upon the condition of 

 the cow. She should be placed in a clean and comfortable box stall several 

 days before calving. 



Give Calf Colostrum, or "First Milk." The calf should be left with its 

 mother for the first two to four days so that it may get the colostrum, or "first 

 milk." From then until it is four weeks old it should be fed from two to five 

 pounds of its mother's milk three times a day. Many experienced breeders 

 feed calves which are weak a smaller amount but give it four times a day. It 

 is well to remember always that there is more danger from overfeeding a young 

 calf than from under-feeding it. Have the pails clean and the temperature of the 

 milk as near as possible that of freshly drawn milk, or about 95 to 100 degrees F. 



Feed Skim Milk and Silage During Fifth Week. During the fifth week 

 change gradually from whole to skim milk. Do not increase the amount fed until 

 about the eighth week, when the calf needs from 6 to 10 pounds twice daily. 

 Froth, which rises on separator milk, should not be fed to calves. It is almost 

 sure to produce indigestion, bloat, and scours. ' If available, skim milk can be 

 fed profitably until the calf is a year or more old. In order to get the greatest re- 

 turns from the milk, the amount fed to any calf should not exceed 20 pounds 

 per day. Corn silage, free from coarse cobs and butts, and fed in small 

 amounts, makes a good feed for calves which are a month or six weeks of age. 



Feed Hay and Grain Carefully. When the calf is from ten days to two 

 weeks old give it a small amount of choice mixed clover or alfalfa hay. A little 

 later feed a very small amount of grain and increase the allowance gradually as 

 the young animal develops. It is well to keep a calf a little hungry, rather than to 

 tax its digestive organs. A calf's appetite and the condition of its bowels are the 

 two arms to the guide-post which mark the course the feeder should follow. 



Prevent young calves from eating coarse butts of fodder or cobs from silage 

 as these will cause serious indigestion and scours. Nothing of this kind should 



