CATTLE PRODUCTION 41 



be left in the feed or bedding. Occasionally, a craving appetite for hay and straw 

 results in too much being eaten and indigestion follows. In such cases separate 

 the ailing calf from its mates and reduce its feed until the appetite becomes 

 normal. 



Don't Allow Calves to Suck One Another. The calves should be sep- 

 arated and penned in groups according to their ages. They can be fastened 

 in stanchions when milk is fed and grain can be supplied them immediately after 

 they drink. Feeding the grain at this time and keeping them locked in the 

 stanchions until the grain is eaten, helps to overcome the habit of sucking. Calves 

 that continue to suck one another after being turned loose should be separated 

 or some other means taken to prevent the practice. Heifers often have their 

 udders injured by being sucked. 



Grain Mixture for Calves. A good grain mixture for young calves con- 

 sists of 50 parts of whole oats, 30 parts of wheat bran, 10 parts of corn meal, 

 and 10 parts of oil meal. After calves are six months old less grain will be 

 wasted if it is ground. The amount of grain fed should vary from a small 

 handful for the young calf to three pounds, or possibly more, in some instances, 

 to heifers from 24 to 30 months' of age. If, for any reason, a heifer is thin, 

 an extra amount of grain should be fed to get her in good condition. 



Feed Calves Regularly the First Year. During the first year feed the 

 calves regularly in the barn and turn them out for exercise in shady paddocks 

 or during the nights only. This will insure satisfactory growth at an age when it 

 may be secured at lowest cost. Supply water and salt to the calves daily. 



Grow Well and Breed the Second Year. During their second year feed 

 or pasture the heifers in such a way as to get the maximum growth. It has 

 been found that the most productive and profitable cows are produced by getting 

 the maximum growth from birth to maturity. Heifers which are bred at 

 from 16 to 20 months of age and that are in good flesh at calving time usually 

 develop satisfactorily. 



Keep Stables Clean. Calf pens should be kept clean and comfortable. 

 The calves should be protected from cold cement floors by board overlays. Cold 

 draughts of air often prove fatal and should be carefully avoided. Abundant win- 

 dow space lets the sunlight in during the winter and in the summer can be 

 darkened to keep out flies and heat. The stable needs ventilating so as to supply 

 fresh air and to regulate the temperature. Young calves should never be exposed 

 to a hot, burning sun. Watch the calves carefully and whenever necessary, 

 treat them for lice and ringworm. 



Raising Calves on Oil Meal Gruel. Where skim milk is not available 

 for feeding purposes, calves are likely to suffer and make an unsatisfactory growth. 

 However, if care be taken calves may be grown successfully without skim- 

 milk. In one of the prominent cheese districts of Wisconsin it was an interesting 

 fact that very few calves were fed whey. The whey is fed to pigs and the 

 calves raised on whole milk, oil meal gruel, and hay and grain. The usual prac- 

 tice is to feed whole milk regularly until the calf is from four to six weeks old. 

 Then a tablespoonful of oil meal, thoroughly cooked, is added to a pint of water 

 and substituted for a pint of the whole milk. Every third day following, an 



