^ Vt JSt^j^iiiSSC 5i 



Fig. 58. Small 4x4 pens with arrangements to protect the animal from 

 drafts is recommended for the first ten days of the calf's life. Note 

 heat lamp above the calf. 



Thus he will usually have a few 

 calves to feed and care for at all 

 periods of the year. During the first 

 months of their existence these calves 

 must have special care. The bull 

 calves and the heifer calves not se- 

 lected for raising are usually dis- 

 posed of at an early age. 



Present Practices 



A few operators had not made spe- 

 cial provisions for housing calves. 

 They tied them up with collar and 

 rope in alleyways or most any place 

 where space seemed semi-available. 

 These arrangements required extra 

 time and were a handicap in the per- 

 formance of other chores. 



Usually small pens holding three 

 or four calves were available. Most 

 of these were pens without any spe- 

 cial equipment. Whether tied or in 



pens, with a few exceptions, the op- 

 erator fed calves one at a time using 

 one hand to hold the pail and the 

 other to wield a switch to fend off the 

 other calves. From one-half to one 

 minute is required for a calf to con- 

 sume the feeding of milk or mixture. 

 So the feeding of 10 or more calves 

 can take considerable time if the 

 methods are obsolete. 



The watering of older calves re- 

 quired a lot of time on some farms. 

 In a few instances the hired man 

 waited for water because of lack of 

 pressure. Watering with one pail 

 when the source of water is not con- 

 venient is not efficient. Where hot 

 water was used in preparing a spe- 

 cial mix for the calves, there was a 

 tendency to make several trips from 

 the milk house with small containers. 

 On one farm 42.7 man minutes daily 



64 



