286 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



II. Raising Calves on Skim-milk Substitutes 



"With dairymen who produce milk for city consumption, for cheese 

 making, or for the condenseries, the rearing of calves on skim-milk 

 substitutes is of great importance. 



Buttermilk and whey. — Fresh buttermilk is perhaps the best sub- 

 stitute for skim milk, but the watery slop sometimes obtained from 

 creameries, often from filthy tanks, is almost sure to cause scours. 

 The whey usually obtained from the cheese factory, acid and often 

 loaded with germs that cause indigestion, is unsuited for calf feeding. 

 Sweet, undiluted whey which has been pasteurized may give fair re- 

 sults when fed under the strictest rules as to quantity, regularity of 

 feeding, and cleanliness of the vessels employed. It should be re- 

 membered that, instead of being a protein-rich food like skim milk, 

 whey is relatively poor in this nutrient. Accordingly, instead of 

 the cereal grains, feeds high in protein, such as wheat bran, wheat 

 middlings, and linseed meal, should be fed with it. 



Feeding a minimum amount of milk. — In trials at the Illinois 

 Station ^ it was found that after the dam 's milk was usable calves 

 could be raised successfully on a total of only 137 to 167 lbs. of whole 

 milk and 378 to 491 lbs. of skim milk, with good clover hay and such 

 concentrates as bran, oats, linseed meal, and corn. The method used 

 was as follows : 



The calves were fed whole milk for the first 4 days, and then, starting with 

 the fifth day, 10 lbs. of whole milk and 2 lbs. of skim milk was fed daily per 

 calf for about 10 days, after which the whole milk was gradually replaced with 

 skim milk at the rate of 1 lb. per day. Each calf was then fed 12 lbs. of skim 

 milk per day for 20 days, or until 45 days old, when the allowance was 

 reduced 1 lb. each day, no milk being fed after the calves were about 56 days 

 old. The calves were rather thin for a time, but after being kept on pasture 

 with a limited allowance of grain until 6 months old all were in good tlirifty 

 pondition, and later several developed into good-producing cows. 



Substitutes for milk. — ^Various concentrate mixtures have been 

 ased successfully as substitutes for milk, the calves being fed whole 

 milk for only a few days and then being gradually changed to the 

 substitutes. The Pennsylvania Station* secured good results with a 

 home-mixed calf meal, composed of 30 parts wheat flour, 25 parts 

 coeoanut meal, 20 parts skim-milk powder, 10 parts linseed meal, and 

 2 parts dried blood, the mixture costing about 3 cents per pound. 

 One pound of the mixture was added to 6 lbs. of hot water, and after 

 stirring was cooled to blood heat before feeding. A mixture of equal 

 parts of hominy meal, linseed meal, red dog fiour, and blood meal has 



3 Fraser and Brand, 111. Bui. 164. 4 Hayward, Penn. Bui. 60 



