RAISING DAIRY CATTLE 287 



proven excellent at the Indiana Station."^ As calves grow older, farm- 

 grown grains, as corn and oats, should be fed in addition to the calf 

 meal, and finally replace it. There are on the market several calf 

 meals, which are more or less complex mixtures of such feeds as lin- 

 seed meal or flaxseed meal, ground cereals, and wheat by-products, 

 with or without dried milk, casein, and mild drugs. They are fairly 

 satisfactory substitutes for skim milk, but often give no better returns 

 than home-mixed meals that are less expensive. 



Scours. — -The most frequent trouble in raising calves by hand is 

 indigestion, or common scours. This is usually caused by over-feed- 

 ing, by the use of cold milk or that laden with disease germs, by dirty 

 pails or feed boxes, by keeping calves in dark, dirty, poorly-ventilated 

 stalls, or by feeding improper concentrates, or allowing uneaten feed 

 to spoil in the feed box. Each animal should be watched closely for 

 signs of scours, for a severe case gives the calf a set-back from which 

 it recovers but slowly. At the first indication of trouble the ration 

 should be reduced to less than half the usual amount. Such remedies 

 as castor oil, formalin, and a mixture of salol and bismuth subnitrate 

 are used with success by dairymen. 



Common scours should be distinguished from contagious, or white, 

 scours, also called calf cholera, vv^hich is due to an infection of the 

 navel soon after birth. This serious disease may usually be avoided 

 by providing that the calf be dropped in a clean stall or on pasture. 

 When the calf is born in the barn, it is best to wet the navel thoroly 

 with a disinfectant, such as a weak solution of creoline, zenoleum, or 

 bichloride of mercury. 



III. Dairy Heifers j The Bull 



Feed and care of heifers.— Rearing heifers after they are 6 to 8 

 months old is an easy task, and doubtless for this reason many are 

 stunted for lack of suitable attention and fail to develop into as profit- 

 able cows as they otherwise would. Heifers on good pasture usually 

 require no additional feed. In winter there is no better ration than 

 legume hay, silage, and sufficient grain to keep them thrifty and grow- 

 ing without becoming fat. The ration should supply an abundance 

 of protein and mineral matter, and hence unless legume hay forms 

 the roughage the concentrate allowance should be richer in protein 

 than advised for skim-milk calves. From 2 to 3 lbs. of concentrates 

 with 8 to 10 lbs. of legume hay and 12 to 20 lbs. of silage, or 12 to 15 

 lbs. of legume hay alone, if no silage is available, will keep them grow- 

 ing thriftily the second year when not on pasture. 



5 Caldwell, information to the authors. 



