118 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 253 



does occur. Where it is observed it is due probably to too narrow a ration; 

 i.e., too much protein in proportion to carbohydrates and fat, a condition result- 

 ing from too much skim milk and too little grain in the ration of calves, especially 

 after the first month. During the first few weeks of the calf's life skim milk is 

 very nearly an ideal diet, but as it grows older its need for carbohydrates increases 

 relatively, and its need for protein decreases relatively although not in actual 

 amount. Starchy feeds like hominy or flour middlings supply the carbohydrate 

 and tend to restore the balance which has been upset by removal of the fat from 

 the milk. The difficulty, however, is to get young calves to eat sufficient grain 

 in the dry form to bring about the optimum balance. It is true that they will 

 nibble at it when two or three weeks old, but they do not ordinarily eat any 

 great quantity. 



To overcome this difficulty the plan of mixing grain with their liquid feed 

 was adopted. A mixture was formulated consisting of equal parts of red dog 

 flour (flour middlings) and yellow hominy feed. Skim milk powder was mixed 

 up as usual at feeding time, except that 3 ounces of powder per quart of water 

 were used instead of 3^^ ounces. To the liquid milk made from the powder 

 was added half as much of the red dog-hominy mixture as it contained of skim 

 milk powder, viz., 1)^ ounces per quart. During the last month of the experi- 

 ment the amount of red dog-hominy was increased to 3 ounces per quart of 

 water. Two groups of calves were fed on this material; for one group of six it 

 was partially cooked before feeding, the idea being that the cooking might render 

 the starchy grain more digestible; the other group of five received it uncooked, 

 the only precaution taken being to keep the mixture agitated while the calf was 

 drinking so as to prevent the grain from settling out. No trouble was experi- 

 enced in getting the calves to drink such a mixture; in fact they had the most 

 vigorous appetites of any calves under test. The average daily gain per calf 

 was l.t)l pounds when the gruel was cooked and 1.70 pounds for those fed 

 uncooked gruel. The group receiving cooked gruel consumed 248 pounds of 

 dry matter for each 100 pounds of gain; those receiving it uncooked consumed 

 253 pounds of dry matter for each 100 pounds of gain. It would seem from 

 these results that there was no advantage in cooking the mixture. 



The uncooked mixture proved quite superior to skim milk powder fed alone, 

 and the growth produced very closely approached that produced in the control 

 lot by liquid skim milk. The calves were the smoothest, best fleshed lot that 

 have been raised at this Station in many years. It is interesting to note the 

 extra consumption of grain brought about by this method of feeding. The 

 average amount of grain which these calves consumed up to four months of age 

 (including what they ate in dry form) was 212 pounds as compared with 104 

 pounds in those groups where grain was fed in dry form only. The average 

 amount of skim milk powder saved by introducing the red dog-hominy mix- 

 ture into the liquid was 92 pounds per calf, so that a considerable monetary 

 saving was effected. It is possible that an even greater saving might have 

 been effected had the same procedure been followed with a group fed the limited 

 amount of skim milk powder. 



The reason for using hominy instead of corn meal was because of its some- 

 what higher fat content. Yellow corn meal could be substituted if the hominy 

 were unavailable. 



Group 5. Buttermilk Powder plus Grain and Rowen 



This is a common commercial article which at times may compete in the 



market with skim milk powder. Very little experimental work on its value 



for calves had been carried on, so it was included in these investigations. It 



was fed in the same manner and at the same rate as the skim milk powder had 



