CALF FEEDING 221 



The amount of skim milk required for one pound of gain in 

 feeding calves will range from about 8 pounds to 20 pounds, the 

 amount of milk required increasing with the age and weight of the 

 calves. When two to three weeks old, the calf will begin to eat 

 some grain; the best way to teach it to eat grain is to rub a little 

 on its mouth when it is through drinking milk. From this it will 

 soon learn to eat from the feed box. 



Many experiments have been conducted with feeding calves for 

 the purpose of determining the value of different grain feeds to be 

 fed supplementary to skim milk. In the corn-growing states corn 

 meal will prove the best and most economical supplementary feed 

 with skim milk; it is also theoretically best suited for this pur- 

 pose, being higher in starch than either of the other common grain 

 feeds (N. R., 1 : 9.5), whiJe the skim milk is essentially a protein 

 feed (N. E., 1 :2). Because of its constipating effects, ground 

 kafir corn is well suited to be fed with skim milk. Some feeds can- 

 not, on the other hand, be used for calf feeding with skim milk, or 

 must be fed with great care, for the reason that they tend to in- 

 crease the danger of scouring; examples are cod-liver oil, molasses, 

 soybeans, and linseed meal. 



Grain Feeds for Calves. The following list, prepared by 

 Otis, may serve as a guide in making combinations of grain feeds 

 to be fed with skim milk to suit different conditions : 



1. Corn meal, gradually changed in four to six weeks to shelled corn, 

 with or without bran. 



2. Whole oats and bran. 



3. Whole oats and corn chop, the latter gradually replaced by shelled 

 corn in four to six weeks. 



4. Ground barley with bran or shelled corn. 



5. Shelled corn and ground kafir corn or sorghum. 

 0. Whole oats, ground barley, and bran. 



7. A mixture of twenty pounds of corn meal, twenty pounds of oatmeal, 

 twenty pounds of linseed meal, ten pounds of blood meal, and five pounds of 

 bone meal, changed to corn, oats, and bran when calves are three months old. 



8. A mixture of five pounds whole oats, three pounds bran, one pound 

 corn meal, and one pound of linseed meal. 



Roughage for Calves. Calves will nibble at roughage at about 

 the time they begin to eat a little grain, at two or three weeks 

 old. Fine, bright hay of either early-cut blue-grass or mixed 

 grasses makes the best roughage for calves. Alfalfa or clover hay of 

 choice quality is also excellent, but must be fed with some care to 

 young calves to prevent scouring. Hay sufficient for a day may be 

 placed in a rack in a corner of the calf pen ; any residue should be 

 removed before a new supply is given. As the calf grows older, it 

 will eat more roughage ; at about six months old it will take about 

 three times as much roughage as grain ; a part of the former may be 



