AND H O R T I U L T U R A I. REGISTER. 



^ 



PUBLISHED BY JOSKPH BRECK & CO., NO. 62 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aoiucultubal Wari;hod8«.)-ALLEN PUTNAM, EDITOR. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 12, 1843. 



N. E. FARMER. 



ON THE MANAGEMENT OF COWS WITH 

 CALVES, &.C. 



The following seasonable hints are copied from 

 the " Book of the Farm," by Henry Stepliens, Esq., 

 of Scotland : 



A notion exists in some parts of England, that a 

 cow, when seized with the pains of labor, should 

 be made to move about, and not allowed to lie 

 still, though inclined to be quiet. " Tliis proceeds 

 from an erroneous idea," says Skellct, " that she 

 will calve much easier, and with less danger; but 

 so far from this beiny the case, the autlmr has 

 known a great many instances where tiie driving 

 iias proved the death of the animal by overheating 

 her, and thus producing inflammation, and all its 

 bad consequences. Every rational man will agree 

 in opinion with the author, that the abovo practice 

 is both cruel and inconsistent in the extreme ; and 

 this is confirmed by what he has noticed, that- the 

 animal herself, as soon as the pains of calving 

 come on, immediately leaves the rest of the herd, 

 and retires to some corner of the field, or under a 

 hedge, in order to prevent the other cows, or any 

 thing else, cominj near, that may disturb her in 

 bringing forth her young." In short, too much 

 gentleness cannot be shown to cows when calving, 

 and they cannot be too strictly guarded against 

 every species of disturbance. 



The afterbirth, or placenta, does not come away 

 with the calf, a portion of it being suspended from 

 the cow. It is got quit of by the cow by pressing, 

 and when the parturition has been natural and 

 easy, it seldom remains with her longerthan from 

 1 to 7 hours. In bad cases of labor it may remain 

 longer, and may only come away in pieces; but 

 when it remains too Ion.', and is sound, its separa- 

 tion will be assisted by attaching a small weight 

 to it, say of 2 lb., which, with its continued force, 

 and occasional pressing from the cow, will cause it 

 to drop. 



The usual custom is to throw the afterbirth upon 

 the dung-hill, or it is covered up with the litter; 

 but it should not be allowed to lie so accessible to 

 every dog and pig that may choose to dig it up. 

 Nay, pigs have been known almost to choke them- 

 selves with it. Such a custom is disgusting, and 

 should be put an end to. Let the substance be 

 buried in a compost heap, and if there is none 

 such on the farm, let it rather be buried in the 

 earth, than exposed to be used in that manner. 



Should the cow seem exhausted by the protract- 

 ed state of calving, she may be supported with a 

 warm drink of gruel, containing a bottle of sound 

 ale ; and should she be too sick or indiflierent to 

 drink it herself, it should be administered to her 

 with the drinking horn. 



After the cow-house has been cleansed of the 

 impurities of calving, and a supply of fresh litter 

 introduced, the cow, naturally feeling a strong 

 thirst upon her from the exertion, should receive a 

 warm drink. I do n't know a better one than warm 

 water, with a few handfuls of oatmeal stirred in it, 



and seasoned with a handful of salt, and this she 

 will drink up greedily ; but a pailful is enough at a 

 time, and it may be renewed in a short time after, 

 should she express a desire for it. This drink 

 should be given her for two or three days after 

 calving, in lieu of cold water, and mashes of boiled 

 barley and gruel should be made for her, in lieu of 

 cold turnips ; but the oil-cake should not be for- 

 gotten, as it acts at this critical period, as an cmol- 

 lient. The practice of giving barley raw, though 

 so common, is a very objectionable one ; for noth- 

 ing could be proposed that would cause indiges- 

 tion so readily as raw barley or barley-straw, at the 

 time of calvinft, when the tone of the stomach is 

 impaired by excitement, and it may bo by fi.'vcr. 

 Boiled barley, or any other mucilaginous drink, is 

 quite safe ; but a substance that can hardly fail to 

 irritate and inflame the stomach, is most injudi- 

 ciously applied in the circumstances. In fact, 

 nothing should bo given to a cow at this time, of 

 an astringent nature, but rather every thing of a 

 laxative quality. 



It is desirable to milk the new. calved cow as 

 soon as convenient for her, as, whether her delive- 

 ry has been difticult or easy, the withdrawal of 

 milk affords relief It not unfrcquently happens 

 that an unea.siness is felt in the udder before calv- 

 ing, and should it increase while the symptoms of 

 calving are long delayed, the cow may experience 

 considerable inconvenience, especially if the flush 

 of milk has been sudden. 



The causes of uneasiness are an unequal hard- 

 ness in the udder, and there is a heat, floridness, 

 and tenderness all over it. Fomentation with 

 warm water twice or thrice a day, continued for 

 half an hour at a time, fidlowed by gentle rubbing 

 with a soft hand, and anointing with goose-grease, 

 will tend to allay irritation. In the case of heifers 

 with the first calf, the uneasiness is sometimes so 

 great, during the protracted symptoms of calving, 

 as to warrant the withdrawal of milk before calv- 

 ing. Should the above remedial measures fail to 

 give relief, the great heat in the udder may cause 

 direct inflammation, and consequent suppuration. 

 To avert such an issue, the uneasiness should not 

 be neglected, from the first moment it is observed, 

 as neglect may allow the complaint to proceed so 

 .•ar as to injure the structure of a portion, if not I 

 the whole of the udder. 



Let us now attend to the young calf The first 

 food which the calf receives, consists of what its 

 mother first yields after calving, namely, biestings. 

 Being of the consistence of egg, it seems to be an 

 appropriate food for the fcetus just ushered into the 

 world. On giving the calf its first feed with the 

 hand, let the dairymaid take a little biesting in a 

 small dish, put her left arm around the neck of the 

 calf, and support its lower jaw with the palm of 

 the hand, keeping its mouth a little elevated, and 

 open, by introducing the thumb of the same hand 

 into the side of its mouth. Then let her fill the 

 hollow of her right hand with biestings, and pour 

 it into the calf's mouth, introducing a finger or 

 two into it for the calf to suck, when it will drink 

 the liquid. Thus let her supply the calf, in hand- 



ful after handful, as much as it is inclined to take. 

 Sometimes on a calf being begun to be fed, wlien 

 lying, attempts to get upon its feet, and, if able 

 let it do so, and rather assist it up than prevent it! 



Some people are afraid lo give a culf as much 

 biestings at first as it can take, because it is said 

 to produce the navel-ill. This is nonsense: let 

 the creature lake as much as it pleases for biest- 

 ings never harmed a calf. 



I have minutely detaileil the primary and sim- 

 ple process of feeding a new dropped call by hand, 

 because very absurd ways are adopted in doinir it. 

 Nothin.' is more common than lo plunge the calf's 

 head into a large qn-.ntity of biestings, and because 

 the liquid bubbles around its mouth by the breath 

 of the nose, and it will not attempt t(i drink it, its 

 head is the more forcibly thrust and kept down 

 into the tub. How can it drink, with its nose im- 

 mersed among.st the fluid .' And why should a 

 calf be expected at first to drink with its head down, 

 when its natural instinct leads it to suck with its 

 head up'} It should always be borne in mind 

 that feeding calves by the hand is an unnatural 

 process ; nevertheless, it is a convenient, practica- 

 ble, and easy one, provided it is conducted in a 

 proper manner. The crealure must be taught to 

 drink, and a good mode of teaching it I have de- 

 scribed abovo. In this way it is to be fed as often 

 as the cow is milked, which should be three times 

 a day. After the first two or three days, however, 

 anothe. plan should be adopted, for the calf sliouid 

 not be accustomed to suck the fingers, as then it 

 will not drink without their assistance. The suc- 

 ceeding plan is to put a finger or two of the ri<»ht 

 hand into its mouth, and holding the small pail of 

 milk with tlie left, under its head, bring the head 

 gradually down into the pail, where the fingers in- 

 duce it to take a few gluts of the milk ; but in do- 

 ing this, the fingers should be gently withdrawn 

 while the head is kept down with the hand, taking 

 cure to keep the nostrils above the milk, (n a few 

 days more, the fingers will not be required, and in 

 a few days more still, you will see the calf rfn'nit 

 of its own accord. 



For the first month, the calf should have as much 

 sweet milk, warm from tlie cow, as it can drink. 

 Some people grudge sweet milk after a few days, 

 and take the cream off it, and give the skimmed to 

 the calves. 'J'his is considered thrifty manage- 

 ment ; but it is not, except butter is preferred to 

 good calves, or good beasts at an after period. 

 Others, more generous, give half sweet and half 

 skimmed milk to their calves ; whilst some provide 

 a substitute for a part of the milk, by making 

 gelatine of boiled linseed or sago, and give it with 

 the milk. When milk is actually scarce, such ex- 

 pedients are permissible ; but when it is plentiful, 

 and is used for other purposes than merely to serve 

 the farm-honse, the adoption of expedients is a 

 practical avowal that the farmer does not wish to 

 bring up his stock as he might do. In regard to 

 suckling calves, there is no question that it is the 

 best way of bringing ihem up, provided the calf 

 has free access to its mother, or the cow which is 

 supporting it. 



