REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS. 351 



Rearing and feeding. The period of gestation of the cow is about 40 weeks, 

 varying somewhat according to the constitution of the animal. She is some- 

 times capable of receiving the male during her first year, but he should not be 

 admitted to her until after she has completed her second year. 



Some time after having produced her young, the cow 'manifests a desire to 

 receive the male. This continues for a few days, and returns at intervals of a 

 fortnight or three weeks. When the male is admitted to her, she is gene- 

 rally at once impregnated. Should this not be so, the instinctive desire re- 

 turns, and she must again be taken to the male until she has been impregnated, 

 which is known by the ceasing of these periodical returns. 



It is important to the breeder of feeding cattle that the calves should be born, 

 early in the season, so as ;o afford the means of bringing them well forward 

 upon the summer grass. The proper season for calving is in the months of 

 January, February, and March. When the period of producing the young 

 has arrived, the cow is to be attended to with care, kept in the house, and the 

 birth of the young waited for and assisted when necessary. The position of 

 the foetus is with the head couched between the fore-legs. When it is other- 

 wise the birth is more difficult, and generally the calf must be turned into the 

 proper position. This is done by the hand, t'he cow being laid on her side, and 

 gently raised from behind by hoisting. But iu general the parturition of the 

 cow is 



The calf, on being born, is to be carried away and placed loose in a pen or 

 crib with clean dry litter. The cow should not be suffered to touch or recog- 

 nise her young, as this only tends to render her uneasy and distressed by the 

 separation. The cow should then be milked and fed with some nourishing 

 food. A sheaf of barley answers the purpose very well, and some nourishing 

 gruel should also be given. An excellent food for some time previous to calv- 

 ing, and some time afterwards, is linseed boiled, or bruised oil-cake dissolved 

 in'warm water. 



In mountainous countries the cow may be permitted to suckle her calf during 

 the months of summer; and a practice similar to this is frequently adopted 

 with the breeds of the plains. But where a good breed of cows exist, the 

 young should at once be separated from the dam and fed from the pail. The 

 first milk drawn from the cow is viscid, and is peculiarly fitted for the nourish- 

 ment of the young; for which reason each calf should first be fed by the milk 

 of its own dam. 



The quantity of milk given to the young animal should be as much as it can 

 consume, which will he found to be somewhat more than a wine gallon in the 

 day. The quantity which it can consume, however, will gradually increase 

 to 2 gallons more, or 3 gallons in all; and this feeding may be continued for 

 12 weeks, when the animal is to be put into the course of being weaned, and in 

 one month more completely weaned. The milk given to the calf is new milk, 

 that is, milk directly from the cow. The milk, however, may be economised, 

 by employing substitutes to a limited extent, and, in this manner, the milk of 

 one cow be made to rear more than one calf. The best substitutes are farina- 

 ceous food, as meal and porridge. Linseed or oil-cake can be given; by using 



free from coarseness, large where attached to the shoulder, and tapering to 

 where it joins the head. 3. The breast should be wide, and projecting well in 

 front of the fore-limbs. 4. The shoulder should be broad, but joining without 

 abruptness to the neck before, and to the chine behind. 5. The back and loins 

 should be straight, wide, and flat. 6. The girth behind the shoulders should 

 be large: the ribs should be well arched, and the distance between the last rib 

 and the hook-bone small. 7. The hook-bones should be far apart and nearly 

 on a level with the back-bone: from the hook-bone to the rump, the quarters 

 should be long and straight. 8. The belly should not hang down; the flanks 

 should be well filled up; the legs should be fleshy to the knee and hock, but 

 below the joints they should be tendinous. The tail should be on a level with 

 the back, broad at the top, and tapering to near the extremity. The hoofs should 

 be small; the horns fine and pointed, and slightly attached to the head; the ears? 

 thin; the eyes prominent and lively. 



