THE COST OF RAISING CALVES 



BY FRED \V. MORSE 



During portions of 1897 and 1898 careful records were kept 

 of the amount of food consumed by several calves and yearlings 

 for the purpose of securing data from which to calculate the 

 cost of raising a dairy cow. In addition to our own data, we 

 have collected and compared all similar figures to be found in 

 the bulletins of the American experiment stations. This bul- 

 letin is written in order to give the farmers of New Hampshire 

 as close an approximation as possible to the probable cost of 

 raising heifer calves to the age of sixteen months. It is 

 planned to continue the work, and in the future, issue another 

 bulletin giving the cost up to the stage of growth at which the 

 animal will pay her own expenses. 



The general method of feeding calves, during the periods 

 mentioned in this bulletin, was as follows : 



The calf was taken from the cow as soon as the latter's milk 

 was fit for creamery use. It was first fed with whole milk, 

 which was gradually replaced by skim -milk, until by the end 

 of the second week of growth it received only milk that had 

 been run through the separator, and was almost completely free 

 from fat. To replace tlie fat, a mixture of ground flax-seed, 

 cooked in water, was added to the milk. The proportions in this 

 mixture were one pound of flax-seed to four quarts of water, 

 making a thick mucilaginous jelly, which could be readily 

 mixed with the milk. The calves were fed from seven to ten 

 quarts of skim-milk and one or two quarts of flax-seed jelly, 

 daily, in two feeds. During part of the time middlings were 

 cooked instead of flax-seed. As soon as possible the animals 

 were encouraged to eat grain and hay, and the increase in food 

 made necessary by gain in size and weight, consisted of these 

 materials, while the skim-milk and flax-seed remained nearly 

 constant in amount as long as they were used, which was up 



