CHAPTER XV 

 CALF RAISING 



WITHOUT SKIM MILK, FEEDING WHEY, CALF MEALS, CALF 

 FEEDERS, CALF SCOURS, VEAL PRODUCTION 



Raising Calves without Skim Milk. Where the whole 

 milk is sold as market milk, or to a cheese factory or con- 

 densery, the problem of raising the calf is, how to do it with- 

 out the feed costing more than the value of the animal raised. 

 A calf needs about two gallons of milk per day in order to 

 make good gains. This means 480 pounds per month, or 

 2400 pounds for five months. At the low price of SI per 

 hundredweight this would mean $4.80 per month, or $24 for 

 five months, for milk alone to raise a calf under the best con- 

 ditions. This excessive cost results in many cases in the 

 dairyman adopting the plan of buying cows as needed and 

 raising no calves. As already pointed out, this policy is 

 certain to be disastrous. 



Where calves are raised under these conditions, the plan 

 most commonly adopted is to use the minimum amount of 

 milk, using grain or some other substitute as far as possible. 

 Some prefer to use cows that for some reason it is not desir- 

 able to milk, to raise the heifer calves. In this case it is 

 usually possible for each cow to nurse at least two calves. 

 Another plan is to feed the fresh milk rather freely for two 

 or three months to start the calf growing, then remove the 



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