THE BEEF CATTLE INDUSTRY 



375 



two gallons of hay tea, to which Y± 

 pound each of flaxseed and wheat mid- 

 dlings had been added, was tried on 

 calves for a period of sixty days, during 

 which the amount of middlings was 

 gradually increased to 1 pound a day. 

 The calves thrived well and gained more 

 than 2 pounds each per day. 



Educating the calf — In teaching the 

 calf to drink, it is desirable to leave it 

 with itself for at least 12 hours, or until 

 it becomes hungry. Attempts to make 

 it drink before it is hungry are almost 

 sure to be useless. The calf may be 

 taught to drink by forcing open the 

 mouth and holding the fingers in it. 

 As a substitute for the common method 

 of teaching calves to drink, various calf 



should be allowed to suck the cows for 

 three to five days. The milk during this 

 time is commonly considered unsuitable 

 for human consumption. At the end of 

 four or five days the milk is ready for 

 use. 



During this time the calf will have 

 received the colostrum and will have 

 benefited by its nutritious character 

 and its medicinal effects; and will also 

 have assisted in preventing inflamma- 

 tion of the udder of the cow. The calves 

 may now be separated from the cows 

 and fed on whole milk. As soon as 

 they have learned to drink, the whole 

 milk should be gradually replaced with 

 warm, perfectly fresh skim milk, the 

 process of substitution taking place 



258 CALVES READY TO FATTEN FOR BABY BEEF. KANSAS EXPER. STATION 



feeders have been patented, consisting 

 of a tube and a rubber nipple. It is 

 almost, if not as easy, however, to teach 

 a calf to drink as to induce it to make 

 use of the feeder. Often the calf loses 

 the nipple and is unable to find it. 

 Then, too, the milk is obtained so slowly 

 that in cold weather it may become 

 chilled before the calf has finished his 

 meal, in which case it may cause scour- 

 ing. 



The average calf cannot make good 

 use of hay or grain until he is about 

 10 days old. During this time, there- 

 fore, it is well to feed the calf whole 

 milk. The following scheme may be 

 considered as based on the results ob- 

 tained by the majority of cattle raisers, 

 who have adopted the mpthod of feeding 

 calves on skim milk and grain. Calves 



slowly, so that at the end of four weeks 

 the calves receive nothing but skim 

 milk. The skim milk must be fed sweet 

 and warm ; that is, of a temperature of 

 95 to 100° F. The change from whole 

 milk to fresh skim milk will occupy a 

 period of about two weeks. The skim 

 milk ration may begin at 10 pounds 

 a day and may be increased to 15 pounds 

 at four weeks of age, after which it 

 should range from 18 to 24 pounds a day. 

 Quantities to feed — At first the 

 whole milk should be fed about three 

 times a day: 4 pounds in the morning, 

 2 pounds at noon and 4 pounds at night. 

 After 10 days two meals a day will be 

 sufficient. During the time that the calf 

 receives whole milk, the quantity may 

 be gradually increased to about 12 



