108 LIVE-STOCK 



come in heat again, and there is improvement in her condition. 

 The abdomen enlarges and becomes pendulous, particularly 

 on the right side. The udder increases in size, and the 

 mucous discharge from the genital parts is also increased. 

 After the fifth month, foetal movements can be perceived by 

 looking at the flank on the right side. Abortion or miscarriage 

 occurs occasionally. It is due to the nature of the food and 

 other influences. Pregnant animals when affected with blood 

 diseases may abort. Abortion is also caused by certain 

 bacterial organisms, and therefore rigid separation of animals 

 which have aborted from those which are pregnant should be 

 attended to. Approaching parturition is indicated by the 

 swelling of the udder and occurrence of milk in it, discharge 

 of thick mucus from the vulva, and the loosening or ' slipping ' 

 of the hinder parts, due to the relaxation of the pelvic liga- 

 ments. The process of parturition occupies about an hour. 

 The placenta or after-birth comes away in \ to 4 hours after 

 the calf has been dropped. 



Rearing. 



The calf is allowed to suck its mother both before and 

 after milking. In some parts the calf is tied to the arm 

 of the mother and is allowed to suck only after milking. In 

 Europe the general practice is to separate the calf from the 

 dam as soon as it is born, or in a week or ten days after birth 

 and to hand-feed it. Both the systems have their advantages 

 and disadvantages. Allowing the calf access to the mother 

 acts as a stimulus for the secretion of milk and ensures the 

 udder being thoroughly emptied after each milking, and the 

 cow yields her milk freely. When the cow is out grazing, 

 there is no danger of her milk being drawn stealthily. The 

 disadvantages are that the cow may not give milk if the calf 

 dies, and that it is difficult to regulate the amount of milk to 

 be left for the calf. Under the European system, the calf 

 is given a regelated and required amount of milk, and the 

 cow can be milked whether the calf is alive or dead, but there 

 is no certainty of the milkman stripping the udder thoroughly. 

 As soon as cow has calved, she should be milked and a por- 

 tion of the milk should be given to the calf or left in the 

 udder for it to suck. The milk yielded for the first four or 

 five days is called colostrum ; it contains a high proportion of 

 albumen and curdles when boiled. It is called in Tamil 

 ' seempal,' that is, ' pus milk. 1 This milk contains some laxa- 

 tive principle and helps to clear the intestines of the calf of 

 meconium. Some cows do not secrete milk on the very first day 



