CHAPTER XXIV. 



THE REARING OF CALVES FOR THE DAIRY. 



The general principles applicable to the raising of dairy calves have been 

 well stated by Prof. I. P. Roberts of the Cornell Station as follows: 



Having good inherited qualities, the next step is to see to the rearing of the 

 calf. The calf should be well sustained and should make rapid growth, but 

 this should not tend to fat, but the development of those qualities which are to 

 make the value of the cow that is to be. 



Warm skim milk in moderate quantities, after the calf is about two weeks 

 old, bright clover hay and unground oats, should form the foundation of the 

 calf's ration. In cold weather some oil meal, old process, or whole corn, or both, 

 should be added, in order to furnish sufficient heat producers. 



From the moment the calf is born it should be watched and trained for 

 the dairy as carefully and scientifically as the little foal that is dropped in the 

 trotting stable is trained for the track. It has been discovered that in order to 

 get the best results, trotting colts should be fed and developed towards the uses 

 to which they are to be put when mature. They are not only fed with a view 

 to the track, but they are also exercised with a view to speed. Should the trotting 

 colt be fed like the draught colt, then we might expect marked variation to 

 appear before maturity, and this a marked variation for the worse ; and if a 

 trotter were desired, this would be a very foolish and very unscientific method 

 of treating a trotting colt. I use the trotting colt as an illustration, because of 

 its scientific treatment and breeding, which are showing such marked results 

 in colts which have been properly bred, fed, and exercised. 



If the dairyman were to use a tithe of the skill in rearing the dairy calf 

 that the horseman does in rearing the trotting colts, we long since would have 

 doubled the average product per cow of our dairies. Taking the dairy calf at 

 birth, we find that it is unable to digest or assimilate coarse or innutritions 

 food. Its delicate digestive apparatus can only take care of those forms of food 

 which are easily broken down and assimilated, such as new milk ; but if the 

 calf is fed with new and rich milk, it inclines to put on fat, and this is just 

 what the dairyman does not want. He should teach his animal to put fat in 

 the pail and not on the ribs ; and so the utmost care must be taken in balancing 

 the quality and quantity of the food, that it may produce vigorous, healthy 

 growth, and extend to some extent the abdomen, without inducing the animal 

 to store up tallow. Great care should be taken not to have the food so concen- 

 trated as to dwarf the viscera and contract the stomach, neither should the 

 food be so innutritious as to distend the stomach to such an extent as to injure 

 the power of digestion and assimilation. We find calves can be reared on whey 

 or watered buttermilk, but the results are not satisfactory, because the calf 

 must take into its stomach so great a bulk that it cannot take care of it, and 

 hence bloating, colic, and indigestion are sure to follow. The dairy calves 

 never should be fed largely on concentrated food, such as corn meal, cotton seed 

 meal, etc. If they lay on some flesh, and even some fat, while on pasture, no 

 evil results follow ; but flesh and fat laid on by the feeding of concentrated 

 and heat producing foods are sure to affect the usefulness of the future cow. 



S. L. Hoxie, Leonardsville, N. Y.: 



"No treatment will perfect what is born imperfect. Therefore my calves 

 are raised from the breeds that produce the fewest poor milkers. Milk is the 

 most perfect food. I cannot afford to feed new milk over two weeks. I feed 

 skim milk about two weeks longer. I especially see that my calves are pro- 

 vided with good water from the first. Food should be given with regularity 

 both as to time and quantity. Every individual calf should be watched closely 

 with reference to the condition of its appetite and digestion. I know of no 

 food that is good for dairy cows that is not good for calves, if properly prepared 

 and fed. Calves should never be exposed to cold storms, or left unsheltered 

 during cold nights. I do not favor turning them to pasture, but rather keeping 

 them in clean stables. After they get used to eating wheat shorts they can be 



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