BREEDING DAIRY CATTLE 253 



the fingers, whereas others require much more persistent effort 

 and considerable patience as well as common sense. 



Danger of overfeeding. — When feeding by hand, there is 

 much danger of overfeeding and gorging the calf's stomach, 

 thereby causing digestive disorder, scours, and death. When 

 permitted to run with the cow, the calf sucks many times daily, 

 — ten to twenty, — taking only a little milk at a time. When 

 removed from the dam and left from eight to twelve hours, it 

 gets exceedingly hungry, and when offered milk in large quan- 

 tities, will gorge itself and bring digestive disorders that may 

 prove fatal. If there are two or more calves in the same pen, 

 it will be very necessary to fasten them, so that in case one gets 

 through drinking before the others it cannot rob them of their 

 supply, for if it should, it may prove fatal. 



The calf on whole milk. — For the first few weeks, the calf 

 should be given the milk from its own dam rather than from an- 

 other cow, as changing from one to another is likely to throw 

 the digestive system out of balance, and result in digestive dis- 

 orders such as scours, coUc, and the hke. When convenient, it is 

 best to feed the calf three times a day for the first few days. 

 The milk should be fed from a clean pail, directly after milking, 

 while still at the body temperature. The amount of milk fed 

 should be carefully regulated. A good plan with the average 

 calf is to give four pounds — two quarts — of whole milk three 

 times daily. If the cow's milk tests high in butter-fat, it is ad- 

 visable to feed that part of the milk which is first drawn from the 

 udder, as it possesses a lower fat content, and is less likely to 

 cause digestive disorders. In a state of nature, a calf gets milk 

 containing about 3 per cent fat, whereas some of our improved 

 breeds give almost twice that amount. The amount fed should 

 be increased gradually, taking much care to avoid overfeeding. 

 In case scours develop, the feed should be immediately reduced. 



The calf on skim-milk. — Whole milk, being rather expensive, 

 should not be fed longer than is necessary. The time for begin- 



