254: MANUAL OF FARM ANIMALS 



ning to substitute skim-milk will vary according to conditions. 

 In general the change should begin when the calf is four weeks of 

 age. This change should be made gradually, so that the calf may 

 adjust itself to the new feed without trouble. A good plan is to 

 increase the skim-milk one pound each day and decrease the 

 whole milk by the same amount, and thus requiring about one 

 week to make the complete change. The skim-milk should 

 always be sweet and as nearly the same from day to day as is 

 possible. The amount fed may be gradually increased to 20 

 pounds daily, but it is not considered advisable to feed more 

 than that amount. 



When two or three weeks old, the calf should be taught to eat 

 a little grain. This is best accomplished by placing a handful in 

 the pail immediately after the calf has finished drinking the milk. 

 It is not a good practice to put the grain in the milk, as the calf 

 will swallow it with the milk and not learn to masticate it prop- 

 erly. After the calf has learned to eat the grain, a box should 

 be provided in which to feed the grain. If for some reason the 

 calf fails to eat the grain, it must be removed and not left in the 

 box to decay. The grain should be kept fresh and clean. At six 

 weeks of age, the calf should be eating one pound daily of the 

 following mixture : 3 parts corn meal, 3 parts ground oats, 3 

 parts wheat bran, and 1 part linseed meal. 



The young calf should be taught to eat hay along with the 

 grain. If sweet nutritious hay is put within its reach, it will 

 soon learn to eat it. Whole hay is preferred to chopped. 

 Among the various hays, alfalfa holds first place, but if not avail- 

 able, bright clover hay of fine quality is excellent for the calf. 

 The hay should not be overripe, as such hay contains too much 

 crude fiber and is coarse and woody. The calf may have all the 

 hay it will consume, providing it gets grain and skim-milk in 

 addition. It is doubtful whether it is advisable to feed silage or 

 roots while the calf is getting skim-milk. 



Fall calves may be turned to grass the following spring, 



