282 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



it through the feeder. The feeder is difficult to keep clean, and 

 a person will need a dozen in order to keep himself busy feeding 

 calves. Four to five buckets will keep one man busy. We 

 weighed our calves under experiment once every week, and 

 found that there was no difference in gains between those which 

 consumed their milk slowly through the calf-feeder and those 

 which consumed it rapidly from the pail. 



The Necessity oe Feeding Some Whole Milk. The 

 calf is unable to handle hay or grain until it is a week or ten days 

 old. During this period it is not wise to try to feed skim-milk. 

 At first the whole milk should be fed three times a day — four 

 pounds in the morning, two pounds at noon, and four pounds at 

 night, at blood temperature. In about a week or ten days the 

 calf can be fed twice daily. During this time the allowance of 

 whole milk can be gradually increased to about twelve pounds. 

 The amount depends somewhat on the individuality of the calf 

 and its ability to handle increased quantities. 



Changing erom Whole to Skim-milk. The stomach of 

 the young calf is very delicate, and all changes should be made 

 gradually. When about two weeks old, the calf, if a strong, vig- 

 orous one, can be gradually changed to skim-milk. During the 

 first day decrease the amount of the whole milk one pound and 

 add one pound of skim-milk, and so on each day until the change 

 is complete. Previous to this the calf should have a little grain 

 (corn or Kafir corn meal, or a mixture of both) placed in its 

 mouth immediately after drinking its milk. In this way it gets 

 a taste of the grain and will soon go to the feed-boxes and eat 

 with a relish. 



After the change to skim-milk is completed the amount may 

 be gradually increased as fast as the calf is able to consume it 

 without scouring. Care must be taken not to increase too 

 rapidly. The calf is a greedy animal, and will appear more 

 hungry after drinking its milk than before, and if given too much 

 it will soon be on the sick list. The milk fed should be weighed 

 or measured at each feeding. Our experience has been that a 



