290 



ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



Table X. — Gains and losses of calves when weaned from milk. 





Second 



Fi 



•st 



First 



Second 



Thi 



rd 



Fourth 





week 



week 



week 



week 



week 



week 





before 



before 



after 



after 



after 



after 





weaning 



weaning 



weaning 



weaning 



weaning 



weaning 







X) 





■d 





TS 





T3 





73 





<W 







© 





© 





D 





© 





© 





a 





£ 



A 



,o 



^H 



£i 



,£3 



,0 



ja 



£2 



A 



fit 









■-* 



f«i 





(H 



1 — 1 



t. 





Fh 



■-- 1 



(Li 



"-i 



►H 







© 





V 









© 





© 











a 



«H 



& 





a 



•IH 



a 





a 



■IH 



a 





a 



>> 



rj 



>i 



■— ■ 



>> 



"3 



>» 



-g 



>> 



"3 



>> 





















































o 



c3 



O 



53 









O 



rt 



O 



ri 







c$ 





H 



p 



H 



p 



P 



p 



E_i 



P 



H 



P 



E- 



p 



Skim-milk, ten lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. 



calves 165 2.35 126 1.65 220 3.14 85 1.21 110 1.57 



Whole milk, ten 



calves 193 2.75 219 3.27 77 1.10 3.10 4.43 155 2.21 



With dams, eight- 

 een calves --73 --.58 75 .59 220 1.75 





lbs. 



170 



2.42 



125 



1.78 



1.50 



1.19 



From this table it will be seen that the calves nursed by the 

 cows lost 73 pounds the first week after weaning, while the skim- 

 milk calves gained 220 pounds and the whole-milk calves 77 

 pounds. It took several weeks for the calves nursed by their 

 dams to recover from the effects of weaning. 



The dams nursing the calves were valued at $40 per head ; 

 when weaned the calves brought from $18 to $20. The labor 

 connected with keeping the cows probably did not exceed from 

 $1 to $2 per animal. The expense of keeping, including . feed, 

 pasture, etc., was valued by the owner at $12 per animal. When 

 it is possible to raise a $20 calf from a $40 cow for from $12 to 

 $14, a person ought to realize a handsome interest on the money 

 invested. It should be said, however, that the owner of the cows, 

 in making his estimate, paid only $2.50 per head for pasture for 

 the entire season. It requires at least from two to three acres 

 of pasture per cow. As land becomes more valuable the cost of 

 keeping the cow must increase. This comparison does not refer 

 to pure-bred animals that are kept for breeding purposes, where 

 a calf will bring $100 and upwards. In that case there is no 

 question about its profitableness, no matter by what method it 

 is fed. 



