304 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



They will not eat very much at first, but what they do have 

 should he bright and clean. Tame hay from mixed grasses is 

 probably the best for young calves. Bright prairie-grass is a 

 close second. Clover and alfalfa can be gradually added to the 

 roughage ration after the calves are several weeks old. We 

 have tried alfalfa alone for young calves and find that it is too 

 loosening. It proves a splendid feed, however, as the calves 

 grow older, and should be introduced as soon as the calves can 

 properly handle it. Avoid feeding in large quantities at any one 

 time, but give them what they will eat up clean at each feed. 



Difficulty is sometimes experienced in putting calves on 

 pasture. On May 8, 1901, this station put twenty head of calves 

 on pasture, making the change gradually. We allowed them on 

 pasture only a short time the first day, and increasing the period 

 each time until they became accustomed to it. For the two 

 .veeks after we started to turn on pasture the calves gained only 

 0.89 of a pound daily per head, although weather conditions were 

 ideal. For several weeks before turning on pasture the calves 

 had gained 1.2 pounds per day, under adverse weather condi- 

 tions. As previously stated, sudden changes of food are usually 

 injurious, and changing to pasture is at best a sudden one. We 

 partially overcame this difficulty with another lot by adding a 

 little green feed to their hay before turning out the first day. 

 This was continued, increasing a forkful each day until they 

 were getting about all they would eat ; after that we turned on 

 pasture without any apparent trouble. 



Water and Salt. 



Calves enjoy clean, fresh water. A test was made by 

 weighing the water given to thirteen calves that ranged from two 

 to three months of age. It was found that 868 pounds of water 

 were consumed in seven days, or nearly ten pounds per clay per 

 head. It was also noticed that the calves drank several times a 

 day, sipping a little at a time; even after their ration of milk 

 they would take a swallow of water. An automatic waterer 



