FIFTY-FIRST ANNUAL CONVENTION 59 



FEED AND CARE OF THE DAIRY CALF 



Allow the new born calf to be with its mother for the 

 first four days, or until the mother's milk has become nor- 

 mal. After the fourth day, remove the calf from its mother, 

 giving it a clean, dry and well-lighted box stall. Feed the 

 calf six pounds of the mother's milk, both morning and 

 evening, in a clean pail. The temperature of the milk must 

 be now lower than ninety degrees Fahrenheit. Feed this 

 ration until the calf is a month old. 



On farms where skim milk is available, the whole milk 

 can gradually be changed to skim milk after the calf is a 

 month old. On farms where whole milk is sold and no skim 

 milk is available, the whole milk can be gradually substi- 

 tuted with commercial calf meals that are sold on the mar- 

 ket, or a home mixed milk supplement may be fed, consist- 

 ing of equal parts of oil meal, blood meal, hominy and flour. 

 Make a gruel of this mixture, feeding about one-fourth 

 pound of the dry meal daily at the beginning, the amount 

 being increased one-fourth of a pound daily each week for 

 four weeks. 



As a rule, the use of milk should be continued until the 

 calf is sixty days old. 



Calf meals alone, or calf meals, hay and grain, do not 

 form a complete ration for the young calf, since they do not 

 supply the necessary nutrients in a form readily digested 

 and assimilated. 



To produce satisfactory growth when fed a calf meal, 

 it is best to use the meal as, a supplement to milk rather 

 than a complete substitute for it. It is doubtful if, under 

 average conditions, good gains will be made unless some 

 milk is fed until the calf is about sixty days old. 



When the calf is about four weeks old, it will begin to 

 nibble at hay and grain. A good quality of clover or alfalfa 

 hay should be placed in easy reach of the calf at this age. 



As soon as the calf begins to eat grain, it should have 

 free access to the following mixture : 



30 pounds ground corn or hominy. 



30 pounds ground oats. 



