I90S-] 



Calf-Rearing. 



707- 



duce festering, white scour, navel-ill, &c. ; it is especially impor- 

 tant to take this precaution if the navel-string has broken off 

 short. Occasionally the cord is so broken that the navel 

 appears as an open wound, in which case the two edges should 

 be drawn together with a needle and thread previously dipped 

 in carbolic oil, and in a few days the place will have healed. 



The calf is now rubbed down with a wisp of straw and 

 allowed to lie covered over with straw till its mother has been 

 milked. In the natural way, the calf would not suck the cow 

 until it got well on its feet, and there need be no hurry for 

 half an hour or so to give it its first meal when separated from 

 the cow, in mild or warm weather ; but in cold weather it is 

 very important that it should have a drink of warm milk as soon 

 as possible. The writer has never known a new-born calf take 

 a chill even on the coldest winter night, in spite of the sudden 

 change in the temperature of its surroundings, when thus 

 promptly attended to. In all cases milk should be given to 

 young calves at the blood-heat of the cow(ioi deg. to 102 deg.),. 

 which is the temperature at which a calf would get it from the 

 cow by sucking. Now by the time the milk has streamed through 

 the cold air into the cold milk-pail it will be at least 10 deg. 

 below this, and will therefore need a little heating, either by 

 addition of a little hot water or otherwise. Whilst speaking of 

 the temperature of milk, it may be well here to give a special 

 caution against serving milk too hot either at this stage or 

 later ; it is far better to err on the side of not having it warm 

 enough than of having it really hot. 



The two forefingers are placed in the calf's mouth, and the 

 hand is lowered into a bowl of the colostrum (first milk), and,, 

 usually, the calf at once sucks away vigorously, but sometimes 

 a little patience is required before it discovers its ability to suck. 

 A quart is sufficient for the first meal, and most calves readily 

 take this amount, and many would take more if allowed.. 

 Colostrum or " biestings " differs in many respects from ordinary 

 milk, for it contains about five times as much albuminoid 

 (lean, hair, and other tissue-forming) matter, and nearly twice 

 as much mineral (bone-forming, &c.,) matter. Further, the 

 albuminoid matter instead of being mainly in the form of 

 curd (casein), as in milk, is chiefly in the form of albumen* 



OOO 



