1905.] 



Calf-Rearing. 



7i5 



the habit of sucking their bedding and swallowing considerable 

 quantities ; when it consists of straw it may be bad enough, 

 but when it is moss-litter it is worse ; and the writer has had one 

 case of a calf dying from eating this latter substance. A simple 

 means of prevention is to muzzle the calves until they begin to 

 eat hay. Muzzles should also be used where small calves cannot 

 be accommodated with separate pens. 



During the first two or three weeks that calves are having 

 new milk they are liable to " white scour," * which frequently 



Fig. 3. — Bull Calf, I2| months old, weighing 8 cwt. o qrs. 15 lb. 



proves fatal. Generally the first symptom is hesitation to take 

 their milk ; when this occurs a dose of castor oil should be given 

 instead of the milk — a tablespoonful emulsified in twice as much 

 warm water. It is best administered from a small, thick bottle, 

 such as a " gaseous fluid " bottle, put into the calf's mouth, 

 well over the tongue. This prompt treatment generally sets 

 ordinary stomach or bowel derangements right, and often " white 

 scour " ; should it, however, not restore the appetite and correct 

 matters, follow with one-third of a bottle of " gaseous fluid.'* 



* See Leaflet No. 101, "Prevention of White Scour in Calves." 



