American Agriculturist, September 15,1923 
179 
Raising Healthy Calves 
My Experience With Pure-Bred Guernseys 
W HEN the editor of 
the American Ag¬ 
riculturist asked me to write about our 
experience in raising calves, I hesitated 
to do so. Pretty generally we have 
been able to save and raise into healthy 
animals all of the calves dropped on 
the farm. Last winter, however, we 
lost five splendidly bred Guernsey 
heifer calves all in a row. Because of 
these losses I wondered in my own mind 
whether I was qualified to discuss the 
subject. 
However, when they occurred, we 
took our troubles to Dr. D. H. Udall 
of the New York State Veterinary Col¬ 
lege. Dr. Udall represents that rare 
combination, unusual technical knowl¬ 
edge, practical experience, and common 
sense. So to-day I took the editor’s 
request up to Dr. 
Udall at the col- 
lege. 
I asked him 
what were the 
objectives in car¬ 
ing for a new¬ 
born calf. He re¬ 
plied unhesi¬ 
tatingly that they 
were, first, to 
guard the calf 
from the diges¬ 
tive troubles 
which always fol¬ 
low overfeeding; 
second, to pre¬ 
vent v the calf 
from eating any 
material which 
would cause his 
digestive system 
to become de- 
ranged; and 
third, to main¬ 
tain the birth 
weight and in¬ 
crease it as rap¬ 
idly as possible. 
“New-bo r-n 
calves,” said Dr. 
Udall, “enter 
upon an artificial 
existence. The 
milk of the dam 
immediately af¬ 
ter freshening is 
abundant and 
rich. The devel¬ 
opment of the di- .- 
gestive organs of *' 
the calf before 
birth has not kept pace with the udder 
development of the modern dairy cow. 
So if the calf is left too long with the 
dam its stomach becomes overloaded, 
and this gives rise to abnormal decom¬ 
position of the contents of the stomach 
and the absorption of poisonous mate¬ 
rial into the circulation.” 
The Prevention of Indigestion 
The prevention of digestive troubles 
depends upon the observation of a few 
simple rules. These Dr. Udall gave to 
me as follows: 
1. Allow the calf to remain with its 
dam for the first twelve hours. This 
provides colostrum, but does not per¬ 
mit overeating. 
2. On the second day, withhold all 
milk unless the calf shows evidence of 
great hunger, when it may receive eight 
ounces each of its dam’s milk and lime- 
water at body temperature. 
3. On the third day, feed four to five 
per cent of the body weight of the 
dam’s milk mixed with an equal 
amount of limewater at 100 degrees 
Fahrenheit. 
4. At the end of the first week the 
calf may receive eight to twelve per 
cent of its body weight of milk; by the 
end of the second week this may be 
brought up to ten to fourteen per cent 
of the body weight. Feed morning, 
noon,. and night; each feeding should 
contain a pound of limewater. Warm 
the milk to 100 degrees Fahrenheit and 
feed in individual pails. 
“The pails from which calves are 
fed,” said Dr. Udall, “should be rinsed 
after each feeding in cold water 
and then scalded. Housing conditions 
should protect calves against extreme 
cold, sudden changes in temperature, 
and cold drafts from open doors. They 
should be kept dry, warm, and clean. 
By H. E. BABCOCK 
Stumped ! 
TUTR. BABCOCK, the author of the ar- 
tide on this page and one of our 
regular contributors, is the owner of 
an unusually fine herd of pure-bred 
Guernseys. Henry Morgenthau, Jr., 
publisher of the American Agricul¬ 
turist has an excellent herd of pure¬ 
bred Holsteins. When these two get 
together there invariably ensues a 
jolly controversy relative to the merits 
of each other’s chosen breed. Re¬ 
cently we were visiting Mr. Babcock’s 
farm and while we were going through 
the barns and looking over the herd, 
Mr. Morgenthau spied an old Holstein 
cow tucked away over in one corner 
almost out of sight. He called Mr. 
Babcock over and a^ked him to ex¬ 
plain. For a moment Mr. Babcock was 
somewhat confused and as is charac¬ 
teristic with him when embarrassed, 
stood first on one foot and then on the 
other. He finally managed to get out 
the explanation, “Oh, that old cow— 
why we have to have her milk to 
raise our Guernsey calves” and then 
promptly changed the subject. 
Each calf should be 
provided with an in¬ 
dividual pen. During the first week, 
before the noon feed, take the tempera¬ 
ture. If it is 103 degrees Fahrenheit 
or more, give an enema and three 
ounces of liquid petrolatum and with¬ 
hold feed until the temperature is nor¬ 
mal and the calf ravenously hungry. 
At birth give three ounces of liquid 
petrolatum to a seventy-pound calf. 
“Each calf should wear a muzzle un¬ 
til one month of age; this prevents in¬ 
gestion of filth and indigestible sub¬ 
stances such as straw or shavings. 
Normal healthy calves will lick and 
swallow any substance within reach. A 
small handful of straw or other foreign 
material in the stomach retards diges¬ 
tion and growth, and often is a direct 
cause of death.” 
Beading over 
these directions 
the average 
farmer will prob¬ 
ably be most 
struck with the 
idea of muzzling 
the new-born 
calf. Yet as I 
have watched Dr. 
Udall work, I am 
convinced that he 
has the soundest 
of reasons for 
muzzling young 
calves, particu¬ 
larly valuable 
ones. 
In natural con¬ 
ditions calves 
were dropped in 
clean pastures. 
There was noth- 
i n g filthy for 
them to eat; all 
of their sUr- 
roundings had 
been sterilized by 
sunshine. Now 
they come in 
stables, perhaps 
never thorough¬ 
ly sterilized, 
and they find 
about them bits 
o f indigestible 
material, such 
as straw, hay, 
--- shavings, and the 
like. These they 
nibble at and ac¬ 
cumulate in their stomachs, where they 
become the cause of all sorts of subse¬ 
quent disorders. The muzzled calf, fed 
in a clean pail, has practically every 
means of infection removed from it. 
Knowing that he had kept careful 
records on several of our calves, and 
believing that readers- of the American 
Agriculturist might be interested in 
such records, even though they are im¬ 
practical in farm practice, I prevailed 
on Dr. Udall to turn over his data. I 
have selected from his charts one which 
gives the record of the calf of Carman- 
cita of Larchmont. 
This calf, a pure-bred Guernsey bull, 
was born on April 24, 1923, at 11:30 
a. m. He weighed 82 pounds. He was 
left with his dam until 8 a. m. April 25, 
when he was removed. At 11:30 on 
that day he weighed 85% pounds, a 
gain of 3% pounds. He was not fed 
until April 26, when he weighed 84 
pounds, and was given four pounds of 
milk in three feedings, the same being 
equal to 4.76 per cent of his body 
weight. The next day he was fed 7 
per cent of his body weight in milk; 
the next day, 8 per cent, and a week 
later 10 per cent. In the meantime he 
had gained up to 90 pounds. 
Birth Weight Maintained and 
Increased 
On May 9, two weeks after birth, 
this calf weighed 94.5 pounds, and was 
getting nine pounds of milk a day, 
equal to practically 10 per cent of his 
body weight. Records were continued 
up until the 28th day of May, when 
he was eating 13 per cent of his body 
weight in milk and weighed 121% 
pounds.. 
Similar records on other of our pure¬ 
bred Guernsey calves cared for as out- 
{Continued on page 186) 
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