——— 
March 1, 1909 
ree xf Socom, 
Rearing Calves. 
By H. R. Alexander. 
Rearing and feeding calves should be 
one of the most important duties on the 
dairy farm. From the calves of to day 
we look for the cows of the future, and 
unless these calves are well fed and cared 
for. we cannot expect them to develop 
into prime dairy stock. Dairy calves or 
heifers, to be a success as cows, must be 
kept growing and doing well, without un- 
duly fattening, right from birth till they 
come into profit as milkers. Any check 
in growth or derangement of the digestive 
organs will have a deteriorating effect on 
the after value of the stock. On the 
other hand, a tendency to fatten, once 
developed in the heifer, will in all pro- 
bability continue in the cow, and at the 
expense of her milk production. 
Galf rearing is a simple and interesting 
occupation. Success will be assured 
when the feeder combines a good temper 
with a knowledge of cleanliness and a fair 
amount of common sense. On the ques- 
tion when the calf should be taken from the © 
cow, opinions differ among dairymen. 
Some allow the calf to remain with the 
mother for several days after birth, and 
claim by so doing that the calve receives a 
better start in life Other farmers hand- 
feed from birth. Under the first system 
the calf is long enough with the mother 
for the cow to become attached to her 
offspring; it is not desirable to develop 
this maternal instinct to any great extent 
in the milker, as when the calf has 
ultimately to be taken from her the cow 
frets, her milk yield being correspondingly 
checked,. Further, having become 
accustomed to drawing its own supply of 
provender, the calf often objects to 
drinking from a bucket for several days, 
thereby receiving a considerable set-back. 
At Wallongbar the calf is left with the 
mother for twenty-four hours after birth. 
During this time the cow will have. 
cleaned, fed, and established the youngster 
on its legs. Under this system, should 
- the cow fret when the calf is removed, no 
shrinkage in milk flow will be apparent; 
and at this particular period of the cow’s 
lactation milk is of no value from a cheese 
or butter-making point of view; in fact, 
colostrum has a most injurious effect on 
all dairy products. This being so, should 
a shrinkage be noticeable no real loss will 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
be sustained. Nature has provided this 
first milk, known as ‘colostrum’ or beast- 
ings,’ as the first natural food of the calf. 
Colostrum, has a cleansing and laxative 
effect on the stomach and bowls; it 
regulates and stimulates the whole 
digestive tract into healthy action. No 
medicine or prepared food can take the 
place of colostrum, and no calf can he 
successiully started in— life without re- 
%) y1K ceiving its just share of ‘beastings.’ 
! sy When taken from the cow, place the 
| eos KM 
calf in a clean, comfortable pen, with a 
small run attached. AJl calves under 4 
weeks old should be kept in this paddock, 
to allow of their being thoroughly 
established cn a skim-milk diet before 
being drafted out among: the bigger and 
stronger calves. ‘To make calves tractable 
and easily handled in after life, a good 
plan is to tie up all youngsters for a few. 
hours daily in this small yard; the lesson 
will never be forgotten. 
During the first week oc ten days of a 
calf’s life, feed the youngster three times 
a day on the warm unadulterated 
mother’s milk. By feeding three times 
daily there is less risk of overloading the 
stomach, thereby taxing the strength of 
the calf’s digestive organs, than if the 
calf is fed only twice, in the morning and~ 
evening. At the expiration of ten days 
the mid-day meal can be dropped. Once 
the calf becomes accustomed to two meals 
per day, a small quantity. of skim-milk 
may be added to the food, also an ounce 
of lime-water. Lime-water strengthens 
the system; also tends to neutralise 
acidity to the stomach, thereby to a decree 
preventing scours. 
Gradually increase the percentage of 
skim-milk; at the same time reduce the 
quantity of full milk till the calf is 4 
weeks old, when it should be fed solely on 
askim-milk or wheyration. As the calf’s 
diet is undergoing change a 2 or 3-ounce 
dose of castor or raw linseed oil, given 
twice a week in the food, has an excellent 
corrective effect, and’ prevents costiveness, 
the sure sign of digestive troubles and a 
forerunner of scours. Up to thisstage no 
food other than milk is advisable, “the 
change from full to skim milk being a 
severe enough tax on the calf’s strength 
without any addition of solid matter in 
the ration. After the four weeks’ stage, 
some calf-food can be fed with advantage; 
gradually add the food tothe milk, taking, 
say, two weeks to place the calf on a ful! 
allowauce. 
A mixture of crushed linseed 1 part 
and poliard 2 parts, when well boiled, 
makes a cheep and nutritious food, and 
compensates to a degree for the butter-fat 
extracted, . 
A full one-meal allowance for a 6 weeks 
* old calf would be— 
1 pint linseed and pollard porridge. 
1 oz. lime-water, 
1v 1b, skim-milk. : 
This to be increased as the calf grows 
older. Should milk be short in quantity, 
_ the addition of porridge and water to the 
above ration would keep the calf grow- 
ing, 
27 
As milk passes through a separator it 
becomes considerably charged with air. 
The presence of any excess of skim-milk 
is harmful if fed to calves, and will cause 
colic and scours. Separated milk should 
be allowed to stand for a short time prior 
to feeding to poddies, to permit of air 
escaping. Splendid results follow cooling 
skim-milk as it comes from the separator, 
afterwards warming the cooled milk to 
feeding temperature by means of steam 
orahotiron. If calves must be fed on 
skim milk direct from the separator avoid 
all froth." Allow calves free access to rock 
salt. 
When cheese is made, follow above 
feeding rules, substituting whey for skim- 
milk and allowing a larger quantity of 
linseed porridge. 
To make the whey more palatable, also 
to increase the feeding value, 2 ounces of 
molasses per meal may be added to 
ration. This quantity of molasses will be 
found ample; if fed in excess molasses has 
a rather opening effect on the bowls. As 
drawn from cheese vat whey contains a 
varying amount of gas, which, if fed direct 
to calves, would in many cases cause: 
hoyen Whey should be allowed tostand 
for an hour or two to allow of gas escap- 
ing, or better still whey could be 
pasteurised and cooled as drawn; this 
would expel all gasand check development 
of acidity. Calves can be reared equally 
as well on whey as on skim-milk provided 
cleanliness and care be observed. 
Suppliers to co-operative factories 
should insist on all whey shoots and tanks 
being kept in a sweet condition; they must 
be scrubbed and scalded daily. 
Feed calves regularly, their meals nearly 
as pcssible dividing the twenty four 
hours. Their food must be warm, fresh, 
clean, and fed from thoroughly clean 
buckets. All calf food should be so pure 
and wholesome that the feeder would, if 
need be, drink of the mixture. Feeding 
temperature should be maintained be- 
tween 90 deg. and 100 deg, Fahr. 
Three feeding systems are in vogue 
among dairy farmers—from troughs, by 
means of rubber teats, and by bailing up 
and feeding from buckets. Having tried 
all these methods I can unhesitatingly 
recommend the last mentioned. Diminu- 
tive bails can be erected at a very small 
cost, and by feeding each calf individually 
from buckets every animal receives its 
proper allowance of food, and sickness or 
loss of appetite can readily be detected 
and attended to, : 
When feeding from troughs the method 
is to fill the trough with milk for, say, 
twelve calves; after drafting this number 
of poddies into the feeding yard the 
feeder takes his stand at one end of the 
trough armed with a long stick. As the 
greedy, yuick drinking calves appear to 
have had enough, the feeder, gently or 
otherwise, as the case demands, taps them 
on the nose with the stick, keeping them 
in this way till the weaker or slower 
drinking calves get their share. Needless 
to say, calves fed in this way never look 
an evenly nourished lot. Feeding by 
