AGRICULTURAL TOPICS

Chronicle (Levin), 14 August 1946, Page 2

AGRICULTURAL TOPICS

(Contributod by Massey Agricultural. College ) . Alany dairy farmers feed youug heifor ealvcs entirely on wliole inilk i until they are jiractically ti inonth old, | in the belief tliat it is falso economy j to spoil tlie prospeets of future cows for| tlie sake ,of a few shillings wortli of j butterfat, says aa articie by ALassey I Agricultural College. The College getsi very good results tkrough feeding wholej tnilk only to three weeks, and then] changiug over in tlie next three weeks i to skim milk without any moal feeding,; but with good pasture available as soon as the calves are able to graze. Euddeii clianges in diet are not good for any aninial, least of all for a young and immature calf, so tlie change to | skim milk must be fairly gradual. j Weparaled milk is substitnted Jor new { milk at tlie progressive rute of about a] pint per day, so that over ten to fourteen days tlie new milk is totally replaccd by scparated milk. Size of Lambing Groups. On the questiou of the number of ewes wliich one shepherd can luuidic: etliciently at lambing time, tliere are marked difl'erences of opinion, for the; roasons that couliguration and altitude! of lambing paddocks, tlieir grouping, tlie seasonal variatious, the vigour of: ihe ewes, standard of flock management, feed position, and tlie ability of the shepherd all vary considerably on different i'arms. Obviously, uuder intensive conditions, where all facilities are available aud the ewes can be draftod into Jambing groups oue man can attend to a greater number of oues. In the case of a flock of 1U00 ewes, it is uulikely that even during tlie peak of lambing tlie number of lambs born iu any oue day will exceed 50 — a number wliich an experienced shepherd can easily copc with aiul still have adoquate time to attend to the remauider of tho flock if tlie ewes have been drafted into couveuient lambing groups. It is only wheu bad weather conditions coincide with the peak of lambing that liis time and energies may be overtaxed. In the case of stud ewes, because of the greater value of the individual lambs, and in some breeds because of the greater incidence of lambing difliculties, it is usual for the number of ewes under the care of one man to be considerably less. Rearing Good Heifers. The future production, of a dairy lierd is largolv determined by tlie quality of the succ.essive crops of heifers wliich enter it. That quality, in tuni, is greatly influeixced by nutrition and general management of the heifers from birtli to ealving. No malter how good its sire or dam niay-"bc"tr lMfeF'Avrlf1fldt e^press its full genetic wortli if in its immaturity it has been subject to checks wliich have iiupairod its deveJopment. The rearing of good heifers is, therefore, of the utmost importunce on a dairy farm. The average aninial wastagc 'from a lierd in Now Zealand, including losses from disease as well as iimited culliug for Jow production, is approximately 17 per cent. This means tliat in an average lifty-cow lierd, eight or nine 1wo-year-olds are reijuircd each year to inaautain lierd strcngth. This involves ihe saving of at least eleven heifers aunually, tlie extra two being necessary to cover wastagc due to death, unlJiril'ti- ; ness, or failure to got in caif. These, it must be stressed, are average flgures. While many t'arms have a lower rale of replacement, tliere are furms where wastage ruus as.high as oue-quarter of the lierd, and in single years wastage i may be even higher. Wastage of heifers, especially in tlieir llrst winter, is ol'ten high, particukirly in swainj) and [icat country, where deatlis and se\ ere ; setbacks may account for 20 per cent of tlie calves. Anotlier i'actor iiifluenciug the num- : Iicr to be saved is tlie quality of the; sire. If he is a lirst-class proven sire, save every heii'er ]iossible. The imporl-: ance of this was indicaled in the Mas sey College .lersey lierd in the 19-14 and 1915/4(5 seasons, when the two-year-old lirogeny of mcrit sires did exceed ingly well, even in a few cnses where their dani 's production was only of average, standard. The production of some daughters of the proveu sires compared favourably with tliat of niature cows.' Bloat in Dalry Herd. Cases of bloat iu the dairy herd can be of fairly frequent occiirrence in Ihe early spring iuoiiths, when tliere is a rapid (lush of -grass. Bloat may occur also at any time during tlie dairyiug seasou when growing conditions are I'avourable, and especially when clover is abundant in tlie sward. J-'or tlie prevenlion of bloat, as well, as digestivo (listurbances, it is wise to make gradual - any clianges from iiard dry feed to tlie lii'.sli of soft- grass and c lo\ ers. I Tliere is 110 known niethod of entirely preventing bloat, but the risks can l>e reduced by enticing animals to eat ; some dry feed, such as good quality liay, before turning them 011. to luseious: growtli. Also, some measure of control is obtaiuable- by restricting the quan-j t'ity of feed wliich they get, by givingj them access either for only a short; time, or to a Iimited area. Wise farmers take care to avoid turn-| ing stock 011 to sucli Ty'pes of feed wheuj it is danq) with dew, or after a rain. No certain cure for bloat in its ad-; vanced stages, has yet been discovored.i A surgical operation to reduce the pres-t sure is not always successful. Relief will t'ollow if the animal is induced to : belch gases, for wliich purpose tivo ori three ounces of bicarbonate of soda, to- ]' gether with two ounces of ginger, mix- ; ed with a pint of water is generally! eflectW'e. Alternati vely, a tablespoon- j ful of soda may be mixcd with u quari of butter-milk. A simple niethod is to put some soil or anything sliglitly ofl'ensive such as a tarred stick, at the back of the coiv's mouth.