CALF REARING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1851, 10 September 1913, Page 10

CALF REARING.

THE OPINIONS OF AN EXPERT. In a recent address to Masterton dairymen, Mr. Primroso M'Connell, manager of the Ruakura Farm of Instruction, made tils following remarks with, reference to the rearing of calves: —"I may stato that my experience irt tho hand-rearing of calves lias possibly been as great as that of anyone present at this meeting; but, in somo. of my conclusions, :n tills direction it is probable tliat many of you will not agree witli mo. Your heifer calves will one.day become members of your dairy hord ; and on them will your future livelihood depend. You should treat them as you would your best friends, and givo thom every chance to show what they are worth by judiciously feeding and caring for them from their birth onwards. It is often urged that it is disastrous to keep the dairy heifer calf in high condition, and that such a' system tends to decrease her ability for milk production. Of course, one-* reasou must he exercised in everything, but if liberal feeding destroys the inherent dairy, qualities of a heifer calf, it is only reasonable to conclude that under similar liberal treatment tho bull will become valueless as a siro of highclass dairy stock. Possibly somo of you can quote instances where heifor calves, the daughters of sires and dams possessing greiit pedigrees of performance, and which have been reared in a liberal matmor, havo turned out to be of little value as milk and butter-fat producers ; b'ut it is certain that the dairy qualities of these calves would havo been changed by any other system of feeding.

Liberal Feeding Essential. "Every experienced breeder knows that, breed and feed as carefully as he may, lie will be occasionally grievously disappointed in his heifer calves. I contend —and my experience justifies my contention—that if a heifer calf is born possessed ,of inherent dairy qualities, those qualities will not in any way bo destroyed, but rather developed, by liberal treatment; also it. is just as truo that, 'The calf is mother to tho cow,' as it is that 'The child is father to the man,', and when you take into consideration the -fact that excessive milk production menus an enormous demand on the energy of tlio cow, it can easily be understood that too much pains cannot bo taken in developing a foundation on which to build that energy. Tho treatment of the dairy heifer should, therefore, be on very liberal lines, and it should bo remembered! that being naturally, of a very nervous temperament, she should bo handled in such a manner as to givo her confidence in hor attendants. There are exceptions, but, as a rule, vicious heifor is made so by rough treatment. It is tho common opinion that the cow which is always thin is the greatest milk and butterfat producer, but exhaustive experiments have proved that this opinion can no longer bo supported, and that in nine cases out of ten, it is the big,, strong, roomy cow, which carries a fair amount of flesh that is most profitable. Perhaps you . could not gqt, a • better illustration of this than tho best Holstein cows at Wereroa; and also in the herd at Ruakura. It is the thiu cows which givo tho lowest percentage of butt'er-fat. I also contend that the thin, weedy cow, which is a great milker, cannot possibly stand tho strain through ir.any generations, that you cannot, maio a cow with an indifferent constitution into a mera milking machine) and expect it to la?t through generation after generation, without seriously affecting .that constitution. Ido not consider that much harm is done .by breeding from what we call immature heifers, if they have been liberally treated from the date of their' birth, but if they have been'half starved os calves, immature breeding will bo disastrous.

How to Fetfd. ■ "In rearing high-class dniry calves I havo found that tlio following system gives the best results, and at least in the case of your heifer , calves from your best cows I would strongly aclviso you to give it a trial. For the first three weeks new mil'k, at the end'.of which time the calf should bo taught to eat a handful of dry cm shed oats and: crushed linseed in/ the proportion of four of oats to two of linseed. An easy way of teaching the calves to cat is to put the oats and linseed in the bottom of the pail, afor fch6 calf has 'finished its milk, but never on any account mix it with the milk. Tho new milk should be gradually substituted by separated l , and tho dry meal at the same time increased ■Until' at tlio end of six weeks the ration lias been gradually changed to separated milk entirely, and say J-lb. oats and i-lb. crushed linseed. This ration of dry feed will cost about sd. per week. Good hay should, if possible, be available, also plenty of good drinking water and a supply of Took salt. In many instances better results wwild be obtainable by using only half the quantity of separated milk, and substituting the other half by dry feed, as suggested above, and tho spare separated milk may be more profitably fed to the pigs. Recently experiments were carried out at Woburn with fivo different, systems of calf-rearing, and tho system I havo described gave tho best- results, not only preyious to weaning time, but also after, even better than when only new milk is used.

"When calves are turned out to graze the pasture shauld be sweet and clean ; tlio paddock that is used year after year for this purpose is the source of many calf troubles. A Bad Practice. "Allowing all the calves to drink from ono trough at the same time cannot bo too strongly- condonraed, especially when the trough is not kept thoroughly clean, and every calf feeder knows that some calves will not drink half the milk that others will in the same time, and 'thus somo are starved and others bloated. A common, and •often fatal, ailment among calves is due to the curdled milk in the stomach becoming so hard and tough that it cannot pass into the bowels. Such a condition ultimately ail'ccts tho brain, and tho calf dies as if in a fit. I havo found that a pinch of carbonate of soda stirred into the milk is a sure preventivo of this troublo. Ail expert feeder of calves will never c'dmmencc feeding until ho has satisfied himself as to the state of their bowels, and if thero is any tendency to scour he has every chance of checking it in the initial stage. He will also scrutinise each calf, and be able to tell at a glance whether it is'suffering from any other ailment. Calf feeding is often carried' out anyhow, and hy anyone, .but it should be a ono man's job, and if complete success is expected, must havo very careful attention on the part of the'feeder. As winter approaches, calves shoulcl'be boused-at night .in a dry if possible,\pa.rticularly in low damp country, and"' reccivo hay and a little sweet oat sheaf chaff—a ration of roots ma-v be added with tho best effect."

Mr. E. Crookenden, formerly of Masterton, lias been appointed, chairman of directors of the Kniparoro Dairy Company, JLt. J. G. C. Wales chairman of tlio Putara Company, and_Mr. C. Alberthsen chairman of tlho Nircaha Company,

A GOOD SEPARATOR NEED NOT BE EXPENSIVE—THE "DIABOUT COSTS BUT LITTLE.—Tho "Diabolo" is the lowest-priced reliable Separator on the market—but it isn't "cheap" in the sense of being poor in workmanship and quality. No, tho "Diabolo" is being used in its thousands in ovory dairying country in the world. Up-to-date farms from Russia to New Zealand find its easy running and efficiency a daily "work-shifter" and a profitraiser. 27-Gallon "Diabolo" Separator, £1 10s. cash. Made by the thousand in ft thoroughly modern factory in Sweden, the oost of production is brought to such a fine point that it can produco a Separator worth several pounds moro than the price charged. Yet tho "Diabolo" is a clean skimmer, strong and durable, and has every useful feature of tho moro expensive machines. "Seven-year-old turns out!" Read what Mr. Williams eays about it: "I have pleasure in stating tho "Diabolo" machine I purchased from you somo months ago gives me'every satisfaction. It skims clean, and is very easy to put together, and my two little boys, aged seven and ten years old, always turn it for me."—C. Williams. The Poplars, Halcombe. You can have a FREE TRIAL of the "Diabolo" without obligation. Writo us about it. New Zealand Agents: J. NATHAN AND CO., Ltd., Wellington, Palmerston North, and Auckland.—Advt. '

Five pence per calf per week for "Gilruth" Calf-Food'added to tho skim milk or whey will rear calves for the' .Dairy bettor than whole milk, and at on«-third the cost.—Advt.

. Tho'. New Zealand Loam amd Mercantile Agcncy Co., ltd., report:—At Uim.Katipi on Monday wo had a fair yardinj? of cattle, mostly dairy sorts, and several pens o£ fat sheop, Co mpetition was Rood and a hriek Eale resnilted, every line bein? emitted with the exception of a- few backward' dairy cows and heifers. Sheep: Forward wethers, 235.; fat wctheirs, 2&>. to 30s. Oattlo: Small yearlings, 235. to 375.; yea.rlinz heifers, £2 175.; old cows with calves. £2 2b -to £2 l(ls.; store cows; £3 IBs. to £3 Ms.;.forward cows, £4 sii.; spriußinß coWe, £5 2s. 6d. to £8 55.; sprdusins heifers. £6 10s. to £7 7s, 6d„ and up to £10 10s.; bull?, £3 7c. 6d. to £3 12s. 6d. Pigs: Wcancrs, 15s. 6d.; stores, 31a