FOR BETTER CALVES

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 19, 15 October 1937, Page 48 (Supplement)

FOR BETTER CALVES

Healthy Stock, Well-bred, Will Increase Production GOOD FEEDING PAYS

'J'HOSE engaged in dairying ' bave many problems to solve and many improvements to effect. The industry has made tremendous progress in. tbe last decade, but no one familiar witb the industry, and particularly witb tbe production side would . oaro to claim tbat a bigb pitch of efBciency bas been reached.. Official and semi-offi-cial herd testing ' has shown that we bave here herds tbat ' compare favourably witb tbe best of otber dairying countries. At the otber -end of tbe scale, however,, we . have berds thatproduce barely sufficient to pay for tbeir maintenance, and not until tbese unprofitable cows bave been weeded out and their places taken:by reasona'bly good producers will we be able to claim that tbe industry .is as .efficient as it might be. It is tbis building up of tbe production standard of our herds tbat must be regarded as perhaps the most important problem confronting the industry to-day. The problem may conveniently be. di* vided into two sections— tbat of breeding calves with the inbereut capacity for higher production a'nd tbat of rais-, ing those calves in an environment tbat will enable them eventuaHy to exploit to tbe full tbe productivo capacity they* have inherited from ibeir pSrents. The first of tbese may be solvecl only by intelligent use of herd testing records so tbat .calves to . be retained for replacement. purposes shall be the progeny of sire and dam capable of transmitting the capacity for bigb production. The seeond can be solved only by the exercise of constant patience and care, for we must remember tbat all tbe prOmise of great inberitance tbat may have been deriv ed from a proved sife .and higbly productive dam may go for nougbt unless tbe early treatment and -care of tbe calf are satisfactory.

tion sbould be repeated as often as no* cessary. For the first few weeks tbe calf sbould be fed on wbole milk, wbicli contains . tbe minerals, vitamins and pro'teins necessary for growth. Feeding with whole milk alone sbonld be continued until tbe calf is able to commence eating a iittle grain or meale that provide tbese necessary nutrients. When feeding milk, wbetber wbole or gepaTated, certain precautions sbould be obsCrved. Dq not make tbe mistake of 'feeding too much at a time. A safe rule is to feed 1 lb. of milk daily for each 10 lb. weigbt of calf. Thui sbould be given in tbree separate feede until tbe cilf is seven or eigbt weeks old, after whicb feeding twice a day sbould suffice^ Again, milk fed to calves shQuld be as near as possible to blood beat, wbile regularity of feeding is important. • Cieanllness Tbe tbird essential is eleanlinees. Tbe milk sbould be so bandled tbat it ie quite clean, wbile all pails and utensils should b'e ".tbOrougbly scrubbed and sterilised after. eacb feed. If tbe pail is .not'- clean enongb for you to drink out of it yourself it is not clean enougli . fors. a 'young and delicate cal|. Feeding tbe calf regularly with tbe correct amount of milk at the rigbt temperatures and in clean utensils will be rewarded • by . the frcedom of tbe calf from scours, and. satisfactory, economical'gains. For the first tbree or four weeks tbe calf sbould receive wbole milk alone* At tbe end of that period, bowever, « small quantity of tbe wbole" milk may, be replaced by separated milk, tbe .amount of tbe latter- being progressive* ly increased until -at eight br ten weeke uo wbole milk will be fed, As.soon as it is 'a week or so old, small amounte of good, clean bay and some grain may be fed to the calf, wbicb sbould be giv