CALF SCOURING.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 425, 23 December 1911, Page 7

CALF SCOURING.

A calf never gets the scours while sucking its mother, because Nature has so arranged matters that only a small quantity of milk can come down into the throat of the calf. All the time the calf is tugging away at a teat there is a flow of saliva mixing with the milK and aiding in the digestion. It is different, however, when the calf is fed from a trough, especially when other calves are drinking at the same time. They drink so fast in order to get their share that there is no time for a reasonable amount of saliva to flow. As a result the milk rests oti the stomach much longer than it would had there been enough saliva to digest it properly. This is especially true when skim milk is fed, as it lacks the cream which is necessary to balance the food properties that make digestion easier. The danger of scours in feeding skim milk, however, is easily averted by the use of a little care in the operation. Where there are a bunch of calves to be fed individual buckets are the best, things to use. The calf can take his time while drinking, and besides it is no trouble to scald and clean a bucket so that it always remains sweet. In this regard it may be said that the sunshine is the best thing in the world to kill the sour milk bacteria, and a bucket, after being scalded, should ba placed where the sun can get at the bottom seams, as filth usually lodges against them. Many of the cases of scours are caused by dirty troughs and buckets.

There should be no farm without its cow or two, if only to supply the milk and butter needs of the family. Do not, under any circumstances, breed from a poor milker. She cannot give her calf what she has not.