FEEDING CALVES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 435, 31 January 1912, Page 6

FEEDING CALVES.

Young calves need whole milk for the first few days, says a dairying ex- | pert. Skim milk ia a cheap feed for c alves, but should be fed carefully in limited quantities, and only whilst it is warm and sweet. SUirri milk may form the principal diet of the calf for six months to a year. Factory skim milk shouid always be pasteurised to avoid the spread of tuberculosis. The best skim milk is that which ia fresh from the separator and still warm. Experiments show that it is only onefourth as expensive to raise a calf on skim milk as on whole milk. Two pounds of grain with the proper amount of skim milk equals in feeding value one pound of butter fat. Buttermilk properly handled may profitably be fed to calves. The grain of calves should be fed first whilst the calf is quite small, with a little bran to aid the calf in learning to eat. The roughage for calves should first be fed at two or three weeks of age, when 1 the calf begins to eat grain. Good, clean hay may be used. Corn silage is an excellent calf feed when fed in moderate amounts. Good pasture is a essential after four to six months. The management of the calf during the first year has much to do with its later usefulness. Plenty of water and salt should be given in clean vessels. Sudden changes of diet should be avoided, and regularity in feeding should be practised. Warm, dry quarters should always be provided in damp weather. Plenty of roughage should be given, and not too much grain, so as to develop a large capacity for handling food, as is desirable in dairy animals.