THE FEEDING OF CALVES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 183, 4 August 1877, Page 6

THE FEEDING OF CALVES.

(Noriti British Agriculturalist.)' Healthy calves brought up on the pail when a few days old will "readily drink a quart of new milk thrice daily, and this quantity in a fortnight may be considerably increased ; indeed, ; good calves four weeks old cannot .be rapidly carried along with less than .a gallon and a half of milk daily. Most breeders when the calf is from two three months old gradually substitute skimmed for new milk. Where milk is scarce, the young animals, when a few weeks old, must be accustomed to other food, a little boiled linseed will eke out limited supplies of milk*, care being taken that it is given at first cautiously, and never in quantity sufficient to unduly relax the bowels. , From thetime the calf is a fortnight old he should be taught to lick some flour or meal ;' this he will readily learn by the example of an older neighbor. For such juveniles the best meal is made by a mixture of about equal parts of wheat and oats. Even with the amount of milk above indicated, a calf two months old will readily consume fully a pound: daily of such meal. By this time it ; will also begin to lick a little grass or greeir hay. Thus gradually accustomed to other food, the calf wheu three months old, will scarcely miss the milk, but when early weaned special caremusfrbe taken with the diet, and linseed gruel of .finely ground linseed cake 1 should -be continued daily. The prevailing errors in the rearing of calves are the attempts to bring up too many upon an insufficient quantity of milk, and. tlie giving .instead of crude, indigestible, bulky food before the young, delicate stomach has the power properly to digest' and assimilate such. unsuitable diet. -From these errors mainly result the pot-bel-lied, pinched appearance, the scouring, and mortality too common amongsfc badly-reared calves. Sand or earth swallowed along with the food tff any animal is decidedly injurious. Oh. s'dnie sandy soils, and especially where the