CARE OF THE BULL.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 233, 19 April 1928, Page 6

CARE OF THE BULL.

TENDENCY TO NEGLECT. There is ti great deal more written ftbout the care of the dairy cow thei about the bull. Probably this is accounted for by the fact that the bull is only a single animal from which no direct revenue is returned. Sometimes a bull has lived and died before his real value as „ breeder incomes known, for the reason that ne was not kept long enough lor h<a daughters to come into milk There are several eases of outstanding interest « i» record where bulls have been sacrilice i to the butcher’s block, whereas their daughters later developed producing capacity of unusual merit. All of the inherent good or evil in the make-up of an animal is the result of heredity, and the bull contributes 50 per cent, of the hereditary characteristics of every animal, young or old, in the herd. Feeding and care in the management can only influence size and capacity, and these only within the limits prescribed by the hereditary characters of the individual. Males to be used for service in the dairy herd, then, should be properly grown; and th< problem of feeding, ex ercising and caring for them during their useful years is one that should oe given much attention.

For the first six months of his life (states the Fa iers’ Advocate), the young bull may be treated exactly as

the heifers arc cared for. BkinHßftyjV, milk or whole rniJk. where it i» able, with good hay, a little silage, all the grain lie will cat, will keep him. growing rapidly at a time when really counts. Maximum growth is < s < ntial, and, ofr* 1 course, the* less feed that is required to -obtain this the better for the dairymen. More animals, however, :*.rc injured bv too scant feeding than are fed wastefully by too ,iberal use of feed. A very good grain mixture fop the young animal is made up of wheat, bran and ground oats, L'Olb of cadi, to which is added 1001 b of oil meal. If hominy fern! s available the f ur ingredients mnv be put in the mixture in equal partsFor the second six months of the bull’s life the same feeding may bo continued except that the milk may bo omitted and the grain feeding increased somewhat.