GROWING CALVES FOR VEAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 340, 28 April 1928, Page 29

GROWING CALVES FOR VEAL

POINTS WORTH WATCHING A little time and trouble spent in finishing off calves intended for the butcher is amply repaid at selling time. To finish well, a calf must start well, and the first essential is at least l|-2 gallons of milk daily. Getting that, the calf’s only other requirements up to the time when it starts cudding are a good, clean, dry bed and peaceful surroundings. When the calf is seen chewing its cud, , or nibbling straws, it should be given a handful of choice meadow hay, put in a conspicuous place. The calf will probably ignore it for a day or two, but if a fresh handful is put in the same place each day, and the old hay removed, the calf will soon start picking up a little. The best time to do this is about the middle of the morning, when the cow is out. Following this start, it will not be difficult to tempt the calf to eat a few crushed oats out of a clean box, or, at first, sprinkled over the hay until a taste is acquired. For calves which are getting a lot o* milk, it is well to to include in the little meal some best broad bran, to counteract any tendency toward scouring. If, on the other hand, a calf is being rather underfed with milk, it is an advantage to feed a little linseed cake broken small. For older calves, old beans cracked small are an excellent supplementary food which make firm flesh. A skilful feeder may successfully introduce a little variety into the diet by the inclusion of a few leaves of kale, or a few slices of turnip. Most suckling calves are wild unless they have been handled from birth, and, unless they are used to being handled, they should not be interfered with. Otherwise, they get unsettled, and never thrive. Success finally depends upon sending the calves to market fit. If sold too soon, they lack finish, handling and weight. If sold too late, they lose bloom, get coarse and leggy. As a general rule, veal calves should be sold before the horns begin to show.