A Caff Feeder.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 201, 30 April 1887, Page 8

A Ca ff Feeder.

Wfc&ave received &n inquiry as to whether wo know of a good kind of artificial calffeeder. Several devices have been invented more or le«p closely imitating the teats and udder of a cow."(t«rough which calves couM take their milk The apparatus here illustrated strikes us as one of the best, and first appeared iit the American AyritidtwHit :—: —

is to tho nece*. iry for any arrangement opinions diffw. Some people object to "them for no uertor reason than that it is a new f angled ih>m.ui ; but these people should remember that, to the calf, drinking from a bucket instcw of from its mother s udder i*> not only a iw»v fnngled notion, but an nnnatmjil armn^eeiont, and one which must more or le*s a.Toct its health and coiufoifc for a w hilcat o ny rate The objections .ur cd against t!ie ordinary bucket atr&ugement aic that to teach a calf to drink "from a pail is a V3ry tiresome operation ; -that when it has learnt to do this it is apt fto gulp diwn the milk greedily instead of taking it gradually with plenty .of &ali\a as .ifo«en sucking the cow, thus creating indigestion and 1 hin lerinp tiie calf's deyeloj -meiit ; and some people have suggested tlv.t drinking from the bucUet.ib iuducive of .^hat is known a& "lu>f ja« ".or " pig mouth " in stock. It is argued thut in the action ci sucking at its mother we jvusclps of a epM s under jaw aie vigorously exer. istsd anjl thereby developed,°w hereof in dr.nl>ing from a bucket or other open vesoel thege', muecles are only partially bi ought into play, end therefore from want of use wa^te a«ay. Inactivity of the parts cau&os w eaknes s.-and malnutrition of thelowot jaws, ,and th«s produces the conformation known has - fi hog-jaw," which of course is. a most serious, detriment to the animal in .after life if it has to obtain it- food by grazing. There may be

something in this reasouing, but we think that in most cases hog jaw is a congenital defect with which a calt is born. Sheep which always are allowed as lambs to suck their mothers in the natural way are peculiarly subject to this mal'onnation of the mouth, and it is generally, and we think rightly, attributed to excessive in-and-in breeding. Chance family defect s are much more likely to be reproduced in the offspring of parents closely i elated, although the individual p -rents may show no ftigns of it than it they are mated \\ ith fresh blood. But, however that may be, i<s is certain that generally speaking calves brought up by their mothers do better than those artificially fed, unlo-? great care be taken to induce them to feed slowly, and to prevent over and avoid under feeding An artificial udder, such as is represented in our engraving, is not difficult to make. It is made of strong waterproof duck in the shape of a natural udder, with teats filled with a piece of sponge (see Fig 1). Fig. 2 represents clamps for clos ng the mouth of the bag, if so required, when it can be hm\y up in the calf pen. By this means the calf will take its food gradually, while the sucking will stimulate the salivary glands and thus ensure an adequate supply of saliva which is indispensable to perfect digestion of the milk.