CALF FEEDING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 July 1938, Page 3

CALF FEEDING

STUDYING THE CAUSES OF SCOURING. SIMPLE TREATMENT METHOD. The results of two series of calf feeding experiments carried out at the University College, Dublin, and on pri-vately-owned farms, for the purpose of studying the causes of scours in calves, were given in a paper published in the Scientific Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society. The experiments showed that digestive disorganisation in pail-reared calves is due to abnormal curd formation in the fourth stomach, and that this is the cause of casualties. Post-mortem examinations showed an accumulation of dense, cheesy curd that had caused irritation of the stomach lining and sometimes rupture of blood vessels. This condition was caused by the inability of the proteolytic enzyme (pepsin) of the stomach to digest, in the intervals between successive feeds, the clot produced by the action of rennin on the milk. The experiments have suggested a simple method of treatment, i.e., the dilution of the milk with water, with the object of modifying the nature of the rennin clot. This method proved highly successful, both as a preventive and a remedy. In all cases the proportion of water to be added to the milk depends on the number of times the calf is fed daily and on the relative vigour of the stomach proteolytic enzyme in the individual animal. The withholding of all milk and the feeding of water only for a day, followed by a much diluted milk for a few days, caused the disappearance of the accumulated curd from the stomach. As examples of successful treatments', 12-day-old calves that were seriously ill, and showing persistent diarrhoea, were given a mixture of equal parts of water, the water being first boiled and then reduced to blood heat before being added to the milk. This was fed four times a day, one pint being given at each feed for the first day and two pints thereafter, till in six' days the diarrhoea had disappeared and normal conditions returned. Other calves that developed similar symptoms of disorder received water for ■ one day only, the quantity given being two pints per feed three times in 24 hours. This was succeeded by milk and water in equal parts, given at the same rate for the next two days, by which time the faeces were again normal and the other symptoms of ill-health had disappeared. A PRIMARY CAUSE. Farmers should remember that scouring is primarily caused by indigestion. Indigestion can be set up by dirty feed-tins, or by the giving of milk that is too rich or in too great a quantity, or by the giving of cold milk. In older calves, scouring can be caused by too much green grass. For treatment of the trouble many farmers find that it is a good practice to stop all milk for 24 hours, allowing only boiled water with a teaspoonful of salt. If necessary, a small dose of i raw linseed oil, turpentine and baking soda may be given. Four tablespoonfuls of linseed oil, with a teaspoonful of turpentine and two of baking soda is usually all that is required. In more severe cases a teaspoonful of chlorodyne may be given in water, and frequent dessertspoonful doses of a powder containing equal parts of baking soda and bismuth carbonate. Where, for any reason, it becomes necessary to substitute any other food for whole or skim milk, it is essential that the change-over from one form of feeding to the other should be done gradually. In any case the ration should contain at least a profaor-

tion of milk for the first four or five weeks. A good plan is to change over to the substitute food in the same way as one changes over from whole milk to skim milk. The addition of too much meal at the commencement of feeding - the substitute, probably would cause digestive disorders, in which event it would be necessary to revert to a half-milk ration until the trouble is corrected. Calves raised on meals appear to be particularly susceptible to scours and frequently seem to be less vigorous than those raised on milk. These setbacks, however, eventually are overcome, and provided it has received adequate care and attention, there is no reason why the calf should not be just as healthy and just as capable of standing up to the strain of a long lactation, as one reared in the ordinary way. Where possible, the calf should receive whole thilk for at least a fortnight.