CALF DEVELOPMENT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 November 1939, Page 3

CALF DEVELOPMENT

NEEDS BEFORE WEANING. It must be remembered that in the calf, and the lamb, while dependent on their mothers for milk, the paunch is not developed. During this stage the milk, which is a complete food and drink, goes direct to the fourth stomach, and is there quickly assimilated into the blood- stream. This means that these young animals, unlike their mature species, cannot eat large quantities at one time, for the fourth stomach is a comparatively small organ. It means also, however, that as milk is assimilated so quickly, their feeds should be frequent, and that bulky food or roughage should never be given until the paunch has started to develop and Ihe calf shows an interest in more substantial food than milk alone. "Feeding a calf at infrequent intervals distends and weakens the fourth stomach, and the periods of hunger experienced induce the calf to attempt 's or other fodder at an age ■ is pot pvepm°d ;