ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Hawera Star, Volume L, 18 September 1930, Page 6

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

LECTURE AT AW ATUNA

VALUABLE ADVICE GIVEN

Thor© is a homely and practical sound in the term “animal husbandry,” /which was described last niglit to a gathering of farmers at Avvatuna as “t.ho practical and economical raising, managing, and fattening of cattle and other farm animals,” and more especi- j ally in South Taranaki, “ the rearing j of "calves in such a manner that the ( future dairy cow will be fortified with all the essential minerals needed to build up the powers of resistance, enabling the young animals to pass through tin? various stages of growth with tha minimum) of mortality and in due time to become sound, high producing dairy cows.” Mr Denize, the lecturer, of the live stock division of thy. Agriculture Department, was eminently practical and eommonseii'se in his remarks and they were highly appreciated, by all present. He said," in. opening, that focal con- . ditions played a very important part in the management of animals —rainfall, soil, 'the aspect of 'the land and the prevailing winds and that he. did not yet feel competent to, speak on this aspect- of the question, but, gave his advice as the outcome of practice over several years. 'Ho stressed first the need of more attention to the feeding of voung stock, because he was convinced'the rate of' mortality was rather tooi high and that it could and should be reduced to some extent at least. Feeding of the calves and winter ng of the yearlings were two factors, he said, that needed great attention for apart from the advantage of reari.ig strong cons'titutioned stock, care, vcis needed because of the fact that Sout.i Taranaki sent away thousands of yearlino's to, the "Waikato and. the reputation of the district must be conserved. “The trade in dairy heifers means,’ ho added, “thousands' of pounds annually to the farmers of the district, and 'in the great majority of cases condition sells the animal. 'Coming to the question of rearing the calf, he referred to 'the very liberal use of whey, in some cases too liberal, for, he added, many deaths were, in his opinion, due to “overloading” the calf’s stomach with wliey. “One object I have in 'this address,” said Mr Denize, "is to indicate at least one practice that will bring about a great improvement in the matter of stock rearing, the use of meat meal in conjunction with tire whey as a ration for calves. ” Ho referred to the fact- that avii ey was, in comparison with skim milk, very short of flesh-forming constituents or proteins and by itself gave very unsatisfactory results, and he strongly urged the use of meat meal, which was much better than pollard, oil or grain and was actually the cheapest and most reliable "protein-rich” feed. The Live Stock Division urged the use of meal because it wag rich and. contained so much flesh-forming foods. Blr Denize also stressed the great value, of young vigorously growing grass, and said the pastures in the 'Dominion /were gonoiallv high in protein; a fact- that explained why calves did so well on whey and plenty of good grass. He crave the, protein content of young grass as Jibs per lOOlbs as compared with skim milk 3J, linseed 22. and meat meal GO lbs. He compared them with whey, one pound only of protein to the hundred, and remarked oil tdio enormous tax ou the caif’s digestion in taking l'OOlbs of wliey to secure one pound of flesh-forming food. He emphasised also the fact that it was specially in the period before the calf could feed extensively on. grass that the meat meal was so valuable. As a general' guide lie said that wheyfed calves Should get 'two ounces of meal per day when two weeks old, four at three weeks, six dt five, weeks and eight at six iwieeks. After that no, increase woul/l be needed, He also stressed the essential need of having properly constructed bails for the. vnun'g animals, urging that this would tend to make them less difficult to break in for the milking shed later on in it s life, and to prevent the , objectionable habit, of sucking one, another, if held in the bail for half an ■ hour after feeding. lie urged farmers , to, see that the calf paddock was alteri cd each year, so as to give them, good pasture. * The early weaned calf, lie added, does best because it got the voung spring grass, learnt to chew its cud and to" get. its stomach in good ’ order.

Incidentally Mr Denize stressed the value of meat meal for pigs, and said it would help to reduce the very high mortality amongst those horn in late autumn and carried over the winter. If pigs got a half-pound of meal per day with mangolds, a run-out on the grass and plenty of water, lie said, they would do well. He instanced cases where this had been the feed and where mortality was exceedingly low, while the animals gained a half-pound in weight per day. And lie added that a dry place in which to sleep was absolutely essential to success.

A ’ valuable underlying principle is the need of flesh-forming substances, and in the roaring of stock a balanced ration would play a great part in the care and feeding of stock generally. Mr Denize went on to refer to the growth of high production in cows and the need of overcoming a mineral deficiency that led to many troubles at calving time. The modern methods of forcing cattle for early growth and maturity, he said, had changed the animal’s requirements from the feeding standpoint, and the animals were compelled to utilise large amounts of mineral elements from their own bodies to furnish those required for the milk. A high-producing cow, he added, will give off with every (5000 pounds of milk produced a volume of mineral matter equal to that of which her skeleton is composed, and this fact stressed the need of giving an additional supply to maintain this excessived rain on her system. “In what other way, ”.he added, “could we explain the rapid, though steady, increase of such diseases as sterility and contagious abortion”? Much of it, lie said, could be obviated by the addition of a mineral mixture to the rations for. several weeks previous to calving and throughout the lactation period. And cows fed witli minerals would produce stronger and bettor calves, while the calves when weaned would thrive and mature much earlier by regularly given the minerals.

This deficiency, fie aCidod, was also a factor in milk fever and recent experiments showed that an injection of a lime solution gave most encouraging results.

In regard to bulls, hi* stressed the urgent need of exercise, which would keep them more vigorous and in better health. ’The formula advised by the Live Stock division for a stock lick, said Mr Denize in conclusion, was as follows: 751bs finely ground steam bone

flour, 401bs of salt, Bills sulphate of iron and, where iodine was needed, 3oz. of potassium iodide. This, ho said, was a balanced ration and contained the calcium and phosphorus needed for bone formation. Ho added that he would at all times be very glad to give all the help possible to the dairy farmers of the district.

In reply to questions, Mr Denize said burnt lime was not needed, because steamed bonemcal contained calcium, and that cows liking super bags showed their need of minerals. He said that often acute indigestion was the cause of calves failing and kicking at their stomachs, and advised the use of a dessertspoonful of/baking soda and half to a full cup of castor oil.

•At the conclusion of the address a very hearty vote of thanks was passed to the lecturer and also to the “Hawera Star” for the interest taken in the farming community and their affairs.

The visitors were afterwards entertained at light supper, a welcome endf to a capital evening’s programme. j