WEANING THE CALF.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 4943, 17 September 1914, Page 2

WEANING THE CALF.

The practice on most dairy farms is to allow the calves to run with their mothers for three or four days, or until the mill? is good enough for table use. The sooner the , alf is taken from the cow the easier it will be to teach it to drink from a bucket. For this reason, in some cases, the calves are not? allowed to suck their mothers at all. The first milk drawn from a cow’s udder is essential to the health of the calf, and if it is not permitted to suck it must learn to drink at once. The length of time that a dairy calf should stay with the cow depends on the condition of the cow’s udder and the ability of the man who feeds the calves. If the mother’s udder is badly inflamed end hard, the sucking of the calf will help it. A careful, experienced feeder can raise a calf without its eveir sucking the mother, while an inexperienced person might over-feed or in other ways start it off wrong. The calf with either system should receive its mother’s milk for the first week or ten days, after which it can be fed the milk from another cow or from the general supply of the herd. It should by all means be fed whole milk the first few weeks. The age at which it can be changed from whole milk to skim-milk will depend upon its thrift. If it is in good condition the change, as a rule, can be started at about the end of the third week. It is best gradually to substitute the skim-milk for the whole milk, when this change is made, so that the calf will be on the skim-milk ration at the end of a week. It is a good practice to feed tlie calf three times a day when it is taken from its mother. It is accustomed to getting small amounts of milk and feeding often. The amount of milk to feed will depend on the size of the calf. Five or six quarts or 10 to 13 pounds a day will be (sufficient for large calves, while smaller ones will need only about four quarts, or eight pounds a day at the start. These amounts should be divided equally into the number of feeds that are given. The quantity of milk given can bo increased gradually as the calf increases in size. The temperature and condition of milk fed 90 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or about the temperature at which it will come from the separator when skimmed just after being milked. It should bo warmed if it is permitted to get cold. A dairy thermometer can be purchased for a shilling, and its use will eliminate guesswork in regard to temperatures. The milk should be the same temperature at every feed. That is not so important after the calf is four months old. At this age the milk need not he necessarily warm, but warm, sweet milk is .preferred for best results. It should be mentioned in this connection that sunlight, clean pails, and clean, surroundings are essential for the best results in callraising.