DAIRY-FARMING

Te Aroha News, Volume XXXV, Issue 5610, 1 March 1918, Page 3

DAIRY-FARMING

CONTINUED

(By Primrose McDonnell)

GALF-REARING

Such a paper as this can deal only in a superficial manner with the sub-

ject of dairy-farming, but I would just like to say a few words on the subject of calf-rearing. I may state that my experience in the hand rearing of calves has possibly bieu as groat as that of any one engaged in farming in this country, but in some of my conclusions in this direction it is probable that many will not agree with me.

Heifer calves will one day become members of the dairy herd, and on them will the dairyman’s future livelihood depend. He should therefore treat them as he would his best friends, and give them every chance to show what they are worth by judiciously feeding and caring for them from their birth. It is often urged that it is disastrous to keep the dairy heifer calf in high condition, and that such a system lends to decrease her ability for milk-production.

Of course, one’s reason must be exercised in everything, but if liberal feeding destroy the inherent dairy qualities of a heifer calf, it is only reasonable to conclude that under similar liberal treat, meut the bull will become valueless as a sire of high-claas dairy 6tock. Possibly some can quote instauces where heifer calves the daughters of sires and dams possessing great pedigrees of performance, reared in a liberal manner, have turned out to be of little value as milk and butter-fat producers. But is it certain that the dairy qualities of these calves would have been changed by any other system of feeding ?

Eve»y experienced breeder knows that, breed and f. ed as carefully as he may, he will occasionally be grieviously disappointed in his heifer calves. I contend—and my experience justifies my contention—that if a heifer calf be born possessed of in herent dairy qualities those qualities will notin any way be destroyed, but will rather be developed by liberal troitment. Also, it is just as true that “ the calf is mother to the cow " as it is that “ the child is father to the man,” and, when it is considered that excessive milk-production means

an enormous demand on the energy of the cow, it can easily be understood that too much pains cannot be taken in developing a foundation upon which to build that energy. The treatment of the dairy heifer should therefore be on very liberal lines, and it should be remembered that, beiDg naturally of a very nervous temperament, she should be handled in such a manner as to give her confidence in her attendants. There are exceptions, bnt as a rule, the vicious heifer is made so by rough treatment. It is the common opinion that the cow

which is always thin is the greatest producer of milk and butter-fat, bnt exhaustive experiments have proved that this opinion can be supported no longer, and that in. nine cases ont of ten it is the big, strong, roomy cow which carries a fair amount of flesh that is most profitable. A very good illustration of this is found in the best Holstein cows at Weraroa, and also in the Buakura herd it is the thin cows which give the lowest percentage of butter-fat. I also contend that the thin, weedy cow which is a great milker cannot possibly stand the strain through many generations—that you cannot make a cow with an indifferent constitution into a mere milking-machine and expect it to last through generation after generation without seriously affecting that constitution. I do not consider that much barm is done by breeding from what we dull immature heifers- if they have been treated liberally from the date of their birth ; but if they have been half-starved as calves, immature breeding will be disastrous.

la rearing high-class dairy calves I have found that the following system gives the best results, and, at least in the case of the heifer calves from the best cows, I would strongly advise dairy-farmers to give it a trial: For the first three weeks new miik, at the end of which time the calf should be taught to eat a handful of dry crushed oats and crushed linseed in the proportion of four parts of oats to two of linseed.

An easy way of teaching the calves to eat is to put the oats and linseed in the bottom of the pail after the calf has finished its milk, but never on any account mix it with the milk. The new milk should be gradually substituted by separated, and the dry meal at the same time increased until at the end of six weeks the ration has been gradually changed to separated milk entirely and, say, fib. oats and fib. crushed linseed. This ration of dry feed will cost about 5d per week. Good hay should, if possible, be available ; also plenty of good drinkingwater and a supply of rock salt. In many instances better results would be obtainable by using only half the quantity of separated milk and substituting for the other half dry feed as suggested above, aDd the spare •separated milk may be fed more profitably to the pigs. Recent experiments were carried out at Woburn with five different systems of calf-rearing, and the system I have described gave the best results not only previous to weaning, time, but also after ; even better than when only new milk was used, (While preparing this paper a bulletin from the Michigan College of Agriculture, giving the results of various calf.feeding experiments, has come to hand ; and these results also'confirm the above recommendation.)

Gruel or porridge may be entirely dispensed with, for, after using many tons of cream and milk equivalents, I have no hesitation in stating that, except when a dairy-farmer is retailing his milk at a high price, tho3s meals are, as a general rule, Dot worth the money paid for them. In actual experience, when necessary to give porridge, I have found nothing to equal a mixture of sound crushed linseed and pure wheatmeal—that is, the flour with all the bran in it—in the proportion of four parts of linseed to one of wheatmeal. This should be either steamed or mixed with boiling water, and should be allowed to stand a few honrs before using. Crushed linseed should never be steeped in cold water ah ne, as it develops a poison which is very injurious to the health of the calf. The meal, however, may be mixed with cold w«ter in the first place, if it be immediately afterwards treated with steam or boiling wator. (To be Continued)