BETTER CALF-REARING

Taranaki Daily News, 25 September 1930, Page 15

BETTER CALF-REARING

USE OF MEAT MEAL ADVISED WHEY DEFICIENT IN PROTEINS. LIVESTOCK DIVISION'S HINTS. The value of meat meal as a, supplementary feed with whey for rearing calves is emphasised by the Livestock Division of the Department of Agriculture as a result of information recently gathered. ’ Whey in contradistinction to skim milk is very short of flesh-forming constituents or proteins. As an abundant supply of flesh-fonnjng f°od is essential for the satisfactory growth oi youno- animals, whey by itself naturally gives unsatisfactory returns in the feeding of calves, and there is the tendency °to use unnecessarily large qtian'titles. In the past whey frequently has been supplemented with pollard, oil or arain, but as none of these is particularly high in protein they do not economically replace a high protein food essential in increasing the nutritive efficiency of whey. The cheapest and most reliable piotein rich food for inclusion with whey for calf-feeding is meat raeai, now bein<r prepared by most oi the. freezing coni pa nies at a price in the vicinity o £ll per ton, or roughly Hd per lb. When meat meal is being purchased the analysis should always be demanded; those containing 60 or more per cent, of protein are advocated. The Livestock Division holds the opinion that all whey-fed calves should have meat meal, and therefore has every confidence in recommending that its use be adopted. i. , As a General guide whey-fed calves when two' weeks old should have one to two ounces of meat meal per day, when three weeks old two to three four ounces per day, when four weeks old five ounces per day, when six weeks old eight ounces per day. There will be no real need to increase the amount of meat meal fed per day after the calves are six weeks old. . The meat meal may be used mixed with the whey, and preferably . ed warm,,but if calves can be got to take it the division recommends feeding tne meal dry after the whey ration, is fintime the hand feeding of meat meal with whey should be continued is left to the farmer’s discretion and will 1 governed by the state of the P aßfc ' ure and the general condition of the animals. Scours in calves are not so likely to occur where meat meal feed inc is taking place, and where it does is c a clear indication that too much whey is being fed, and the amount should in such cases be reduced. As skim' milk contains three and ahalf times as much protein as whey, there is not the essential need to include a. protein rich food such as meat meal, as is the case with whey fed calves, but it is certainly advantageous to include a little meat meal if no other supplement is being used m conviction with the skim milk. Farmers desirous of trying it are advised to use about half of the amounts recommended for whey-fed calves. Where skim ’milk is available in quan-/ titv the division recommends as supplements, foods rich in starches, such as crushed oats, pollard or grain meals, but if the milk is limited, meat meal may be used for its protein, the starchy foods being also added. As proteinrjch foods are dearer than proteinpoor foods, an excessive use of meat meal with skim milk would be wasteful and expensive feeding; in other words, if protein is used in excess in animal nutrition the procedure is not economical, the excessive- nitrogen being excreted by the kidneys-in the form of°urea.