CALF REARING.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144198, 15 September 1913, Page 5

CALF REARING.

THE OPINIONS OP AN EXPERT. In a recent address to Masterton dairymen, Mr.. Primrose M'Conneli, manager of the Ruakura Farm of Instruction, made tho following remarks with reference to tho rearing of calves: —“I mav state that my experience in tho hand-roaring of calves has possibly been, as great as that of anyone present at this meeting; but, in some of my conclusions in this direction it is probable that many of you will not agree with me. Your heifer calves will ono day become members of your dairy herd, and oil them will your future livelihood depend. You should treat them as you would your best friends, and give them every chance to show what they are worth by judiciously feeding and caring for them from their birth onwards. It is often urged that it is disastrous to keep tho dairy heifer calf in high condition, and that such a system tends to decrease her ability for milk production. Of course, one’s reason must be exercised in everything, but if liberal feeding destroys tho inherent dairy qualities of a heifer calf, it is only reasonable to conclude that under similar liberal treatment the bull will become valueless as a sire of highclass dairy stock. Possibly some of you can quote instances where heifer calves, tho daughters of sires and dams possessing great pedigrees of performance, and which have been reared in a liberal manner, hare turned out to be of little valuo as milk and butter-fat producers ; but it is certain that the dairy qualities of these calves would havo been changed by anv other system of feeding. LIBERAL FEEDING ESSENTIAL.

“Every experienced 'breeder knows that, breed and feed as carefully as lie may! ho will bo occasionally grievously disappointed in his heifer calves. I contend—and my experience justifies my contention —that if a heifer calf is born possessed of inherent dairy qualities, those qualities will not in any way be destroyed, but rather developed, by liberal treatment; also it is just as true tjiat, ‘The calf is mother to the cow, ; as it is that ‘The child is father to the man/ and when you take into consideration the fact tliat excessive milk production means an enormous demand on tho energy of the cow. it can easily bo understood that too much pains cannot bo taken in developing a foundation on which to build that energy. The treatment of the dairy heifer should, therefore, bo on very liberal lines, and it rhoukl bo remembered that being naiurally of a very nervous temperament, the should be handled in such a manner us to give her confidence in her attendants. There arc exceptions, but, as a rule, tho vicious heifer' is made so by rough treatment. It is the common opinion that tho cow which is always thin is tho greatest milk and butterfat producer, but exhaustive - experiments have proved that this opinion can no longer be supported, and that in nine cases out of ton, it is tho strong, roomy cow. which carries a fair amount of flesh that is most profitable. Perhaps you could not. get a bettor illustration of this than the best Holstein cows at Wereroa; and also in the herd at Ruakura. It is the thin cows which give tho lowest percentage of-butter-fat. I also contend that the thin, weedy cow, which is a great milker, can.lot possibly stand the-strain through "many generations, thafiyou cannot make a cow with an indifferent constitution into a more milking machine, and expect it to last through generation after generation, without seriously affecting chat constitution. Ido not consider that much harm’ is done by breeding from what wo call immature heifers, if they have boon liberally treated from :ho date of then* birth, but if they have been half starved us calves, immature breeding will bo disastrous. HOW TO EKED. “In rearing dairy calves I have found that tho following system gives tho best results, and at least in tho case of your heifer calves from your best cows 1 would strongly advise you to give it a trial. For the first three weeks new milk, at tho end of which fimo the calf should bo taught to cat a handful of dry crushed oats and crushed linseed in tho proportion of four of oats to two of linseed. An easy way of teaching tho calves to eat Is to put the oats*and linseed in tho bottom of tho pail, after tho calf has finished its milk, but never on any account mix it with tho milk. Tho now mi’lk should be gradually substituted by separated, and the dry meal at tho same time increased until at tho end of six weeks tho ration has been gradually changed to separated milk entirely, and say ij-lb. oats and ’-lb. crushed linseed. This ration of dry feed will cost about od per week. Good hay should, if possible, bo available, also plenty of good drinking water 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 tho other half by dry feed, as suggested above, and tho spare separated milk may bo moro profitably fed to tho pigs. Recently experiments wore carried out at Woburn with five different systems of calf-roaring, and tho system I have described gave tho best results, not onlv previous to weaning time, but also after, even better than when only mew milk is used. “When calves arc turned put to graze tho pasture should bo sweet and clean; tho' paddock that is used year after, year for this purpose is the source of many calf troubles. A BAD PRACTICE. “Allowing all tho calves to drink from one trough at tho same time cannot bo too strongly-condemned, especially when tho trough is not kept thoroughly clean, and every calf feeder knows’ that some calves will not drink half tho milk that others will in tho samo time, and thus some are starved and others bloated. A common, and often fatal, ailment among calves is duo :o the curdled milk in tho stomach beaming so hard and tough that it cannot'pass intd tho bowels. Such a condition." ultimately affects tho brain, and die calf dies as if in a fit. I havo found that a pinch of carbonate of soda stirred into tho milk is a sure preventive of this, trouble. An expert feeder of calves will never commence feeding until lip has satisfied himself as to tho state of their bowels, and if there is any tendency to scour ho has every chance of checking it in tho initial stage. Ho will also scrutinise each calf, and bo able to tell at a glancb whether it is suffering from any other ailment. Calf feeding is often carried out anyhow, and by anyone, but it should bo one man’s job. and if complete success is expected, must have very careful attention on tho part of tho feeder. As winter approaches, calves should bo housed at night in a dry shed, if possible, particularly in low damp country, and receive hay and a little sweet oat sheaf chaff—a ration of roots may bo added with tho best effect.”