CRITICAL AGE

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21218, 14 September 1940, Page 18 (Supplement)

CRITICAL AGE

GAINS MADE BY YOUNG STOCK The better gains made by young animals are due to many various causes. Their flesh contains more water; their food is in more concentrated form, for the immaturity of their digestive organs precludes the consumption of large amounts of roughages; they consume more food per 1001 b live weight than do other animals; and they possess a certain natural stimulus for growth which declines gradually until maturity is reached.

In this manner, although animals may consume larger amounts of food with growth, such consumption decreases in relation to its proportion per 1001 b of body weight, until, when maturity is reached, the general tendency in animals in good condition is merely to lay on fatty tissue.

It becomes evident from these facts that if the greatest economy of production is to be secured, it is essential to take a timely advantage of all natural factors that influence growth, and that predispose the cheapest and most rapid gains. For this reason an endeavour should be made to afford the best treatment possible to young stock, for at such periods they will provide more economical gains than at any other stage of their lives. In the case of calves, the stimulus for growth is most active from the time that the animals are born until they reach the age of about twentyfour months; thereafter this attribute declines gradually until the animals are full grown. The most critical