Skin Damage in Bobby Calves

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 101, Issue 1, 15 July 1960, Page 7

Skin Damage in Bobby Calves

By

A. A. JOHNSTON,

Super-

vising Meat Inspector, Department of Agriculture, Timaru, and R. E. BURNELL, Livestock Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Whangarei

BOBBY calf skins and all other hides produced in New Zealand must be of top quality to compete successfully on world markets, and especially with the increasing development of alternative materials every care must be taken to avoid damage in production and marketing. BOBBY calves are no longer the despised encumbrance of dairying in the early 1930 s when the farmer got two or three shillings to save slaughtering the calves himself. How different today, when, with a minimum of time, labour, and expenditure, the once almost worthless “bobby” has become one of the most profitable animals on the farm. In the last 25 years the bobby calf has become an important product of the dairy industry. While this is partly due to the high prices obtained overseas for our bobby veal, values of bobby calf skins affect considerably the payout to dairy farmers from bobby calf pools. Markets Calf skins are keenly sought by many countries, as is shown in the following table:

EXPORT SALES OF CALF SKINS IN 1958-59 SEASON

Holland 225,722 U.S.A. 195,965 Italy . 193,844 Germany . . . . 138,711 United Kingdom .. . . 99,063 Belgium . . . . 44,540 France . . . . . . 18,696 Canada . . . . . . . . 10,000 Japan . . .. . . ... 2,400 Trinidad . . . . .. . . 1,000 Ireland . . . . .. . . 500 Portugal . . . . . . . . 200 Others . . . . . . . . 5,440 Total export . . . . . . 936,081

With sales within New Zealand of 183,800 the total number of skins sold was 1,119,881.

Such a demand makes the utmost effort to hold and safeguard these markets worth while. The buyer cannot be blamed if he is selective against an inferior article. If we are to retain this market, everyone who handles

calves must do his best to ensure that a first-class article is offered. All the countries mentioned are keen buyers, but only of good skins. Too many skins are classified as second quality and under the pool system the return from good skins seems just to balance the loss from second-quality skins.

Uses Young and fine-grained bobby calf skins are used substantially in the manufacture of women’s shoes, the grain surface giving an excellent finish. Depending on the trend of fashion, there can be a substantial increase from time to time in the use of suede

which is produced from the reverse side of the skin. Calf skins are exclusively used in the manufacture of suede jackets, which are most fashionable at present. They are also widely used for making handbags of various types, of which the high finish required means that the skin must be blemish free, and this is something that cannot be determined until the skins have completed the tannery processes. Calf-skin leather is also widely used in the manufacture of women’s belts. Defective or tick-damaged skins can be used only for shoe lining, and for this purpose calf-skin leather has to compete with cheap Indian goat or kip. Values After all processing charges bobby calf skins in the 1959 season were worth about £1 4s. a clean skin. If the payout to farmers for bobby calves is about £3, the skin is worth 40 per cent of this amount. Loss from tick damage is 41d. per lb of skin and per calf would be 15s. 3d. or more than 60 per cent. The loss from tick damage alone by pools from Whangarei and Dargaville north totalled about £12,000 in the 1959 season, 14 per cent of the skins being down graded through this cause. While the pool system has many advantages, it entails the disadvantage that the individual farmer does not know whether his calves are clear of ticks, as the loss is spread over the pool of both clean and damaged skins. The approximate loss is 2s. on every skin.

Damage A bobby calf must be old enough and strong enough to stand the journey before being sent to the freezing works. At this age the skin of the calf is a comparatively soft tissue and very susceptible to damage. Some common causes of damage are: 1. Scratches from barbed wire and scrub, such as blackberry. 2. Scratches and wounds from protruding bolts, nails, and wire in poorly constructed calf pens. 3. The marking of live calves with tar or other caustic substances. 4. Rough handling and overloading of calves in trucks. 5. The cattle tick Haemaphy satis bispinosa. Skins from very immature calves are almost useless for tanning, as the leather is inferior and almost valueless. Control of Cattle Tick Cattle tick is not a serious pest in most parts of New Zealand, but it is fairly prevalent in some areas of the North Auckland peninsula, Bay of Plenty, and East Coast. Cattle tick passes through three stages (larva, nymph, and adult), all of which cause damage to skins by biting. Many farmers still leave their cows to calve on run-offs or in “warm” paddocks covered with scrub, rushes, and rank pasture, from which the newborn calf picks up the ticks, which find these conditions favourable in which to survive the weather and predators. Few ticks, it is believed, actually pass from the cow to the calf and most

of the ticks that damage bobby calf hides come from long, rank pasture. A well grazed clean pasture could afford cover for only a light infestation of ticks. To overcome cattle tick infestation a hospital paddock, preferably close to the cowshed, should be cleared of all rank growth and topdressed with DDT or dieldrin to overcome tick infestation. Dieldrin-superphosphate at 2 to 2| cwt or DDT-superphosphate at 2| to 3 cwt per acre, if carefully applied, could control cattle tick for at least two seasons provided tick-infested animals are not introduced to the area. The larger the area treated the slower will be the reinfestation from the surrounding fields. These insecticides have little residual effect in field conditions and consequently will kill only those ticks which come in contact with the insecticides before they are completely washed into the soil. Topdressing with insecticides should be done during May, June, or July, when the nymph stage of the cattle tick is hibernating in the pastures. All stock should be removed from the paddock before treatment and kept off it until rain (at least i in.) has washed the DDT off the pasture. This is especially important if dieldrin is used. Cows should be brought into this hospital padock one or two days before calving and only after being sprayed, with a BHC or DDT, dieldrin, or delnav insecticide to prevent reintroduction of ticks. After the calf is born it should be kept in the hospital paddock and thus the main hazards to skins of rank pastures, scrub, blackberry, or barbed wire will be avoided. Other Causes of Damage With proper care and handling of bobby calves by farmers, truck drivers, and works employees, other sources of damage can be avoided. Recent experiments have shown that new-born calves running in a paddock with a few clumps of blackberry in it have received a considerable number of scratches which spoil the skin for tanning. Marking calves with caustic substances and tars must be avoided; if calves have to be marked at all ordinary raddle or sheep marking fluids should be used. Paint does not harm the skin, but its use involves the risk of lead poisoning. In roadside bobby calf pens there should be no wire, protruding bolts, or nails to cause damage or wounds. Calf pool committees should recommend to their suppliers a suitable type or types of calf pen to which carriers should have easy access. Bobby calf lorries or railway trucks should not be overloaded. Lack of partitions in crates and railway trucks may lead to damage.