ON THE FARM

Te Ao Hou, July 1958, Page 44

ON THE FARM FALLING INCOME Many farmers will be making plans to offset somehow the fall in income due to dropping of butterfat prices. This is wise, and field supervisors of the Department of Maori Affairs will give every assistance in such planning. One obvious way of breaking even is to look for farming faults that lead to butterfat losses. This is the time to make sure the farm is fully efficient. In addition it is wise to think of additional money from by-products, especially pigs. In some areas, far more crops such as kumara could be lucratively grown. ROTATIONAL GRAZING OF CALVES Over 10 years at the Department of Agriculture's Ruakura Animal Research Station well-reared heifers have out-produced their poorly reared mates by an average of 21lb. of butterfat in the first lactation when both were well fed after calving. Frequent changes to good, clean pasture are essential if calves are to be successfully reared. This rotational grazing avoids deaths in winter, eliminates the need for drenching against worms, and produces yearlings 100lb heavier than those kept in the one paddock for weeks at a time. Further information on the rearing of calves is contained in Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 228, “Good Rearing of Dairy Stock,” to be had from any office of the Dept of Agriculture. CARE OF LAMBING EWES About 10 per cent of all lambs are either born dead or die during the first week. Careful shepherding can reduce these losses, and many lambs and some ewes can be saved with skilled assistance during the lambing operations. Cleanliness is essential and a reliable lubricating antiseptic should always be used on hands and wrists. When faulty presentations, that is, a leg or head turned back, are being corrected the lamb should never be forcibly pulled away. Cutting up of the lamb is only a last resort. In all these instances an injection of penicillin will assist in preventing blood poisoning. Death through suffocation often occurs through the cleanings remaining over the nostrils, which involves only the simple matter of removal. Look for lambs having difficulty in obtaining milk. This is particularly important where ewes have very large teats. Drawing away a few squirts will reduce their size and enable the new-born lambs to suckle. Ewes with very large or very small teats, badly placed teats, or defective udders should be marked for culling, as a big percentage of their lambs will die. Many lambs which are lost during cold or wet weather would survive if they had only obtained a good drink soon after birth.