Holstein, 90 pounds; Jersey, 55 pounds; Dairy Shorthorn, 75 pounds; Dutch Belted, 65 pounds. These weights were 6 to 10 per cent of the average weights of the dams of the calves. Bull calves average a few pounds heavier than the females at birth; the maturity of the cow is also of importance, the birth weight of calves from heifers and young cows being, on the average, somewhat lower than that of calves from mature cows.

Gains Made by Calves.-In experiments at the Kansas station, calves reared on skim milk, grain and pasture from birth until one year old made the average gains during the successive months shown in the following table :3

Weight of Calves from Birth till One Year Old, in Pounds

The gains made during the respective months were lowest during the first three months and higher toward the end of the year, with gains of about one pound per head daily during the first months, and about two pounds per head daily during the fifth to the tenth month; the average daily gain during the entire year was 1.6 pounds

per head.

The method of feeding the calf will vary according to the purpose in view: Whether it is to be added to the dairy or beef herd, or is to be vealed. After considering some general phases of the subject of calf feeding, .we shall take up separately the feeding of calves for the various purposes mentioned (Fig. 40).

Feeding Stuffs for Calves. The number of different feeds used for feeding calves is not as large as in the case of mature

• Bulletin 126; see also Illinois Bulletin 164.

animals. The more important calf feeds are: Whole milk and dairy by-products, milk substitutes, hay, and various concentrates.

Whole milk is the natural feed for calves, both as to the character of its nutrients and the proportion in which these occur. It forms their sole feed for a period of a week or two to several months, according to the purpose in view, whether the calf is to be added to the breeding herd or to be vealed.

Only the fourth stomach (abomasum) of the new-born calf is fully developed; the other three compartments are small and do not take part in the digestion of the feed until the calf is old enough to eat solid feed. The lining of the fourth stomach of the newborn calf contains a considerable amount of the ferment rennin, and

a large numbers of such calves are killed annually in Europe, especially in Bohemia, to supply the demand for rennet stomachs used in the manufacture of cheese. As the calf learns to eat solid feed, the other compartments of the stomach gradually develop, and the digestive processes become similar to those of grown animals.

The amount of whole milk required for one pound of gain will vary considerably, according to the age of the calves. During the first few weeks, 4 to 6 pounds will make one pound of gain under favorable conditions, while with older calves it will require 8 to 12 pounds to produce a pound of gain.

Whole milk will produce larger gains in live weight than skim milk or other feeds, but this is made at considerably higher cost, on account of the high value of whole milk as a human food. If we assume that it will take 6 pounds of whole milk to make one

FIG. 41.- At meal time the calf is fed warm, sweet milk in a clean pail, while securely

fastened in a comfortable stanchion. (Wisconsin Station.)

pound of gain in a young calf and 12 pounds of skim milk (p. 206), the cost of the ration will be 12 cents in the former case, and 3.6 cents in the case of skim milk at ordinary creamery prices—$2.00 per hundred pounds for whole milk and 30 cents per hundred pounds of skim milk. In experiments at the Kansas station it cost four times as much to produce a pound of gain with calves on whole milk as on skim milk, although the whole-milk calves gained an average of 1.86 pounds daily, against 1.51 pounds for the skimmilk calves.

Looking at the problem from another point of view, Otis found that two pounds of grain, when fed with the proper amount of skim milk, were equivalent for calf feeding to one pound of butter fat in whole milk. With butter fat at 25 cents per pound, 100 pounds of grain (worth $1.00 to $1.50) will take the place of $12.50 worth of butter fat, and at 30 cents for butter fat it will take the place of $15 worth of butter fat. Feeding whole milk or poorly-skimmed milk to calves is, therefore, a very expensive and wasteful method, since skim milk, with only a slight fat content, fed with grain feed, will produce almost as good results.

Attention has already been called to the fact that whole milk is of special value for feeding children and young animals, on account of its content of growth-promoting vitamins (p. 24). Milk is an ideal food and, in fact, is indispensable for successful rearing of children and young animals; there is no food that can wholly take its place for this purpose. On the score of economy it is, however,

FIG. 42.-Calves in stanchions in pasture. ("Productive Farming," Davis.) generally advisable in feeding young animals to gradually substitute other dairy feeds for it, especially skim milk or buttermilk."

Skim Milk. The value of skim milk and other dairy byproducts for calf feeding has already been considered (p. 207). After the second or third week skim milk may gradually take the place of whole milk, the proportion of the latter being slowly decreased and that of skim milk increased until after a week or ten days the call will be getting only skim milk. This is fed warm and sweet, and is most conveniently fed fresh from the separator. The foam of separator skim milk should always be skimmed off before feeding the milk to calves, as it tends to cause digestive troubles and bloating; colic and scouring resulting in death may follow in aggravated cases, if this precaution is neglected. A calf may be fed from 10 to 12 pounds of skim milk daily in three feeds until about six weeks old, when the amount may be increased to 16 pounds or more, if he can handle it without scouring, and this is given in two feeds, one-half at each meal.

• Hoard's Dairyman, 1917, p. 625, et seq.

It requires constant care and watchfulness to raise a skimmilk calf or one fed other dairy by-products; all sudden changes and irregularities in feeding must be avoided, as well as a too liberal allowance of milk (Figs. 41 and 42). Overfeeding or injudicious feeding is a frequent cause of calf scours, and when this occurs the feed or milk must be reduced or withheld for a time, and special treatment resorted to.

Remedies for Calf Scours.-1. A teaspoonful of sterilized dried blood (so-called blood flour), thoroughly mixed with the milk at each meal, will generally remedy the trouble when it is promptly attended to. The blood meal also serves as an excellent tonic for weak calves.

2. In aggravated cases of calf scours the milk is withheld and an egg in a tablespoonful of blackberry brandy is given three times a day till improvement is noted.

3. The formaldehyde treatment is another remedy that will produce good results in most cases after a few days. A teaspoonful of a 1 per cent formaldehyde solution (prepared by adding one-half ounce of formaldehyde, 40 per cent, to a pint of water) is added per pint of milk, preferably fed immediately after the skim milk is received from the separator.

Rules for Feeding Young Calves.—The following rules epitomize the main precautions to be observed in feeding young calves." Do not overfeed. Feed sweet, preferably fresh, warm milk

. (85°-90° F.). Feed each animal individually. Feed regularly and make only gradual changes in feed. Keep pens and calf quarters thoroughly clean, dry and free from draft. Pay strict attention to condition of the bowels.

Supplemental Feeds with Skim Milk.—In order to compensate for the butter fat removed in the skim milk, many different methods have been recommended, and are followed with success by different farmers. Peanut oil, cod-liver oil, corn oil, or oleomargarine heated to 110° F. and mixed thoroughly with the skim milk, is used to a limited extent, these fats being added in the proportion of one-half to one ounce per quart of milk. The most common and efficient supplemental feed for skim-milk-fed young calves is, doubtless, flaxseed. This may be added either direct, a tablespoonful of ground flaxseed per quart of milk, or the meal is boiled into a jelly with six parts of water, which is mixed with the skim milk in small amounts, the equivalent of two tablespoonfuls of the dry meal to a feed.

SS. C. Bulletin 122; Farmers' Bulletin 273. White Scours or so-called calf cholera is a contagious disease that may attack calves when only a day or two old. Repeated applications of tincture of iodine or of a 2 per cent solution of corrosive sublimate on the navel of the newborn calf and thor. ough disinfection of the calf pens and barn are remedial measures.

? Missouri Circular 47. See also Wis. Cir. 59.