A home mixed calf starter for New Mexico

              Km EEXICO CCLL3GE CF AGRICULTURE AND IZECHAHIC ARTS
-  AMD AGRICULTURAL ULCPKIL.^ TT STATION
Press Bulletin 995
A HCl!E-2.iL2D CALF STARTER FOR N!
-L1a/\..
The economy of growing dairy calves -on a home-mixed calf starter and a minimum
of millc has been demonstrated in trials at the Hew Mexico Agricultural Scperiment
station,
Si£ht Holstein naif 3r crives fed in this manner weighed an average of 89 pounds
each at 4 days of ags and 352 pounds .sach at 6 months of ago. Tho average normal
weights for Holstein female calves is 90 pounds at birth and 355 rounds at 6 n *nths
of age* These figures indicate that tho calves war a practically normal at birth and
at tho end of 6 months.
The 8 Holstein calves were taken from their mothers when 4 days old and fad
milk until 28 days old. After that age they received no millc. During the milk-feeding period they consumed an average of Ihfl  pounds of milk each or an average.of 5.9
pounds each a day.
The home-mixed calf starter and alfalfa hay were p&acad beforo the calves when
they were 4 days old and they were encouraged to eat as early as possible. The
starter feeding was continuod until the calves were 4 months old, when thay were
changed to a grain mixture consisting of 7 parts of, ground threshed kafir, 2 parts of
wheat bran, and 1 part of cottonseed meal. This grain mixture and the alfalfa hay
were continued unti?u the calves were 6 months of age.
The average amount of'dry feed consumed by each calf during tho 6 months was
208 pounds of calf startar, 223 pounds of grain mixture, and 772 pounds of alfalfa
hay.
The home-mixed calf starter mixture consisted of:
ground thrashad kafir
wheat bran
cottonseed meal
alfalfa leaf meal
brewers1 dried ye^.st
staamed bona meal
salt
1 home-mixed calf starter, tho objective was to use as a foundation, insofar as practicable, the concentrates most generally available and usually
lowest in price in Nov/ Moxico, This was dona in order to determine if such a starter
would bo satisfactory, and not necessarily to secure the bast possible mixture. Thore
seems no reason to believe that kafir, for example, is more satisfactory than corn or
another grain sorghum. While not generally available in Maw Mexico at tha- present
time, brewers' dried yeast can be secured by feed dealers from one of th: large
browing companies, , ,
The homo-mixed calf starter fed the 8 Holstein calves had previously bean tried
in an experiment at the New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station in which four' separate groups of 6 calves each wore fed. Each group contained Holstein, ( terns ey, ;
Jersey calves, .        "   * ,
One rrrcup of the calves was fed a commercial calf startar and alt alia nay,  on.
was fed tha home-mixed calf starter and alfalfa hay;  one was fed the homo-naxod
starter and ground hegari foddar as roughage;  and oho fourth group^was fad by uio
skim-ndlk method.    Each of tho throe starter-fad groups received milkior only ^5
days and was handled in the same mannor as the 8 Holstein calves previously r01 erred
to.    The fourth grouo was fed whole milk for 21 days and then fed skim millc ^unoil
they were 4 months old.    Those calves received a grain mixture 01 7 parts 01 K-iir,
2 parts of wheat bran, and 1 part of cottonseed meal as soon as tney would eat aia
until 6 months of age.
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