Livestock Farm Practice

FEEDING THE YOUNG CALF

• The calf that is worth raising well. The feeding and management during the early stages of life greatly influence the future production when it grows into a mature cow. The new born calf should get colostrums for three to five days.
• If the calf is weak to drink milk on its own, it may be helped to do so holding it up to its mother’s udder or by pouring the milk into its mouth.
• When weaning is practiced in zebu breeds, in which maternal instinct is well developed, it is better not to allow the calf to suckle at all. Even the colostrums may be milked out and fed to the calf from a pail or from a can with a nipple.