The Stock-Feeder's Manual Part 5

The SOUTHDOWN is generally regarded as the best breed for wool reared in these countries. It is indigenous to the chalk hills of Kent, Suss.e.x, Hampshire, and Dorsetshire. It has a small head; its back is broad and straight; the ribs spring out at nearly right angles from the vertebrae.

It is rather light in the fore-quarters, and full in the hind quarters.

Its chest is pretty deep; its face and legs are grey or brown. The wool of the Southdown is short, and extremely fine; the fleece weighs about 3 lbs. This sheep arrives early at maturity. It weighs at 15 months old about 80 lbs. The flesh is very well flavored.

THE SHROPSHIRE is said to combine in itself the good qualities of the Southdown, the Cotswold, and the Leicester. It resembles the Southdown more than any other breed, having the same grey, or brownish grey hue, and a similar shape. It is, however, larger than the Southdown, and yields a larger quant.i.ty of wool. This breed is becoming a great favorite in both England and Ireland.

The BLACK-FACED sheep is peculiar to Scotland. It is equipped with horns, has a bold long face, and possesses a tuft of wool on its forehead; its limbs are strong, and its body is somewhat long. The wool of this breed is very coa.r.s.e, the fleece weighs about 3-1/2 lbs. The average weight of this sheep is 75 lbs., the quality of the mutton is excellent, but it is long before it becomes matured. There are several other breeds of the sheep, but they are of far less importance than those which I have described.

_Breeds of the Pig._--There are several breeds of this useful animal, of which those known as BERKSHIRE and YORKSHIRE appear to be the greatest favorites. The Berkshire is black or dusky brown, very rarely reddish brown. It has a very small head. Its sides are extremely deep, and its legs very short. There are several sub-varieties of the Yorkshire. This breed is white, has a compact body, and very broad sides. The head is very small, somewhat like that of the Berkshire. Both Berkshire and Yorkshire pigs attain to the enormous weight of 1,000 lbs. The old Irish "racer" pig is the least profitable kind to keep, but fortunately it is, as a pure breed, nearly extinct.

_Breeds of the Horse._--There are a great many breeds of horses. The Shetland pony is so small, that many specimens are no larger than a Newfoundland dog; on the other hand, Clydesdale horses sometimes attain to almost elephantine proportions. There is a wide difference between the bull-like Suffolk Punch and the greyhound-like _racer_. The English and Irish racer is said to owe its origin to a cross between the old English light-legged breed and the Arabian. The most valuable kind of carriage horse is the joint product of the draught-horse and the racer.

The dray-horse of these countries has a large share of Flemish blood in him. The best horses for agricultural purposes are unquestionably the CLYDESDALE and the SUFFOLK PUNCH. The latter is perhaps to be preferred in most instances, especially on light lands. Very light and feeble horses are the most expensive variety on almost any kind of farm; for whilst they consume nearly as much food as the most powerful animals, and are therefore nearly as costly, they are incapable of effectively performing their work. A large proportion of the farm horses used by the small farmers of Ireland are totally unsuited for tillage purposes. On the other hand, there is no need to employ horses equal in size to the ponderous creatures that draw brewers' carts. Moderate sized horses, with well rounded, compact bodies, and muscular but not too heavy limbs, are the kind best adapted for farm purposes. In Ireland, where there are not fewer than 600,000 horses, a considerable infusion of blood from Clydesdales and Suffolk Punches is much required.

_Hunters and Racers._--There is a strong tendency in the human mind to look with a regretful feeling to the past, and to compare it to the disadvantage of the present. It is a general belief with most people that the old time was the best time; that the seasons were more genial formerly; that provisions were cheaper and more abundant; that men were taller, and stouter, and healthier; that, in a word, everything was better in the days of yore than it is now, and that degeneracy and effeteness are the prevailing characteristics of our age. Philosophers, statists, and political economists tell us that all this regret for the "good old time" is mis-spent sympathy; for that we are in every respect superior--in physique, health, morals, and wealth--to our ancestors. On the whole, I rather incline myself to this comfortable philosophy; but we must admit that we have not progressed in all things since the times of our fathers.

In a work ent.i.tled "A Comparative View of the Form and Character of the English Racer and Saddle Horse during the Last and Present Centuries,"

published by Hookham, of Old Bond Street, London, it is proved very clearly that the English race-horse has sadly degenerated. The author very properly traces the cause of its decay to the avarice of the turfites: they look upon the n.o.ble animal as a mere gambling machine; and they sacrifice all its other qualities to the excessive development of that one which is likely to put money in their pockets. Formerly, gentlemen kept horses for their own sakes--for their admiration and enjoyment of one of the most beautiful, docile, and useful of animals.

They were incessant in their efforts to develop into perfection all the really valuable points in the animal; and the result was, that the English and Irish racer of the last century was unmatched for strength, speed, and endurance. Models of this splendid race of horses are seldom to be found at the present time; but there are, perhaps, sporting men living who saw them in the celebrated Mambrino, Sweet Briar, and Sweet William. Those horses possessed compact bodies, capacious lungs, strong loins, large joints, and enormous ma.s.ses of muscular tissue on the shoulder-blades and arms. They were good weight-carrying hunters as well as racers, and they could carry eight stones over a six miles heat, or twelve stones over a four miles one. The Irish horses, at least, were capable of safely carrying thirteen stones over what would now be considered a very ugly ditch, and could get over a long steeplechase in a style which would astonish the owners of the modern "weeds." Since the distance to be traversed by competing horses has been reduced from the old-fashioned three heats of four miles each to a single run of a mile or two, and also since the weight imposed upon the animals has been reduced to six or seven stones, from ten to twelve, the anatomical structure of the race-horse has undergone a remarkable and serious alteration. The back has become very long, the sides flat, the loins weak, the limbs long and very thin; and this alteration in structure has been attended by weakness of const.i.tution and a remarkable tendency to disease. The modern horse has attained to a remarkable degree of rapidity of locomotion, but it has been at the expense of its vigor, endurance, and health; it can run with great velocity for a short distance, but in a four-mile heat, and mounted by a man of average weight, a mediocre horse of the style of the middle of the last century would come to the post long before the winner of the last St. Leger.

The decay of the breed of horses in this country is a serious matter, and the attention of all who are interested in the preservation of this animal should be earnestly and promptly directed towards discovering the means of regeneration. My remarks are directed towards racers and hunters. The quality of speed which they possess has been developed to an extent which is incompatible with the development of equally essential properties. Encouragement should be given to the production of weight-carrying hunters; steeple-chasing should be restored to its old state, when only a powerful horse had a chance of success. The quality of speed should be promoted in the animal up to a certain point; but when the development of this attribute begins to cause a loss of strength and endurance, it is high time to check it. There are a few horses at present which are strong and moderately fast: why should not steeple-chasing be of the kind which would call this style of animal into compet.i.tion? Only a "weed" can now enter with any probability of success at a race of this kind; and when he has won it, of what use is he as a good hunter? What we want are good, stout, healthy horses, capable of carrying, in good style, twelve stones weight over a rough country; and the object of steeple-chasing should be the production of such a race of horses.

[Footnote 17: Improved by Leicester blood.]

[Footnote 18: The object of the first breeders of the Leicester was to produce a sheep which would yield a great carca.s.s, and small offal weight. So far as the results of these experiments go, I think the idea of the founder of this breed has been realised.]

[Footnote 19: "Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland," for July, 1860.]

PART III.

ON THE MANAGEMENT OF LIVE STOCK.

SECTION I.

THE OX.

_Breeding Cows._--The period of gestation in the cow is about nine months. The earliest time at which it is at all safe to breed from these animals is when they are one year and eight months old. Shorthorns breed early, whilst the mountain varieties are seldom in calf before they are three years old. The practice of very early breeding, though approved of by some extensive rearers of stock, is not to be commended for sound physiological reasons. Cows calve at all times of the year; but the most favorable time is near the end of winter, or in early spring. The cows should at this time be in fair condition--neither too fat nor too lean.

Parturition should take place in a roomy, covered place, provided with abundance of clean litter. If such a place be not available, a nice paddock close to the house must answer. After having given birth to the calf, the cow should receive an oatmeal drink, or some warm and nutritious mash, and afterwards be liberally fed. The cow is usually allowed to run dry four or five weeks before calving: this period should not be curtailed; on the contrary, it would be better to extend it to six weeks, so as not to allow her condition to become too poor.

_The Wintering of Young Stock._--There are certain localities wherein the rearing of young stock is one of the easiest tasks which devolve upon the farmer. Well-drained and shady fields, yielding abundance of sound herbage, and through which streams of _pure_ water unceasingly flow, are just the proper _locale_ for economically feeding young animals. But there are districts in which those favorable conditions do not exist; yet they are not better adapted to other uses. It is only the feeders of young stock in wet, moory, sandy, or undrained, heavy soils who really have cause for anxiety and incessant watchfulness. In rearing a calf the great object is to cause a rapid and uninterrupted increase in the weight of its body. At first the food of the animal should be furnished solely from the maternal founts; but at an early stage of its existence--about the third or fourth week--other food may wholly, or in part, be subst.i.tuted for the natural aliment. It is important that no great interval should elapse between the hours of feeding. The digestive apparatus of the young animal is small, and its powers of a.s.similation are very energetic. The food with which it is supplied should, therefore, be given in moderate quant.i.ties, and very frequently. This is, in fact, what takes place when the calf is allowed free access to its dam; for the instant it feels a desire for aliment, the supply is at once available. Of course, there may be objections to this plan on the score of economy; but as a general rule, too much liberality cannot be exercised in feeding growing animals; and there is nothing more certain than that the calf which is illiberally fed will never be developed into a valuable, matured animal. When carefully tended from their birth, comfortably housed in winter, and abundantly supplied with nutritious food, it is sometimes wonderful the rapid progress which young stock make. Mr. Wright mentions a remarkable case of early maturity, which occurred in his own herd. A young steer, one year old, exhibited all the development of an animal twice its age. This bullock had been suckled for three months, whereby it had not only kept its calf-flesh, but gained and retained a step in advance. Its weight when only a year old was no less than 50 stones; and as the price of beef at the time was 8s.

9d. per stone, live weight, the carca.s.s of the animal was worth 21 17s.

6d. Mr. Wright offers this fact as a suggestive one to "those farmers who think of bringing up their calves on old milk, or who would otherwise stint their growth."

Supposing, then, that we have young stock which had been liberally treated when in their "baby" state, how are we to most economically maintain them throughout the winter? In the first place, they should be kept in warm sheds, and well sheltered from both rain and wind. Some authorities contend that exercise is necessary to young stock, and deny that a proper development of the muscles (lean flesh) can take place if they are cooped up like fattening turkeys during the winter. There is some truth in this opinion; and if the animals be designed for breeding or dairy purposes, their freedom of motion should only be partially restrained. On the other hand, if they be intended for an early introduction to the shambles, the less exercise they get the greater will be the profit on their keep. I have known cases where animals were closely housed for seven months, and yet their health did not appear to suffer in the slightest degree. In fact, so predominant are the vegetative functions of the ruminants over their nervous attributes, that the only essential conditions of their existence are adequate supplies of good air and food. That the health of these animals does occasionally suffer when the motions of their bodies are reduced to a _minimum_ is quite true; but in most of these instances the real cause is, not the want of exercise, but the want of pure air. The greatest care should, therefore, be taken in the ventilation of the places where stock, whether old or young, are kept; and no economy of s.p.a.ce or heat will compensate for the want of wholesome air. Under the fallacious idea that exposure to cold renders young stock hardy, many farmers turn them out to eat straw in the open fields in frosty weather. Treatment of this kind, instead of being productive of good, almost invariably lays the foundation of disease, which will manifest itself at some stage of the animal's growth. There are a few favored localities, such as those to which I have already alluded, where yearlings may be occasionally allowed a turn through the fields in winter; but on cold clays, wet moors, and sandy soils the young stock should never be permitted to leave their sheds or courts from the time they are housed till late in the spring.

Young stock are best fed on good meadow hay and turnips, with a moderate supplement of oil-cake; this, however, is expensive feeding in many farms, and a little filling-in may be done with cheaper or more easily obtainable stuffs. A mixture of cut chaff, with pulped mangels, is a good subst.i.tute for the more costly hay; and particularly in the case of animals intended for breeding or for the dairy. The roots should be pulped, and allowed to remain until, owing to a slight fermentation, they become warm. This change takes place in from twenty-four hours to sixty hours, according to the temperature; but the fermentation should not be carried farther than the earliest stage. The heated pulp should then be thoroughly mixed with the chaff, and the compound, after an hour or two, will be ready for use. A little chopped hay--no matter if inferior or slightly mildewed--may be subst.i.tuted for the chaff, and turnips employed instead of the mangels, but the latter are the more desirable roots.

Until lately, the use of oil-cake was confined to fattening animals, but latterly it is freely given to calves, even when they are only a month old; and there is no doubt but that it is a suitable and economical food for store stock. It is, however, sometimes given in excess: from half a pound to two and a half pounds daily will be sufficient for animals under one year; and this addition to their food will be found to exercise a beneficial influence on them when they are placed in stalls for finishing. The experience of several eminent breeders has proved that fattening beasts, which had in their youth a supply of oil-cake, or its equivalent, invariably store up a larger portion of their food than those which had been reared on hay and roots only.

Mr. George Stodart, of Cultercullen, an Aberdeenshire farmer, describes, in the _Irish Farmer's Gazette_, his method of rearing calves:--

I occupy (says Mr. Stodart) a farm of 380 acres. I usually rear twenty-four calves yearly, and buy in sixteen one-year-olds.

I generally breed from cross cows (the same as mentioned above), served by a pure Shorthorn bull. When the calves are dropped I put two calves to suck one cow for six months. In autumn, spring calves are put into the house upon turnips and straw, with about 1 lb. of oil-cake per day to each, until they are put out to gra.s.s in spring following, at which time they are one year old. Then, of course, they have gra.s.s in summer, and at the approach of winter they are again housed upon turnips and straw, which bring them to be two years old in spring. Now they are sent out to the best gra.s.s, and again brought into the house at the beginning of September, and fed on turnips and straw until the end of November or middle of December, when they usually fetch from 25 to 32 a-head. This year (1864), however, they will average 32. a-head. Before selling I give each 3-1/2 lbs. of oil-cake per day for six weeks, and during this time they have swede turnips; at other times yellow. We give as much turnips at all times as they can eat.

Mr. Bowick, in his excellent paper on the rearing of calves, published in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, gives the following information on this subject:--

We consider it desirable to allow the calf to remain with its dam for the first three or four days after calving.

Not much trouble is generally experienced in getting it to take to the pail. We find it better to miss the evening's meal, and next morning a very little attention induces the majority of them to partake of what is set before them. At most the guidance of the fingers may be wanted for the first meal or two.

As regards the quant.i.ty of milk which is needful to keep a moderately bred Shorthorn calf in a thriving condition, we have found the following allowance to come pretty near the mark, although the appet.i.te of calves varies, both in individuals and at different times with the same animal:--

1st week with the dam; or 4 quarts per day, at two meals.

2nd to 4th week, 5 to 6 quarts per day, at two meals.

4th to 6th week, 6 to 7 quarts per day, at two meals.

And the quant.i.ty need not, during the ensuing six weeks (after which it is weaned), exceed a couple of gallons per day. This implies that the calf is fed upon new milk only, and that no other feeding liquids are employed. But, in addition to the above, the calf will, towards the fourth week, begin to eat a little green hay; and in a week or two later, some sliced roots, or meal, or finely crushed cake, mixed with hay-chaff; and, if really good, creditable beasts are wanted--such as will realise 25 a-head from the butcher when turned two and a half years old--a little cake or meal in their early days will be found a desirable investment.

In fact, we doubt not but 1 lb. of cake per day to the calf will make as much flesh as triple the quant.i.ty of cake at any period of after life. As regards meal, if that is given with the chaff, we prefer oatmeal, or barley-meal, or wheaten flour, but not the meal of beans or pease. Others may see it differently, but we believe beans to be too heating for any cla.s.s of young stock. For roots, the best we know of is the carrot, grated and mixed with the chaff, or sliced thin with a knife and given alone. It is also, of all roots, the one which we find them most fond of, and which they will most readily take to. As soon as they can eat them freely, an immediate reduction in the supply of milk may be made.

In most articles it holds good in the end that "the best is the cheapest." So with the rearing of calves; the best cla.s.s of food, or that above referred to, is found to give the greatest ultimate satisfaction. But practically the question often is, how to rear good calves with comparatively little new milk, a condition which circ.u.mstances often render almost imperative; for where dairy produce, in any other form, is the chief object, the calves stand in a secondary position, and are treated accordingly. But let us ask whether you cannot rear good stock under such circ.u.mstances also? We believe that this may be, and often is done. We manage to turn out from twenty-five to thirty calves annually--such as will pa.s.s muster anywhere--and never use at any one time more than six gallons of new milk daily. For this purpose, as well as to obtain a regular supply of milk for other purposes, the calves are allowed to come at different periods, extending from October to May. Hence the calf-house has generally a succession of occupants throughout the season; and as one lot are ready to be removed, and placed loose in a small hovel, with yard attached, others fill their places.

We begin with new milk from the pail, which is continued for a fortnight after leaving the cow. Then skim-milk--boiled, and allowed to cool to the natural warmth--is subst.i.tuted to the extent of one-third of the allowance. In another week the new milk is reduced to half, and at the same time, not before, boiled linseed is added to the mess.[20] As soon as they take freely to this food, the new milk may be replaced with that from the dairy, and the calf is encouraged to indulge in a few sliced carrots and the other dry foods named.

Mr. Murray, of Overstone, thus states the expense of rearing the calf until it is two years old, when, after the weaning process is completed, it is turned out to gra.s.s:--

During the summer they have the run of a gra.s.s paddock during the day, but return regularly to their yards at night; the following winter they are kept in larger yards, and which contain a greater number of animals. Their bill of fare for this winter is 2 lbs. of oil-cake, half a bushel of cut roots, with cut chaff _ad libitum_. The chaff has a small quant.i.ty of flour or pollard mixed with it, is moistened with water, and the whole ma.s.s turned over; this is done the day previous to using it. By this means they eat the chaff with more relish, and moistening it prevents the flour being wasted. They are put to gra.s.s the following summer, generally from the 15th to the 20th of May, or as soon as the pastures are in a state to receive them; they remain there on second-rate land till about the end of October, when they are brought home and tied up in the stalls. The daily allowance is then 4 lbs. linseed-cake, 4 lbs.

flour--3/4 bean, 1/4 barley--1 bushel of cut roots with cut chaff; the flour and chaff is mixed as already described. At about the end of December the quant.i.ty of cake is increased to 8 lbs., and the flour to 6 lbs.; this they continue to receive till they are sold to the butcher during the months of March and April, when they weigh, on an average, 90 stones of 8 lbs. per bullock, and under two years and six months old. At this season of the year beef generally makes 5s. per stone--we often make 9s.--but taking that as an average would make the value of each beast 22 10s. The cost of keeping to this age will be as follows:--

s. d.

One calf 2 0 0 Milk, &c., nine weeks 1 5 0 Cake, gra.s.s, &c., forty-three weeks, at 1s. 6d. 3 4 6 Second year, November till May, cake, flour, roots, &c., 2s. 6d. per week, for twenty-six weeks 3 5 0 May till November, gra.s.s, twenty-six weeks, at 2s. 6d. 3 5 0 Third year, November till April, twenty weeks, at 8s. 8 0 0 --------- 20 19 6

Which leaves a gain to each animal of 1 10s. 6d., besides the manure.

_Shelter of Stock._--The great diminution of temperature, and the falling off in the supply of herbage, that are coincident with the close of the autumn, render it necessary to remove our cattle from the open fields, and provide them with some sort of shelter during the winter months and early part of the spring.

The particular period at which this change of quarters takes place of course varies, and is, in fact, altogether dependent upon the character of the season. There are some years in which there is, so to speak, a kind of relapse of the summer, November being bright and warm, instead of, as is usually the case, cold and foggy. In such a year there is some herbage to be picked up until the very end of December. On the other hand, the latter part of October is often very wet, and October frosts are by no means uncommon. Tempestuous, biting winds in November, or torrents of rain, or both, tell severely upon the poor animals in the fields, even where there is abundance of herbage; and hence, should such weather take place at the latter part of October, the true economy would be to remove the animals at once to sheltered places.

Nothing lowers the temperature of the surface so rapidly as a cold wind.

Captain Parry, one of the explorers of the Arctic regions, states that his men, when well clothed, suffered no inconvenience on exposure to the low temperature of 55 degrees below zero, provided the air was perfectly calm; but the slightest breeze, when the air was at this temperature, caused the painful sensation produced by intense cold. I could adduce the experience of many practical men in favor of the plan of affording shelter to animals, but more especially to those kept in situations much exposed to winds. Mr. Nesbit relates a case bearing on this point:--A farmer in Dorsetshire put up twenty or thirty sheep, under the protection of a series of upright double hurdles lined with straw, having as a sort of roof, or lean-to, a single hurdle, also lined with straw. A like number of sheep, of the same weight, were fed in the open field, without shelter of any kind. Each set was fed with turnips _ad libitum_. The result was, that those without shelter increased in weight 1 lb. per week for each sheep, whilst those under shelter, although they consumed less food, increased respectively 3 lbs. per week.

As a general rule, the latter part of October, or early in November, is the time for the removal of live stock from the pastures to the shelter of the farmstead. In England and Scotland the transference is seldom delayed after these dates; but in Ireland it is no uncommon thing to see the animals grazing very much later in the year--a circ.u.mstance which the lateness and mildness of our climate account for. But whatever the date may be, the importance of such shelter is universally recognised, even by those who most neglect it and are least acquainted with the principles upon which its necessity depends. The more important of these principles have already been explained, but they may be here summarised as follows:--