ISSN:
1365-2494
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
Notes:
An experiment conducted in south-west Scotland during 1956 and 1957 to investigate an outdoor method of rearing calves on pasture, with and without supplementary food, is described.Twenty-four Ayrshire bull calves were put on pasture at 2 weeks of age and received an average of 37 gallons of whole milk up to the time they were weaned at 8 weeks old. Twelve of the calves received no supplementary feeding, but the other twelve each ate 257 lb. of a meal containing oats, linseed cake, flaked maize and fish meal from their 3rd to their 20th week.The calves were moved around a series of plots (0.4 acre) which yielded an average of 1400 lb. of dry matter per acre at each grazing. The mean crude protein of the herbage dry matter was 17.4% in 1956 and 14.1% in 1957.The mean daily liveweight-gains of the calves from birth to 20 weeks of age were 1.05 lb. for the unsupplemented calves and 1.14 lb. for the supplemented ones—a non-significant difference, as was also the difference between the mean increases in belly-girth measurements of the two groups.Parasitic infestation of the two groups was extremely low and 83% of all faeces samples examined contained no worm eggs.The latest-born calves made the poorest liveweight gains.The outdoor rearing of calves is discussed.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2494.1959.tb00999.x
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