V. HINTS ON THE BREEDING AND CARE OF CATTLE.
It has been suggested to me that I should add my experience as a breeder of Aberdeen and Angus stock to my observations on the feeding of cattle. It is with considerable hesitation that I have ventured to put upon paper my views upon a subject on which there is such diversity of opinion. It will, however, lessen the field of controversy, that my practice and observations apply only to the Aberdeen and Angus breed; although I presume what applies to one breed may apply in a great degree to all. My observations may be of some use to those readers who have not devoted much attention to the subject; they may prove of interest even to more experienced breeders, should I be able to adduce facts that may have escaped their notice, or in confirmation of their own observations. I can hardly speak with the same authority as a breeder, generally, that I can as a feeder; yet I have been a close observer now for many years, and devoted my earnest attention to the improvement of the Aberdeen and Angus polled breed of cattle, with respect to size, symmetry, fineness of bone, strength of constitution, and disposition to accumulate fat, sparing no expense in obtaining the finest animals from the purest stock.
Laying the foundation of a breeding stock will be the first matter under consideration. We are met here at the very outset by the advocates of blood and those of selection. Much may be said and volumes have been written in favour of both. My experience leads me to take a middle course between the two, and to keep in view both the one and the other. With respect to the qualifications of a successful breeder, Darwin writes: "Not one man in a thousand has accuracy of eye and judgment sufficient to become an eminent breeder. If gifted with these qualities, and he studies the subject for years, and devotes his lifetime to it with indomitable perseverance, he will succeed and make great improvements; and if he wants any of these qualities he will assuredly fail." Darwin's view will be found pretty correct. Many breed with a certain success, and even rush to the top for a time in the show-yard, but it is only those described by Darwin who will finally succeed. In laying the foundation of a breeding stock there is generally one of two objects in view: either, first, to raise up a herd the best of its race, with a view to competition in the show-yard and to improve it to the utmost; or, second, to breed commercial cattle for commercial purposes with the greatest possible profit. The first requires independent means; and, to secure success, skill, perseverance, and patience under heavy disappointments. The second can be attained by ordinary prudence. If the first object be the one aimed at, the selection should be made from the most established herds, and of animals of pedigree, and possessing the characteristics of the race you intend to propagate. But my attention will be more particularly directed to the second. There are few that have hatfuls of money to expend upon the purchase of high-bred animals; nor is this necessary in order to secure a profitable return from a breeding stock.
I would recommend the following method: I shall suppose a farmer wishes to buy twenty cows to stock his farm (Aberdeen and Angus cattle). His entry is, say, at Whitsunday. He must have a bull to serve his cows. He should be selected from an established herd and from a race of good milkers. The farmer must be a good judge, or employ one in whom he has implicit confidence to act in his behalf. In his selection he must have a certain model in his eye, such as he wishes to propagate. I assume that he considered that his farm is adapted for the rearing of the Aberdeen and Angus breed of cattle, and is convinced of their hardihood of constitution being adapted to his soil and the climate. He ought to keep to certain ground in his selection; that, namely, where the polled breed are still in a state of purity, as in Angus, Aberdeen, Kincardine, Banff, and Moray shires. He ought to visit the Alford district, and all to the west of Alford. On the Spey he will find cattle well worth his attention. They are not of large size generally, but many of fine quality. In the neighbourhood of Dufftown, and west from Dufftown, there are many useful beasts. The Mearns and Angus he should carefully examine, visiting the farms where polled cattle are bred. The wealthy breeder, No. 1, may look to the honours of the show-yard; but No. 2, with his limited means, must have regard only to his ultimate profit.
As it is a Whitsunday entry, he ought to have the lot made up, and the bull put to them in season, that he may not lose a year. The cows he buys will give milk to the house, and the two-year-old heifers will be easily kept on. I speak on the supposition that cows and heifers are bought, but the majority should be heifers. He ought to attend all the fairs in his power through spring, and be on the instant ready to pick up a suitable beast wherever it appears, which he can always do at market value. He ought to select the best heifers or cows (duly informing himself as to their breeding) from the different districts I have named. The produce, after a first-class bull, will be astonishing. The cows that throw the best calves should be retained, while those that "cry back" should be dismissed, and their places filled up with a new selection. By careful breeding for two years there will be a most useful profitable breeding stock established, and there is no doubt that even some good races may be secured. We have ample experience and proof of this in the good calves thrown by our worthless little black polled country cows, and it is on my experience of this fact that my recommendation is founded. For two-year-olds rising three, out of small cows, I have at Christmas got £40 from the butcher. Purity of blood in the male will be found highly to improve inferior races. A herd of breeding stock without the risk of haphazard will be secured at a moderate cost—one that will be profitable to the owner.
The following remarks apply partly to a show-yard herd, and partly to one for commercial purposes. In the original selection, as I have already observed, the breeder must have in his eye the model he wishes to propagate. The animals selected should approach the desired type as nearly as can be obtained; and by careful and repeated selections the ideal may be reached. The selector must be well satisfied as to soundness of constitution, especially in laying the foundation of a show-yard herd. If male or female have hereditary defects of constitution, their progeny will inherit them. Show-yard stock, being pampered for exhibition, are more liable than the common stock of the country to be affected with hereditary diseases. Pedigree is of the most vital importance. We ought always to prefer a bull of high pedigree, with fair symmetry and quality, to another bull, though much superior in appearance, but of questionable pedigree. If the latter be turned to a herd superior in blood to himself, incalculable mischief may be done. Breeders have not given the subject the attention it deserves. I have paid dearly for my experience in the matter. But bulls, even from the purest herds, will not all produce stock alike. Some will give a majority of bull calves, others a majority of heifer calves; some will be famous for getting fine bulls, and others for getting fine heifers, while others produce little to boast of in the one or the other. No one can affirm that he has a first-class sire till he has been tested. If the result be satisfactory, money should be no temptation; he must not be sold. It must not be forgotten that the male has most influence in breeding; but without first-class females the descendants will not shine generally in the show-yard. Breeding for the show-yard must not be left to haphazard; nor is the breeder likely to be successful if pride and conceit be his besetting sins. Take the following by way of illustration: At perhaps a distant sale a fine cow is bought, or it may be at market. Attention to pedigree is ignored; the age is perhaps considered of no consequence. On her arrival she is examined and applauded by friends and neighbours. The inspection may cost the owner gallons of whisky; but she is to prove a mine of wealth. Great hopes are entertained of her progeny. The calf is expected to be first-class. After days of care and nights of dreams and anxious watchings, with unnecessary aid in calving, the calf at last sees the light of day. The owner is disgusted at the result. The cow yields little milk, either for the calf or the family. She is sent where she should have gone years before—to the butcher. The disappointed owner in future buys the cheapest animals that come to hand. If pedigree be ignored, and the sire be of doubtful antecedents, except in an accidental case, the progeny will be at the best of medium quality; but by ordinary precaution such loss may be avoided.
Breeding in-and-in has some advantages and many advocates. It is a knotty point to touch upon. At the commencement I stated that my own experience led me to adopt a middle course; that experience has not been in favour of the system. By adhering to it I found that quality was maintained, and even improved; but size was reduced, and symptoms of delicacy of constitution were manifested. It may be pursued for a time, until the type is developed, but to continue for any length of time to breedinand in, is not only against my experience, but, I believe, against nature.
In looking over a herd of breeding cattle, I have often seen the owner or the cattle-keeper pointing out a cow that throws a good calf, and never threw a bad one, and at the same time telling you how great a milker she is. It would be difficult to buy such a cow too dear. Most of the above remarks may apply alike to the home farm of the proprietor, to the large and small farmer, and to the crofter with one cow. It is well known to breeders of cattle, and I believe of sheep, that there are particular races that are celebrated, and upon which you can calculate that they will never propagate an inferior animal. Specimens not so desirable will now and again appear, but the blood is there, and the divergence will not be great from the desired type. Again, there will be one race noted for producing celebrated males, and another for producing celebrated females. A bull may be introduced that is a great getter of bull calves, yet the change may not be to the advantage of the owner, as the female calves will not be bred of so high an order. Professor Thury, of Geneva, has written a very interesting paper on the law of the production of sexes. In a letter to me, dated 14th February 1864, he says: "There are, if the owner pleases, two periods of heating: the one the general period, which shows itself in the course of the year, following the seasons; the other, a particular period, which lasts in cows from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, and which reveals itself a certain number of times. It is this particular period, lasting from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, the commencement of which gives females, while its termination gives males. In order that we may obtain a certain result, we must not cause the same cow to be covered twice in succession at an interval too short, for the (generative) substance of the bull preserves itself for a time sufficiently long in the organs of the cow. In the experiments made in Switzerland we have taken the cow at the first certain signs of heating, for the purpose of obtaining heifers, and at the termination of the heating for the purpose of obtaining males. The result of these experiments is, that we do not yet know what is the relative length of time which gives females, and the time which gives males; this would form an interesting subject of examination. I am of opinion that various circumstances must be regarded as influencing the relative period, so as to alter the moment of (conception), and that the season must exercise considerable influence. I am of opinion that in such questions as that which forms the subject of my little work, we physiologists should learn much from men of practice and experience, such as you, who have afforded proofs of their knowledge. The best results will follow when the raisers and experimentalists direct their attention to the same object." I would here acknowledge the courtesy and kindness of Professor Thury in so readily responding to my inquiries. The experiments conducted in Switzerland were decisive in support of Professor Thury's theory. In a trial of twenty-eight cows, it proved correct in the whole number.
In the selection of the male, you will have to consider the faulty or defective points in your cows with a view to correct them. As far as possible—pedigree being right—you ought to purchase the bull that is strong upon the points where your females are faulty. If this is not duly attended to, the defect or malformation may be aggravated. But although the bull selected possesses the excellence wanting in the cows, he ought, of course, not to be very deficient in other points, else the cure may be worse than the disease. If possible, he should be taken from a pasture not superior to your own. Docility of temper in male and female is indispensable. Inexpressible mischief may be done by the introduction of wild blood into the herd, for it is sure to be inherited. I have suffered seriously by this error.
To be good behind the shoulder, good in the girth, and well down in the fore-rib, are the qualifications most difficult to attain. Lightness of the fore-rib shows a tendency to delicacy of constitution, and strength and soundness are most important to the success of the breeder. Depth of rib is more important in the male than in the female. Lightness of the fore-rib may be tolerated when milk is the object (and many great milkers are so characterised), but not where the production of beef is the object. Then you must study to combine quality with weight. Quality ought to be the first consideration, but we must never forget that all must come to lbs. at last.
I have already given my opinion as to the shape and quality of a perfect breeding and feeding animal. I shall only here remark that it is indispensable in our cold climate that the animals should have a good coat of soft silky hair to defend them from the cold blasts of autumn, winter, and spring.
The Rev. H. Berry, in his Essay on Breeding, remarks: "A person selecting a stock from which to breed, notwithstanding he has set up for himself a standard of perfection, will obtain them with qualifications of different descriptions, and in different degrees. In breeding from such he will exercise his judgment, and decide what are indispensable or desirable qualities, and will cross with animals with a view to establish them. This proceeding will be of the 'give-and-take' kind. He will submit to the introduction of a trifling defect, in order that he may profit by a great excellence; and between excellences perhaps somewhat incompatible he will decide on which is the greatest, and give it the preference. To a person commencing improvement, the best advice is to get as good a bull as he can; and if he be a good one of his kind, to use him indiscriminately with all his cows; and when by this proceeding, which ought to be persisted in, his stock has, with an occasional change of bull, become sufficiently stamped with desirable excellences, his selection of males should then be made, to eradicate defects which he thinks it desirable to get rid of. He will not fail to keep in view the necessity ofgood bloodin the bulls resorted to, for that will give the only assurance that they will transmit their own valuable properties to their offspring; but he must not depend on this alone, or he will soon run the risk of degeneracy."
I agree generally with the above extract from Mr Berry's most valuable prize essay; but I must take exception to at once using even the best bull indiscriminately for a large and valuable herd of breeding cows. I hold that every bull must be tested, and when the result is found satisfactory,then, and not till then, use him indiscriminately for all your cows. My experience coincides with Mr Berry's where he says the wise breeder "will not fail to keep in view the necessity of good blood in the bulls resorted to, for that will give the only assurance that they will transmit their own valuable properties to their offspring; but he must not depend upon this alone, or he will soon run the risk of degeneracy." To keep up a breeding stock to a high point of excellence is very difficult. The breeder ought to be always buying and selling and incorporating differentstrainstogether. There will be many blanks, but there will be a prize; and when you hit, and the incorporation proves a lasting benefit and is stamped on the original herd, it is a great prize you have won. I therefore agree with Mr Berry that we must not depend alone upon the good blood of the bull.
Having done my best to explain how I think the foundation of a breeding stock should be laid, I shall now give my opinion and experience how the herd should be treated, and how it should be kept up. The cows, heifers, and bulls should be kept fresh, not fat, nor too lean. The calves should have a different treatment. All breeding cattle tied to the stall should be let out every day for two or three hours, or at least every second day, unless the weather be very wet or stormy. The finer the quality of the stock the less rich will be the food they require. It is only throwing away your means to give high-bred cows with calf, or heifers rising two years old, a full supply of turnips. A few to keep them fresh and healthy, and plenty of straw, is all they should be allowed. Bulls that are apt to accumulate fat should also be stinted, else they will soon be useless as stock-getters. After calving, the cows, to secure a flow of milk, should receive a full allowance of turnips, but the increase must be gradual, as the cow has been stinted, or ought to have been, before calving. Before calving, milk-fever, or dropping after calving, is to be guarded against. I have three or four cases with only one recovery. I now bleed and physic every cow two or three days before calving. I stint them in their food two or three weeks, and have never lost one where this practice was fully carried out.
The lean cow is as apt to go down as the fat one. Some think warm weather is the cause. I believe it has nothing to do with it. The grass being generally luxuriant in warm weather, and many cows going off in milk-fever at that season, has led to this error. Milk-fever may, however, be produced by giving cold water immediately after calving, &c. Cows may be attacked immediately or in a few hours after calving; when four or five days have passed, the animal may be considered safe. There are different causes, no doubt; but bringing a cow from poor pasture and putting her on a rich and luxuriant one without stint, or from straw and giving her a full allowance of turnips up to the time of calving, are two of the greatest predisposing causes. As an example, I bought a cow in July off a poor pasture and put her on a rich one; as she was low-priced I did not use the necessary precautions: she went down in milk-fever. A respected old servant bought a fine polled cow. I was walking across the field with him, and we came upon his cow. It was in July, and the grass was very luxuriant. I asked if he had bled the cow, as she would calve immediately. He said, "No, I have not; and I never saw them bled except at Tillyfour." To my sorrow and to the man's heavy loss the cow died of milk-fever.
Milk-fever is thought by many to be incurable. Mr Sorely, veterinary surgeon, late of Alford, has been most successful in its treatment; and if the cows are not very far gone before he is called, he generally effects a cure. I would recommend those not acquainted with the treatment of this dreadful calamity to communicate with him. The symptoms are known by the cow getting restless, lifting her legs and setting them down again, a wild appearance, and attempting to poke her keeper: then succeeds a quick motion in the flank; she begins to stagger, falls, but recovers herself again. This is repeated several times, till she is at length no longer able to rise. Her head will be turned to one side; she loses the sense of feeling, and although pricked with a sharp instrument gives no sign of pain; and if not relieved, death closes the scene. If the sense of feeling returns, it is the first sign of recovery. The moment that milk-fever is observed the veterinary surgeon should be called in. There is little risk with a heifer with her first calf, and I never bleed or physic a heifer in calf, because she has not attained her growth. In her case "the additional nutriment goes to increase of size, instead of becoming the foundation of disease."
Red-water is also a very fatal complaint among cows. They generally take it about the thirteenth or fourteenth day after calving. Many farms are almost exempt from this disease. It is very fatal, but if taken in time it can generally be cured; heavy losses are, however, experienced every year by it. I have only had two or three cases of red-water, and I do not therefore enlarge upon it. My observation has led me to believe that the theory of the late Mr Peter Smith, veterinary surgeon, Alford (who gained the Highland Society's prize for the best essay on red-water in cows), is correct, that the disease is generally most prevalent on farms where the land is black and of a moorish tendency. The veterinary surgeon should be called ininstanter. Garget in the udder, or weed, is also to be guarded against. After calving, some cracks and sores appear in the udder; they get very troublesome. The teats must be drawn and clean milked out; blood will sometimes appear with the milk; the cow must be secured, if necessary, to effect this. The udder should be bathed with warm water, and well rubbed over with hog's lard, and to this treatment the complaint will generally yield. The too hastily drying the cow, and frequent carelessness in not milking clean out, are the general causes of this complaint. It may, however, assume a more serious aspect; the milk gets coagulated in the udder, and the result will be the loss for yielding milk of one, two, or more of the quarters of the udder, if the proper remedies are not instantly adopted. Mortification sometimes ensues; diseased portions will break off from the udder, and it may end in the death of the animal. Putting the calf to suckle the cow will be useful in effecting a cure; but often the teats become so painful that the cow will not allow the calf to approach her. I cannot impress too strongly on the breeder that, as soon as symptoms of garget are observed, the cow must be firmly secured and the teats properly drawn three or four times a-day. If this is neglected or inefficiently performed, the result is scarcely doubtful. Very often there will be only matter to draw, but it must be withdrawn from time to time as it collects. The teaching of experience is costly in such a case; and here the care of honest, intelligent servants is invaluable.
When the calves are taken from their dams there is the greatest danger of garget, and this is always an anxious time with the breeder. The cows must be allowed to go gradually off their milk, the greatest care being taken to draw the teats once a-day when necessary. The food must be restricted till the milk disappear; and as some cows that have been suckled will not allow their teats to be drawn by the hand, the calves must be put to them once a-day till the milk cease.
The proper age for breeding.—The proper age for breeding may depend upon circumstances, breed, &c.; but, dealing as we are with the Aberdeen and Angus, I would say that heifers should never be put to the bull before they are two years old. There is, no doubt, some force in the argument that by breeding earlier keep is saved; but the answer to this is that growth is diminished, while calving is attended with danger. I had six heifers bulled when they were one year old. They had all difficulty in calving; three of them required assistance, and were very much torn and lacerated before the calves could be extracted, and the mothers have never attained the size of the other cows in the herd. Nor has the argument much force with me that the one-year-old is surer to stand to the bull than the two-year-old. I maintain that we have this very much in our own power, and that the two-year-old, with proper treatment, and at little cost, is as sure to stand to the bull as the one-year-old, while she will attain to a larger size. The treatment I adopt with yearling heifers intended for breeding purposes is the following—and I have seldom or never failed in getting them in calf: They are not starved to interfere with their growth, but through the summer, when rising two years old, they are kept on the very worst grass on the farm, and on the refuse of the grass rejected by the other cattle, which are removed to fresh pastures. In winter and spring, up to the time of serving with the bull, they get an average barrowful of turnips amongst every three, and no more. By this treatment the heifers will just be fresh, and will stand to the bull as readily as yearlings. I grant that if you were to put them on luxuriant pasture, and give them full allowance of turnips through the winter and spring, they would be fit for the butcher, and not for the bull. The advantages more than counterbalance the disadvantages. Their parts will be strong and open, and they will calve with safety; while, on the other hand, the calving of those served at a year old will always be attended with difficulty; the parts will often be injured and lacerated, and mortification of the womb and the death of the animal may follow.
I need not tell my readers that the bull should not be allowed to go with the breeding cows or heifers, as the almost universal practice now is to keep them separate. The advantages of this must be manifest to every one. The symptoms of coition are so well known, that I shall not enlarge upon them; but if cows are confined to the house, there are some shy animals that require the greatest attention to detect them, while the majority are easily observed by their lowing and agitated appearance. In the former case the animal will not blare, neither will there be much difference in her general appearance; but her external parts will be red, and a transparent liquor will be discharged from the vagina. Let her be put out with another, which will prove her at once. In some seasons, although the cows and heifers are in a breeding state, it is, even with the best management, difficult to get them in calf. This becomes a source of great annoyance and loss to the breeder. A cow should never be allowed the bull sooner than five or six weeks after calving; to do otherwise will prove a failure, and will be detrimental to the animal. If a cow or heifer should miss to stand to the bull before the end of May, and the weather get warm, it is difficult to get them in calf; they may run on for months every two or three weeks. Many a good breeding animal has been lost in this way, and gone to the butcher, their owner having despaired of getting them in calf; whereas, if he had had patience until September or October, when the cold weather sets in, in all likelihood they would have been got in calf. I had three cows out of four, that had run on the whole summer, got in calf in one day. An early spring calf is preferable to a late one, and most desirable; but my doctrine is, that a good calf never can come wrong. It is trying to the breeder to see his fine cows running on, but we must not despair; we must not lose a chance, for we will generally catch them, and sometimes when we least expect it. When a cow assumes the appearance of what we term a regular buller—when she is running every day, or every second or third day, or when one or more retire from the herd and assume the habits of the male—then, and not till then, does the case become utterly hopeless. I had two fine cows I was obliged to quit; they assumed the habits of the male, absented themselves from the rest of the herd, went through the field lowing, roaring, and pawing the ground with their feet, their lowing being that of the male and not of the female, and their shapes and looks were completely changed. Some friends, in whose opinion I have confidence, think this disease hereditary.
I would recommend, when cows and heifers are not standing to the bull, to give a dose or two of medicine. A change of the bull may succeed; and leading the cow or heifer six miles out and six miles in, when coming in heat, will sometimes be effectual. I was led to this practice by observing that cows or heifers that had run on the whole season up to the time of exhibition, when put to the bull on their arrival from the show, were got in calf at once. I naturally concluded that the exercise which they had undergone was the cure. I adopted the principle, and have succeeded in several cases, though not in all; and I know of some other breeders who have also been successful.
A cow goes nine months with young, generally ten or fourteen days longer. I have known one go twenty-seven days past her time. They generally go longer with a bull calf than a heifer. It is almost a sure sign that all will be right if the cow go past her time; when matters are wrong the birth is generally premature. Slinking is one of the greatest pests to which a breeder is subjected. The symptoms are as follows: a yellow mixed with red, glairy, offensive fluid will be observed running from the vagina, a flow of milk to the udder, and a loosening of the couplings behind; in a day or two premature labour follows. No time is to be lost on these symptoms being observed. The cow should be immediately removed to a separate apartment, and kept by herself for two or three weeks. If the premature birth should take place before the cow is removed, the fœtus and after-birth must be instantly buried, and not only the stall where the cow was standing, but the whole of the byre should be thoroughly washed over with hot lime, or chloride of lime. It is well known that if one cow abort, others are apt to follow. I recollect that almost every cow out of forty, belonging to the late James Walker, Wester Fintray, aborted. One half were polled, the other shorthorns.
When a cow is with calf she has strong sympathetic feelings. The fœtus and after-birth from a cow that has slinked are very offensive, and if left within reach, the other cows will sniff at it, and bellow around it; and in a short time more of the cows will abort. Many reasons have been given as the cause of abortion; from my own observations, frosty turnips are one great cause, and I never allow my cows to get these. If I happen to run short of fresh turnips from the store, and frosty weather continue, I order the cows straw and water, and perhaps a little cake or corn at the same time. I have paid dearly for this experience also. I believe hove to be another cause of abortion; and that particular atmospheric conditions have a good deal to do with it. The skilful veterinary surgeon should be consulted; he will probably recommend physic to cool the system, the fœtus and placenta to be buried, the animal separated, and the cow-house disinfected. The cow should be fattened and sold, unless she be a very valuable breeding animal, as the chances are that she will slink again. I have indeed seen a cow, after slinking, breed regularly for many years; but the sure way is to get quit of her to the butcher, if she is not a valuable breeding animal.
I have explained, under the head of Milk-Fever, the treatment previous to calving; I shall add that a cow ought to be let dry six weeks at least before calving. It is well known that a cow that is milked up to the time of calving proves very deficient as a milker for the season, even although she had formerly been a good one. It prevents improvement of condition; and from a very lean cow there is not much to be expected.
As to natural labour a very few remarks will suffice. The cow should be disturbed as little as possible, and no assistance rendered where it is not necessary. When the water-bag comes away, the hand should be introduced to ascertain whether the calf is coming the right way; its fore-legs protruding to the passage, and its head lying upon them or a little between them, is the natural position when all is right. We must have patience, and, if possible, allow nature to effect its object; but if six or eight hours shall have passed, assistance must be given. In my practice I have observed that when the water-bag comes away in the early stages the labour is protracted. I have seen many tail-presentations, but I have found them easily dealt with by pushing back the hind-quarters and getting hold of the feet; pushing backwards, forwards, and upwards the hind-legs, and bringing them to the level of the passage, the calf will be easily extracted. In unnatural labour the veterinary surgeon should be immediately called in. Skellet 'On the Parturition of the Cow' is the most valuable authority I am acquainted with on unnatural labour, but I fear it is out of print.
A word here as to free-martins. When a cow produces two calves, the one a male and the other a female, the female is called a free-martin. The almost universal belief is, that the free-martin will not breed; and generally this holds good. I have had, however, in my practice two free-martins that have bred. One of them proved one of the most useful animals and best breeders in the herd, and produced some of my finest females; but her own appearance lacked that female style which shows itself in a high-bred herd.
And here I may remark that those who act as judges at our cattle-shows, if they are judging males, ought to judge them as males and not as females; and if they are judging females, they ought to judge them as females and not as males. Some may understand what I mean. As I consider it one of the most important qualifications in a judge to have the discernment I refer to, and as many are appointed judges, even at our national shows,who never should have been appointed, and many act who never should act, it ought to be put out of all doubt. As an example, when a bull shows the head of a female and a want of masculine character, he should be rejected. Masculine character in the bull is of the greatest importance to the success of the breeder—effeminacy in the male must be shunned as the most deadly poison. On the other hand, let that female be rejected by the judge in the show-yard, and by the breeder in his selection, that looks as much like a male as a female. However long she may have been kept up for show-yard purposes, or whatever enormous quantity of beef she may have put on, if she have the head of the ox (I do not say of the bull, because I have never seen a female so characterised) she must be put aside, unless very superior in other respects. Such animals will seldom pass muster with the first-class judge, buteven he must be upon his guard. I have often seen great blunders committed, especially with heifers, the owner of which may, for the sake of winning the prize, have fed them for years without hope of propagation. I have seen them carry the prize to the exclusion of the really useful breeding animal, and when the show was over they were sold to the butcher. I would not propose any rule to be laid down to exclude animals from our exhibitions on account of their condition, because the proper amount of flesh can never be satisfactorily settled; nor can it be definitely fixed when an animal should be excluded as being too fat for breeding. The experiment was tried at some of our national shows, but utterly failed, as the jury could not agree. The rules of the Highland Society are good so far as they go—viz., that unless the owner of cows that have not had a calf in the year of the exhibition, and of the two-year-old heifers that have been awarded prizes, can certify that the animals have had a calf—the cows in four months and the heifers in nine after the exhibition—the money prize will be withheld. But this does not cover the difficulty, as the prize-money is of secondary importance to the majority of exhibitors—being first on the prize-list is their main ambition; but, I believe, it is all that rules can reach. The only safeguard lies with the council and the directors—and the strong moral force of the exhibitors ought to be brought to bear upon them—of our national and local cattle-shows. They ought to appoint no one, however highly connected, unless he isacknowledged a judge by the exhibitors of the class of stock to which he is appointed. If the right man be put in the right place, there will seldom be cause to complain of overfed useless breeding animals gaining the prizes; but if ignorant forward men are appointed, you are certain to see the fattest animals at the top of the prize-list. At one of our great shows the same judges were appointed for cattle and sheep;—they were unexceptional judges of cattle, but knew very little about breeding-sheep. There were two pens of breeding-ewes in competition: one of the pens was from a first-class stock of sheep, but from hill pasture; the other was from a jobber, who had selected them from the common sheep in the country, but had grazed them with the cows on the farm, and they were in high condition—they wanted style and breeding. The judges were hesitating as to which of the pens the prize should be awarded to, when one of them exclaimed, "Stop, stop; let me in o'er till I handle them!"—an Aberdeen man likes something that will handle, whether ox or sheep. He went, and after he had performed the handling proof, which required little time and less skill, "Ah!" he exclaimed, pointing to the fat ewes, "that's the sheep!" and the ticket was fixed accordingly. This anecdote was related to me by the owner of the fat ewes, who was present.
No butcher, except he be well acquainted with the treatment of a breeding stock, ought to be a judge of breeding animals. With fat stock one of the judges ought always to be a first-class butcher.
In natural labour the after-birth generally comes away soon after calving. Many remove it immediately; this, however, should never be allowed, as the cow will chew it greedily, and it acts as physic to her. If the after-birth should be retained, as it generally is in cases of premature labour, this need cause little alarm to the owner. I have never seen any danger from allowing it to remain, and I prefer letting it alone, as it will rot away of itself, to the danger of tearing it away; but the cow should be removed from the others. I believe the opinion to be erroneous that there is danger from the after-birth being retained for any moderate length of time; but the womb itself will sometimes follow the calf, and this requires prompt treatment. I have known of its being successfully returned without the aid of the veterinary surgeon, but this should never be attempted by an unpractised hand if you can command the surgeon's attendance. It is a very common occurrence that two or three months before calving the vagina protrudes when the cow is lying: when this occurs she should be kept well up behind, else it may bring on premature calving. When the cow calves the danger is over.
If the calf is to be milked from the hand it should be taken from the cow as soon as it is dropt, and before the mother sees it; if allowed to remain with the cow for some time and then removed, it will be a cause of great irritation to the mother and very prejudicial to her milking. When it is to be suckled, the calf should be left quietly with the cow: and by licking the calf and eating the placenta the cow will be settled, the calf will get to its legs, and all may be expected to be right. A warm drink should be given—cold water must be avoided—and the cow made comfortable. She should be milked out after first suckling, and this will require to be repeated two or three times a-day for a few weeks, until the calf is able, and can with safety be allowed, to take all the milk. In a day or two after the calf is dropt it ought to be muzzled, and allowed a limited time to suckle the mother three times a-day. It must not be allowed a full allowance for the first fourteen days after birth. A confidential servant must remove the muzzle, stand beside the calf until it has taken a safe allowance, and then return the muzzle. When the calf has got the cud, which will be observed about fourteen days after its birth, it will then be safe to remove the muzzle. I muzzle all my calves, to prevent them from eating straw, hair, &c, which they cannot digest, and which accumulate in the stomach and prove the death of the animal. Many thousand calves are lost in this way, the owner never suspecting the cause. If the calf is opened up after death, there will be found in the stomach a large, firm, round ball composed of straw, hair, and other substances, with knots of curdled milk conjoined. After the calf has got the cud, and is fourteen days old, it may be allowed to suck at pleasure. It must be seen, however, that the calf has ability to clean out the udder of the cow; if part of the milk is retained, the cow must be milked by the hand.
Plenty of good milk is the proper foundation to make a good animal; if stinted when a calf, a year's growth is lost. Selling a great deal of butter and rearing a good bullock are incompatible. Many good calves are milked from the pail, and they thrive better after they are weaned; but it will generally be found that the sure way to make first-class calves is to allow them to suckle. There will be many drawbacks at the expense of the calf if it is brought up from the pail; drafts will be required by the housekeeper for milk, butter, and cheese for the family, which cannot be made if the calf is suckled by the mother in the field. The plan adopted by some of giving skimmed milk to the calf cannot be too much reprobated; and to give old milk to a new-dropt calf is perfectly preposterous: it is unnatural, and will probably prove the death of the calf.
The calf should be allowed to suckle or be fed from the pail for six or eight months. It has then strength to stand weaning, and, if properly cared for, will not be checked in its growth, and it will retain the good calf-flesh it has put on. The loss of the calf-flesh cannot be remedied, and great care should be taken to avoid this. If the calf-flesh is lost the animal will be reduced in value, and can never be made to yield first-class meat. Great care, therefore, must be taken by the breeder when his calves are weaned.
To guard against Black-leg, the calves should be immediately corded in the dewlap,[8]and receive, along with other nourishing food, each 1½ lb. of oilcake a-day. This treatment is absolutely necessary during their first winter. The open strawyard for calves is of great importance. If they are kept regularly growing on, black-leg will be prevented. While proper treatment is adopted, there will be little to fear from that dreadful scourge.
I have never lost more than two of my breeding stock from Quarter-ill. There is no question that the cause of this dreadful malady is sudden transition from a restricted diet to a full and nutritious one, from a poor pasture to a rich and luxuriant one, or from a poor pasture in autumn to a full allowance of turnips; the increase of blood on the system is so great that the constitution cannot stand it. I have seen almost every calf on several large farms carried off by black-leg. There is no secret as to its prevention. Keep the young calf gradually growing, never let him want; give 1 to 2 lb. of oilcake a-day; and keep up the irritation by cords with a good hold of the dewlap. After the first winter, black-leg is little to be feared. I have had a case or two in two or three year olds, but it is very uncommon. Prevention is the only safeguard, for I have never seen black-leg cured. To some 1 to 2 lb. of oilcake a-day may look an expense that the calves cannot repay; but if any of my friends will divide a lot of their calves, and give the one lot turnips and straw, and the other turnips, straw, and 1 to 2 lb. of oilcake daily to each calf, if they are dissatisfied with the result on the 1st of May I shall pay the balance. I shall not enter upon the point of the great additional value of the manure, but leave that to the chemist.
I allow my calves to suckle till October, and the late ones two or three months longer. Butter and even corn are but secondary to our cattle, and in these days of progression we must advance with the times or go down.
As to Navel-ill, much has been written on the deadliness of the complaint. I have never had any loss from it. Diarrhœa is a very common complaint with calves, and I have lost one or two by it, but, I believe, owing to carelessness. It will generally yield to a dose or two of castor-oil. The Knee-ill is more to be dreaded. The complaint is worse some seasons than others, and some, under the best treatment, will die. The calf gets down and is unable to rise; on examination it will be found that one or both, generally of the fore-legs, are very much swollen at the joints; the calf is very much pained, especially if moved, and the disease acts very much like rheumatic fever on the human body. I cannot assign any cause for this disease, as I have seen calves seized with it that were kept warm and comfortable. In some cases it may be attributed to some particular atmospheric influence. It is very difficult to remove. The calf will be down for weeks, and in some cases they never get up. Very little can be done for them, and any treatment I have seen adopted is of small value. Rubbing turpentine daily into the swollen joints is useful, but attention to the general health is of the greatest consequence—such as counteracting costiveness in the bowels, &c. I have seen splints of wood introduced, and also tying out the leg with bandages; but I have no great faith in any such treatment. Rubbing daily with turpentine, and attention to the general health, is all I can recommend. Costiveness of the bowels, if not counteracted, may end in serious consequences. I had a case of a calf that got very costive—so bad that it moaned dreadfully from pain. I lost all hope of saving it. I thought of injections, and had them administered repeatedly for hours; to my astonishment the calf recovered and did well. Castor-oil is the safest medicine for calves. Let me here record an observation for which I am indebted to Mr Sorely, late veterinary surgeon, Alford. (While I have seen some with as good hands as Mr Sorely, I have never had the fortune to meet another with as clear a head.) The first question he asks when told that a calf is ailing, is, "How old is it?" If the calf is very young, and violently ill of any complaint, the great chance is, that it will not recover; whereas, if it be three weeks, and, still more, two or three months old, the probability is that it will.
As to the castration of calves, it is such a simple process that it is unnecessary to say much on the subject. The only thing I would recommend is, that the breeder, if he does not castrate his calves himself, should not allow the operator to cut away any part of the purse, as it should be recollected a good purse in the London market will be the next criterion to the butcher after the flank, and a good purse is always worth £1 to a bullock in London. If the purse should get much swelled after castration, warm fomentations should be applied two or three times a-day, or even a poultice if the case be very bad. If there is an accumulation of pus, it may be necessary to puncture the purse, and the animal will soon be relieved.
Rheumatism, I have no doubt, is hereditary. I have seen it in the fourth generation; little, if anything, can be done for it. At certain seasons of the year it will appear, and wear off again. Howk is perhaps the complaint to which my cattle are most liable. I have repeated cases of it every year. The animal is observed to be stiff and staring in his coat, eats little, and, as the disease advances, retires from the rest of herd. When taken up, his skin along the back will be found adhering to the flesh, and if pressed on the spine he will nearly crouch to the ground. If a hold is taken of the skin—which is very difficult to accomplish—and it is lifted from the flesh, when let go it will give a crack similar to the sound that follows when you give a knock to the common corn-basket. This is a never-failing symptom. I treat the complaint very successfully with doses of salts and sulphur. If the animal is taken up in the early stages of the disease, the skin may only be adhering to a part behind the shoulder-blade; but in a day or two the adhesion will be found to extend along the whole of the spine; or,vice versa, it may begin across the kidneys and go forward to the shoulder-blade. I regard indigestion as the cause, and some cattle take it in particular fields worse than others. Diseases of the tongue are rare: I have had some half-dozen cases. A cure is utterly hopeless, and the animal should be sent to the butcher without delay. When examined, the root of the tongue, or one side of it, will be found very much inflamed, and warts will also generally be observed. The animal will be found frothing at the mouth in the field; and if in the stall, a great deal of frothy matter will be seen before him. I never knew one recover, and I have attempted all sorts of treatment.
Foul in the foot is very serious when it gets into a lot of heavy feeding cattle in winter; the loss it entails is sometimes very heavy. It assumes several phases. If there be but a crack between the claws without swelling, it is easily managed. The old plan of taking a hair-rope and drawing it several times through is very good practice, and with a little caustic applied, a cure is soon effected. There is another form of the disease more difficult to treat: there is the great swelling between the claws; it becomes a hard substance and very painful; the animal gets feverish and is scarcely able to rise, and if got up holds out the afflicted leg. He is off his food, and sinks rapidly in condition; and the pain is excruciating. I apply a succession of poultices, and when the lump breaks the danger is over: tow and tar are then applied to the sore, a cotton bandage put on between the claws of sufficient length to secure the application, and the ends made fast by a woollen garter cut from an old stocking. If the disease is neglected the consequences may be fatal; it is worst in winter when cattle are at the feeding-stall. I regard it as infectious. If it get into a byre of weighty fat cattle the loss will be heavy. I have seen a bullock drop in value £3, £4, or even £5; and several animals lost by carelessness. I had a bullock out upon turnips, which had been neglected, and was pronounced by my veterinary surgeon incurable.
As to Foot-and-mouth disease, it is a light matter among stirks and lean cattle—they will be little if any the worse of it; but it is very serious amongst heavy feeding cattle and milch cows. If fat cattle are attacked, they should have their turnips sliced, with crushed oilcake and meal. There is no treatment of any avail in the fever stages. When the fever is gone, there will be a beast or two out of a lot whose feet will require attention. The horn of the hoof gets loosened from the flesh. The animal may require to be thrown and the dead horn cut away. It must be remembered that it will never attach itself again. The veterinary surgeon should generally perform the operation, unless the owner is skilful himself. Cows require great attention. The disease seats itself in their udders, and unless they are most carefully milked out they may be rendered useless as milkers—losing one, two, or even all the quarters of the udder. The foot-and-mouth disease is very infectious. I recollect having carried it home from a neighbouring farm, by merely handling a bull which was down with the disease. I came straight home and handled the first beast opposite the door in one of my own byres; in three days he was seized with the complaint; and in two or three days thereafter nearly every beast through the steading was down with it. Out of forty fat cattle thirty-eight had it, only two escaping. Upon inquiry I found that one of them had had it before. I lost from £4 to £5 of condition on an average off every one of the thirty-eight. From the same farm and at the same time a veterinary surgeon had been called in. He went straight to another farm six miles distant, and in a few days every animal there was seized with the same complaint. It is the general belief that an animal will not take the foot-and-mouth disease twice. This is a mistake. I have a cow that took it twice, but there were seven years between the attacks.
I have had the Lung disease on two farms; all known treatment is unsatisfactory. I believe, if the attack be violent, no treatment will save the animal. It is sometimes difficult to know it at first. There will generally be a cough, but it is not the clear cough of the animal in health. It is compressed, and the animal coughs unwillingly and with evident pain. The particular cough cannot be mistaken, and the grunt is a never-failing symptom. There is generally one lung more affected than the other. The ear being applied to the chest will discover the impeded circulation. Many cattle take the disease so slightly that it is never discovered. Some have little if any cough, and the pile continues soft and healthy. I recollect a milking cow which I was suspicious had the disease. I made her be run out; there was no acceleration of breathing; her coat was fine, and there was no diminution of the milk; but she gave a grunt which confirmed me in my opinion that she had had a slight touch of the complaint. The grieve, a most intelligent man, was satisfied that the cow was healthy. I fattened her, and for my own information had her slaughtered at home. It was three months after, and thepost-mortemexamination showed one of the lungs, to the extent of about the size of a crown-piece, adhering to the ribs—a sufficient proof that my conjecture was correct. Many take the disease that are never suspected. I had a bullock showing some symptoms of the disease in a byre amongst ten. The others were, to all appearance, in perfect health. I sent them immediately to London. My salesman was instructed to inspect the carcasses after they were slaughtered, and to report. He did so carefully, and there was not one of the number but had their lungs more or less affected. Mr Collie, Ardgay, Morayshire, had a byre of cattle slaughtered under the same circumstances, and with the very same result. Pleuro-pneumonia is not so infectious as foot-and-mouth disease, but if it get into a farm-steading it is most difficult to get clear of. I have known cattle infected in three days. I had bought a lot of cattle from a farm in Morayshire where the disease has never been up to this hour. It was in the month of April. There were two or three of the lot that I did not think profitable to graze. I tied them in a byre where infected cattle had stood. They were only to be kept a week or two, and I had no idea of danger. One of them took the disease very badly in three days after he was tied up. I have known it lie dormant in the system (as to any visible appearance) for three months and a half. I found the general period of incubation from five to six weeks. I have taken the greatest pains with the byres where the infected cattle stood, having the wood-work taken out, the roofs and greeps carefully scraped and washed with soap and warm water, lime-water, and afterwards with chloride of lime; and yet, after all this labour, I have seen the disease break out again and again. After repeated outbreaks, I not only removed the wood-work, but the whole of the stones in the stalls and greeps, and buried them. I had the roofs and stone mangers, &c., carefully scraped, and washed with soap and warm water, and afterwards with chloride of lime. They were then closely painted, and lastly coal-tarred; but it was only after five or six months' perseverance that I got clear of it. Having heard a report that a cow belonging to my cousin, Mr M‘Combie, editor of the 'Free Press,' was labouring under pleuro-pneumonia, I went to see her. Mr Sorely, veterinary surgeon, was in attendance. As there had been no disease in the neighbourhood for five years, I was unwilling to credit the report. But a more marked case I have never witnessed; and thepost-mortemexamination showed all the symptoms of the fell disease. Mr Sorely, Mr M‘Combie's overseer, and I, all agreed that as a wood dividing-partition had been allowed to remain since the time of the previous infection, and the cow was seen chewing pieces of the wood that had got rotted at the base, the wood had retained the poison, and the cow had been infected from the chewing of it. The breath is the cause of the infection when cattle are housed together and the disease introduced. It generally attacks the animals standing at the walls first. The breath is driven by different currents through the building to the walls, where it is stopped; it rebounds, and hence the beasts at the walls generally fall the first victims—so, at least, I have found it in my experience. I had forty beasts divided by a stone-and-lime mid-wall to the level of the side-walls; up to the roof there was a strong and close division of wood. Unfortunately there had been a small aperture about two feet square left open. I made an observation to the cattleman that I should not be at all surprised if the disease came from the infected byre through the opening to the byre where the cattle were sound. The first or second day thereafter the animal standing below the aperture was seized, and got down in the disease.
In treatment I have no confidence, having tried everything that could be tried and completely failed. I would, however, recommend that neither hay nor straw be given to animals labouring under the disease. I lost a valuable bull, after he was recovering, from this cause. He was allowed to eat too freely of hay, which he could not masticate; and when opened after death, an ordinary bucketful of hay was found in his stomach, as dry as when it was eaten. I have come to the conclusion that no animal should be allowed hay or straw while unable properly to masticate its food. It is well ascertained that when the poison is lying dormant in an animal, it will infect the other cattle before it is visible in itself. As a confirmation of this fact, I had a sale of breeding stock after the Dumfries show, on Thursday, 30th August 1860. The cattle seemed to be in perfect health on the day of the sale; about three-fourths of them were removed on Friday. The day following—viz., Saturday—a cow was taken ill. I entertained fears that it might turn out pleuro-pneumonia; and circulars were sent to the parties who had removed their cattle. The buyers isolated the cattle bought at the sale from their own stock. Two of the beasts that had been removed died, other two took the complaint and recovered; but fortunately it did not spread amongst the buyers other stock. The cow first taken ill recovered, and another that was left over took the disease and recovered. But, further, a bull was withdrawn from the sale and sent home to Tillyfour from Dorsell the night of the sale, to all appearance in perfect health, though he afterwards died of the disease. He was watered at a watering-place on the roadside, where a crofter's cattle watered daily. The crofter's cattle went down in the disease, and one of them died. Many were the weary days and restless nights I endured when the disease got fairly developed through two of my largest steadings. It is in such cases that the value of a clear-headed veterinary surgeon is appreciated. I would not be well away from one steading, when a messenger would meet me with intelligence of some disaster at the other. I had many beasts being fed on other farms as well as those on my own—not fewer than 400 one way or other. I have said how much I am indebted in such emergencies to the advice and counsel of a clear-headed veterinary surgeon. The disease was in the midst of my breeding stock, and two or three had succumbed to it. Mr Sorely and I were brooding over this state of matters, when I asked him whether he could do anything to save the herd. He said, "I will think over it till to-morrow." He came on the morrow, and seven successive evenings, and administered to each animal a drench, and he would trust no one but himself to do it. I believe there were three changes of medicine; not one animal which got the medicine took the disease, although they had been standing in the midst of it. There was one worthless old milk cow amongst the others, that I did not think worth the trouble of giving the medicine to; she took the disease, and was fed with gruel for fourteen days, and recovered, while the others continued in perfect health.
I have related the diseases that are of a local character, as they have come under my own notice, without any desire to set myself up as an authority. My experience has led me to differ in many respects from eminent authorities. I have merely stated my own experiences during a lifetime that has been devoted to the management of cattle; they are written with no view of superseding the valuable assistance of the veterinary surgeon; but every farmer ought to know and be able to treat the local diseases incident in his neighbourhood which are not of a dangerous character. When they are dangerous, the owner ought to be able to distinguish them at once; and in that case not a moment should be lost in calling in the aid of a veterinary surgeon.