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PRATTS PRACTICAL POINTERS ON THE CARE OF LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY
THE PRATT FOOD COMPANY OF CANADA, Limited, maintains its established position of leadership, after nearly half a century of business service, because of the sustained good will of those whom it serves.
Better products than anyone else could produce, plus expert, personal, whole-hearted service, built that good will. And retained it through all these years.
It was the constant aim and effort of those who founded this business, and of those who have carried out the founders' work to the present, to anticipate the needs of the industry, to co-operate with the individuals in it, to show their vital interest in the success of their customers.
These principles of business practice won the good will that established this company as the authority in its important field.
Our future success depends upon the continuance of that good will. Our appreciation of that fact is your best assurance that in the future the services of this company, as well as the superiority of its products, will justify the confidence and good will of the thousands to whom the name of Pratt is but another name for Quality and Service.
PROFITABLE LIVESTOCK
INTRODUCTION
Animal husbandry is the sure foundation of profitable, permanent agriculture. Where many animals are kept and their manure properly cared for and returned to the land, the soil becomes richer and crop-production steadily increases. And the farmer grows rich with his land.
Further, the keeping of live stock distributes the farm labor and the farm income over the entire year. This is true whether meat, milk or eggs are the money crops. And certainly both factors are worthy of consideration from a straight business standpoint. With labor as valuable as it is at present, lost time cuts into the profits. And when the income is regular, not concentrated in a short period or dependent upon the success of a single crop, the matter of farm finance is much simplified.
Consider the richest and most desirable agricultural sections of our great land. With very few exceptions, the best and most valuable farms are those which are heavily stocked with domestic animals. Here, too, are found the finest farm homes, the most prosperous and contented farm families. And this fact, which is so well established that it requires no argument, plainly shows that animal husbandry pays.
In the following pages you will find much valuable information regarding the proper care—in health and sickness—of horses, cattle, swine, sheep and poultry.
We trust, and believe that you will find it most helpful in connection with your work. That it will enable you to be more successful, earn bigger profits.
Right at the start we wish to emphasize two facts which are really fundamental and which are recognized by the most successful stock keepers. The first is this: It does not pay to keep scrub stock, animals which cannot under any conditions give the big returns. The second: No animal, regardless of breeding, can do its best work unless it is kept in perfect physical condition.
The selection of your animals is up to you. Get good ones. Than keep them good and make them better. The Pratt line of stock and poultry preparations, regulators, tonics, disinfectants and remedies, will help you greatly. Made for nearly fifty years by America's pioneer concern in this line, each article is the best of its kind, each is backed by this square-deal guarantee—"Your Money Back If You Are Not Satisfied."
PRATT FOOD COMPANY
Philadelphia Chicago Toronto
THE PRATT GUARANTEE
"Your Money Back If YOU Are Not Satisfied"
The Pratt Food Company believes in fair play. We desire that our millions of customers shall receive full value for every cent they spend in purchasing our goods. And to that end we spare no expense in making each article in the Pratt Line just as good, just as efficient, as is humanly possible.
More than that, we wish each customer to be completely satisfied. If for any reason any article bearing the Pratt trade-mark fails to give such satisfaction, the full purchase price will be refunded on demand by the dealer who made the sale.
You can buy and use Pratts Stock and Poultry Preparations with fullest confidence because you are protected by
The Guarantee That Has Stood For Nearly Fifty Years
Copyright, 1919, by Pratt Food Co.
PRATTS PRACTICAL POINTERS
HORSES
While the automobile and the tractor are now doing much of the work formerly done by horses, the "horseless era" is still far off. A good horse will always be worth good money, will always be a desirable and profitable member of the farm family. But the undersized no-breed specimen will be even less valuable in the future than in the past.
The great demand for horses for army use and the high prices paid by the Government, tempted horse breeders and farmers to dispose of the fine specimens which alone met the exacting requirements of army buyers. It will take years to make good this tremendous wastage of horse flesh. But this is a big opportunity for breeders of good horses and we may expect them to make the most of it.
Prices of really desirable horses are now high. If you have a good one, take good care of him. Protect his health, lengthen his life. If you must buy, be sure that you get a sound animal which will serve you long and faithfully.
See the horse in his stall. If he has a spavin he will hop on one leg when made to "get over," or jerk it up as he backs out if he is affected with chorea (St. Vitus' dance). In the latter disease the tail is suddenly raised and quivers when the animal backs out of stall. Watch to see if the horse "cribs" and "sucks wind": also that he is not vicious in the stall. Stand him at rest on a level floor before exercise. If he is lame he will rest the sore foot.
Examine both sides of the horse. The dealer may stand the "bad side" next to a wall. Pick up each foot in turn. Suspect something wrong if he wears bar shoes, special shape shoes, leather soles or rubber pads. Remove all such things and examine carefully before buying.
————————————————————————————————- _Englewood, Colo.
I have had many dealings with rundown horses, both in the draft and hot blood classes, and Pratts goods have always brought them out on top.
JAS. S. KINSLEY, JR._ ————————————————————————————————-
Reject for contracted feet, steep heels, shrunken frogs and bars, dropped soles, corns, quarter cracks and signs of founder. See that hoof dressing does not cover evidences of un-soundness. Following bad attacks of founder the hoof grows out long at the toes, shows marked grooves and ridges, is convex at the points of the frogs, and the horse tends to thrust his forefeet out in front when standing and walks and trots on his heels. Ringbones are indicated by hard bony enlargements on the pastern; side-bones, by similar enlargements at the quarters just above juncture of horn and hair. Examine front of knees for scars indicating results of stumbling and falling. Similar scars on the inside of knees and fetlocks indicate objectionable cutting and interfering. Shoulders and hips should be smooth, well covered, and free from tumors or sores. No sores should be seen on back or top of neck under collar.
Examine teeth for age and soundness. See that eyes are of like color, are sound, and the eyelids whole.
The horse should allow one to examine his ears, and should neither hold them absolutely still nor keep them constantly moving. Still ears may indicate deafness; restless ones, poor eyesight or nervousness.
See that the horse goes sound and does not "roar" when galloped. Give him all the water he will drink before testing for "wind." It will bring out the characteristic symptoms of "heaves" if he has been "doped." Heaves is indicated by labored bellows-like action of the abdominal muscles when breathing. Examine the nostrils, as sponges or squeezed lemons may have been inserted to hide roaring.
————————————————————————————————- _Madison, Wis.
I think every man that owns horses should have Pratts Animal Regulator on hand. I am a teamster and find it of great benefit to my horses, whether run down or not.
HARRY E. BURMEISTER_ ————————————————————————————————-
A spavined horse starts out lame for a few steps or rods and then goes sound. A lame shoulder causes dragging of the toe and rolling when in motion. A ring-bone causes an extra long step and lameness increases with exercise. Stifle lameness causes walking on the heels of shoe and consequent wearing of the iron. Hip lameness causes outward rolling of the leg in trotting, and wasting of the muscles of stifle and hip leads to a characteristic drop. See that the horse's tail is sound, has not been joined on and is free from sores, tumors or evidences of recent docking. Always remember to back the horse up as well as drive or ride him and see that he is not only sound and gentle but suitable for the special work he will be required to do.
Care of the Horse
A grown work horse requires daily about one pound of grain (concentrate) for each hundred pounds of live weight. Of hay he will need a slightly larger amount or about fourteen to eighteen pounds a day, according to size, weight, and character of work done. The idle horse will do well on less grain and more roughage.
For a farm horse, 10 pounds of oats, 5 pounds of corn, and 3 pounds of bran, divided into three equal feeds, will make a suitable ration for one day.
The corn may be fed at noon to give variety. For the evening meal crushed oats, bran, and a few handfuls of cut hay, wetted and salted, will be relished. The bulk of the hay should be fed at night, and but two or three pounds of it at noon, during hot weather. Avoid dusty hay. Clover hay is apt to be moldy. It is suitable food for work horses, or idle drafters, if sound and not too liberally fed. Increase the corn in cold weather. Omit it in hot weather entirely. Alfalfa is of high feeding value, but if moldy, or fed as a well-nigh exclusive ration, is apt to affect the kidneys injuriously. It is deemed unsafe food for stallions, as it is said to induce impotence or sterility.
Horses should drink before they eat, unless they have ready access to fresh water. It is best to allow drinking water often in small quantities, even if the horse is hot. So used it will not hurt him. The horse's stomach holds three and one-half gallons. Water flows through the stomach along seventy or more feet of small intestine, into the "waterbag." Hay is not digested to any extent in the stomach. That organ cares for the concentrated food. Theoretically, a horse should drink first, then eat hay, then grain. Practically no great amount of water should be taken just after a meal as it tends to flush undigested food out of the stomach; nor should it be given soon after a meal.
All stables, pens, out houses, poultry houses and yards should be regularly disinfected every week; nothing better can be used than Pratts Dip and Disinfectant.
This preparation is entirely free from all dangerous substances, arsenic, mercury, etc., but full of medicinal qualities and properties which make it most effective without the dangerous results which are experienced with many other preparations, such as carbolic acid, etc. It kills disease germs and prevents contagious diseases from spreading.
Farm horses do not need blanketing in the stable under ordinary circumstances. A thin sheet in the stable keeps off flies and dust and is necessary. Pratts Fly Chaser is a proved and safe fly repellant. It does not gum the hair. Its efficiency is unequalled.
If a horse sweats under the blanket, uncover his rear parts. Always tuck the blanket about a horse's chest when standing on the street in inclement weather or when cooling off. Rubber loin covers, used on carriage horses in wet weather, should be perforated. In the spring, the amount of Pratts Animal Regulator given should be somewhat increased. This will put the horse into condition in much less time, and be of great assistance in helping to shed readily.
————————————————————————————————- _Winthrop, N.Y.
I have used Pratts Animal Regulator for the past three years and have found it very successful with both horses and hogs._
THOS. J. O'DONNELL._ ————————————————————————————————-
- INSURE LIVE STOCK HEALTH AND VIGOR Don't permit your hard-working, heavy-producing or fast-growing animals to become run-down and out of condition. It's much easier and less expensive to keep them right than to restore them to perfect health. The regular use of Pratts Animal Regulator absolutely insures health and vigor in live stock of all kinds. It keeps healthy animals in the pink of condition; it quickly puts half-sick, unprofitable stock in the money-making class. Pratts Animal Regulator, America's original guaranteed Stock Tonic and Conditioner, is not a food. It is a combination of roots, herbs, spices and medicines which sharpen appetite and improves digestion, regulates the bowels, makes rich, red blood, and naturally invigorates the organs of production. It promotes growth, improves health and strength, increases production. And all at very little cost. Packed in handy cartons, pails and boxes. The larger sizes are more economical. IF DISEASE APPEARS, CURE IT QUICK Early treatment is most necessary. Do not let the disorder become firmly seated before you attack it. Keep these Pratts Remedies on hand and use them at once if needed. Delay may mean the loss of a valuable animal. PRATTS COLIC REMEDY A quick certain cure for colic and acute indigestion in horses. Has a record of 998 cures out of 1,000 cases. Keep a bottle in each wagon and in your stable. PRATTS DISTEMPER and PINK EYE REMEDY It goes direct to the cause of the disease, purifies the blood, prevents weakening of the internal organs caused by impure blood or poisoned by absorbing the impure matter from the abscesses. PRATTS HEALING OINTMENT A splendid antiseptic ointment for man or beast. Keep a box on hand for cuts, burns, sores, scratches, eczema, galls, etc. PRATTS WORM POWDER is a special preparation for the destruction of all kinds of worms in horses, cows, hogs and sheep. It is purely vegetable and is unquestionably the quickest, surest and most thorough worm destroyer procurable. PRATTS LINIMENT For man or beast. The best thing in the world for lameness, sprains, bruises, thrush, kicks, shoe boils, etc. A bottle should be kept in every medicine chest. PRATTS HEAVE REMEDY A positive guaranteed remedy for heaves, coughs and colds. It cures coughs and colds by strengthening the digestive and respiratory organs, and counteracts the inflammation and irritation. Try a box on your "heavy" horse. PRATTS HEALING POWDER A guaranteed remedy for harness galls, sores, grease heel, bleeding ulcers, etc. It will arrest hemorrhage and check blood flow. Dirt and dust cannot get into wounds, as the Powder forms a coating over them. PRATTS FLY CHASER Gives comfort to Horses and Cows. Insures more milk and prevents annoyance at milking time to both the milker and the cow. Guaranteed to satisfy. Sold by 60,000 Pratts dealers. There is one near you. "YOUR MONEY BACK IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED" -
Always go to a horseshoer who thoroughly understands the anatomy of the horse's foot.
The hoof is not an insensitive mass of horn, to be cut, rasped, burned, nail-pierced, and hammered without causing pain or injury. It is a thin mass of horn overlying and intimately attached to a sensitive, blood and nerve-endowed tissue called the "quick" which is capable of suffering excruciating agony.
The slices should be made to fit the hoof and need to be reset once a month.
The permanent teeth are forty—twenty-four grinders, twelve front teeth and four tusks, except in mares, which seldom have tusks. The age of a horse can be told more or less accurately by the teeth.
The teeth are liable to disease and should be closely watched.
Bad teeth are often an unsuspected cause of indigestion, loss of condition, bad coat, slobbering and other troubles which puzzle the owner. Horses very often have decayed teeth, and suffer with toothache. These teeth should be removed.
Horse Diseases
If horses and cattle were left free to roam as Nature intended, many of their present-day ailments would be unknown. Man has taken these animals from Nature's broad garden, and confined them to the narrow limits of stable and stall. No longer can they seek out and instinctively find just those roots, herbs, seeds, and barks which their systems demand.
This explains why Pratts Animal Regulator has been used by successful horsemen for nearly a half century, as it is largely composed of these same vegetable ingredients from Nature's garden.
Merit and quality count, and while hosts of imitators have sprung up, none have ever come near equalling our product. Pratts Animal Regulator restores to the animals their natural constitutions and functions, supplying just that which they formerly had, but now lack. While not a cure for every disease, it is a positive preventive of the most common disorders.
It aids digestion and insures the animal receiving full benefit of its food; purifies the blood and keeps the bowels free and regular. After you have accomplished these three things, you need not fear disease in the shape of colic, bloat, heaves, hide-bound, distemper, constipation, worms, and the like.
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I shall be pleased to recommend Pratts Animal Regulator always, as my horse has gained in strength and weight and is looking fine, always having a glossy coat. He works hard every day in the dray business.
H.G. AMERINE.
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Barb-Wire Cuts
Clean with soap and water, and apply Pratts Healing Ointment or Pratts Healing Powder. These remedies heal naturally and leave no dangerous scar.
Colds
Symptoms.—A dull appearance of the horse, rough coat; the body will be hot in parts and cold in others; running of the eyes and a discharge from the nose.
Treatment.—Keep the horse warm and free from draughts; use nose bag and give Pratts Heave, Cough and Cold Remedy according to directions. It never fails. Give nourishing feed and bran mashes and Pratts Animal Regulator daily.
Colic
Common causes of colic are sudden changes of food; feeding too much or too seldom; feeding when the horse is hot and tired; watering or working too soon after a meal; feeding new oats, or new hay, or grass; or, in short, anything that is apt to derange digestion. There are various forms of colic. In cramp (spasmodic) colic, pains come and go and the horse rolls violently and fearlessly. In wind (flatulent) colic there is bloating of the right flank and the horse lies down, rolls without violence, breathes with difficulty, paws, looks around at his sides and finds no relief. In bloat of the stomach, gas and fluid gush back and forth from the stomach to the throat; flanks may not show bloat; pain is steady but not violent; horse sweats; nostrils flap; pulse is fast and weak; countenance is haggard and anxious. In enteritis (inflammation of the bowels) pain is constant and severe; the horse makes frequent attempts to lie down but is afraid to do so; pulse and temperature run high; membranes of eyelids, nostrils, and mouth are red; bowels and bladder do not act; horse may walk persistently in a circle. In impaction of the bowels, pains are comparatively mild or fugitive; horse is restless, paws often, strains and passes no manure, or only a few balls covered with slime and streaks of white mucus. In gut-tie, hernia, and other absolute stoppage of the bowels, symptoms of enteritis are common and the horse may, when down, strain and then sit on his haunches. The latter condition, and enteritis, usually prove fatal. Wind colic may need prompt use of the trocar and cannula to puncture high up in the right flank for liberation of gas. In impaction, raw linseed oil should be freely given in repeated doses of one pint, and rectal injections of soapy warm water and glycerine will help. No irritants should be inserted in the vagina or sheath in any form of colic. Stoppage of urine is a result of pain, not the cause of colic. The urine will come when the pain subsides. A good all-around colic remedy will be found in Pratts Veterinary Colic Remedy. It is compounded from the prescription of a qualified veterinarian and has a record of curing 998 cases out of 1,000 treated.
Constipation
All horses should be given a warm bran mash weekly and Pratts Animal Regulator daily, and constipation will be unknown. Constipation is often the cause of hide bound, rough coat and loss of flesh. Give a good physic of linseed oil, aloes or cantor oil, and use the Regulator mentioned above.
Coughs
Cause.—Chronic coughs are the result of distemper, sore throat, a neglected cold, catarrh or dusty hay, and frequently turn into heaves, bronchitis, etc.
Treatment.—Give only the best and most nourishing foods, dampened. Keep horse warm, and blanketed in a well ventilated stable.
If there is a swelling of the throat it should be blistered with Pratts Liniment, or Pratts Spavin Paste—A Blister. Use Pratts Heave, Cough and Cold Remedy according to directions.
Diarrhoea
Symptoms.—At first it resembles colic, and will be followed by violent diarrhoea; the discharge soon becomes merely discolored water and smells bad; the horse is very thirsty, the pulse thick and feeble, the heart skips its beats, the position of the horse is something like colic, and he sweats freely.
Cause.—From diseased condition of teeth, eating rich, juicy food, drinking impure water or from overdose of physic.
Treatment.—If the diarrhoea is severe, call a veterinarian. During and after recovery pay attention to the food. Avoid bran mashes. Much depends on the care at this time, and the constant using of Pratts Animal Regulator, with all feed, during his recovery. Feed lightly for first two or three days.
Distemper
Distemper and Pink Eye are closely related and one is often mistaken for the other.
It usually affects colts between the ages of three and five years. If a horse is once afflicted it is immune from a second attack. The feature of distemper is the swelling under the jaw, the size indicating the severity of the case. The animal is dull; the head has a "poked-out" appearance; coughs; no appetite; feet are cold; saliva runs from its mouth; has catarrhal symptoms and difficulty in swallowing; the name "strangles" is often applied to it. When this swelling forms on the lungs, liver, etc., the case is aggravated and difficult to cure.
Distemper is contagious. It may occur at any time, but is most prevalent from September to April.
Pratts Distemper and Pink Eye Remedy will positively relieve the disease at once. Blanket the horse and keep in a well-ventilated stable, free from draughts. Give cold water frequently in small quantities and feed with whatever he will eat. When an abscess forms on the outside and becomes soft, it should be opened and the soft parts surrounding it poulticed so that there will be no "bunch" left after it heals. Disinfect stable with Pratts Dip and Disinfectant.
Founder or Laminitis
Symptoms.—An inflammation of the entire foot which causes such intense pain that the animal cannot stand. The pulse is strong, thick and throbbing, and the horse lies down with legs stretched out.
Cause.—Over-exertion, or after-effects from chilling, inflammation of the lungs, bowels or mucous membrane of the bronchial tubes, etc.
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_Frankford, Pa.
I doctored a very lame horse with Pratts Liniment after trying other treatment for months. In a couple of days the lameness left and we used him every day till he died of old age._
ARTHUR C. SHIMEL_
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Treatment.—Remove the shoe, and soak the feet in warm water for six or eight hours and repeat in two or three days. Also apply Pratts Peerless Hoof Ointment at night all over the bottom of the foot and to all parts of the frog and at top of hoof joining the hair, and cover the entire wall of the foot. The horse should stand on a deep, soft bed. Cover with blankets. Feed bran mashes, vegetables and hay; no grain. Use wide-webbed shoes two weeks after recovery.
Heaves
The symptoms of this disease are chronic, spasmodic cough and simultaneous passage of gas from the rectum; double bellowslike action of the abdominal muscles in breathing; harsh staring coat; hide-bound skin; weakness, and ill-health in general. Over-burdening of the stomach with coarse, bulky, dusty, or woody hay or other roughage, and working the horse immediately after such a meal induces heaves. The horse that has inherited a gluttonous appetite is especially subject to the disease. Probably the most effective remedy for this disease is Pratts Heave Remedy. In addition to using the Remedy as directed, we would suggest wetting all food with lime water, feeding wet oat straw in winter and grass in summer in preference to hay; allowing double the customary rest period after meals and keeping the bowels freely open by feeding bran mashes containing raw linseed oil or flaxseed meal.
Itch
This is the name given to mange, eczema and other skin diseases. It is usually prevalent in summer and from a small beginning on an animal, will rapidly spread all over the body.
Treatment.—Wash the parts thoroughly with a solution of one part of Pratts Disinfectant to 20 parts water. Let it dry and then apply Pratts Healing Ointment or Healing Powder two or three times a day.
Lice
Sprinkle Pratts Disinfectant on an old blanket and tie it around the animal for two or three hours. This will quickly kill all vermin. Spray lightly upon the legs and such places that the blanket will not cover. Then spray thoroughly the stable and all poultry houses near with the Disinfectant, according to directions. Give Pratts Animal Regulator to build up the animals that have been affected.
Puncture and Wounds in the Foot
In all cases, the opening or puncture in the hoof must be made larger, so as to give free vent for the matter which is sure to form. If this is not done, quittor will follow. Then dress with Pratts Peerless Hoof Ointment.
While working the horse, a pledget of tow, covered with Pratts Peerless Hoof Ointment, may be placed in and over the puncture and confined; but it must not be allowed to remain after the horse returns to the stable. Soak the feet for eight or ten hours a day for two or three days in a 5% solution of Pratts Disinfectant and apply the Ointment. Horse will not have proud flesh when this remedy is used.
Quarter Cracks
Cut top of hoof above the crack deep enough to draw blood. Soak foot in hot water, apply Pratts Peerless Hoof Ointment and cover with oakum. Pare out sole and open heel—blacksmith must use care in expanding. Apply Pratts Peerless Hoof Ointment daily to the coronet and frogs—this is very important. Use bar shoe.
Thin Flesh
Animal needs a good tonic. Use Pratts Animal Regulator daily with the feed according to directions. This is a regulator, tonic and digestive and so works upon the blood, liver, bowels and digestive organs that the animal is quickly built up, and is given strength, health and flesh.
Thrush
Symptoms.—Shown by a foul discharge issuing from the cleft of the foot, and usually attended with decay of the horn and a vile odor. The foot is hot and hard.
Cause.—In the fore feet, it is generally the result of navicular disease or contraction of the feet. In the hind feet it is entirely caused by filthy stables, allowing the feet to stand in decaying manure.
Treatment.—Have absolute cleanliness in the stable and stalls, disinfecting with Pratts Disinfectant. Wash the foot thoroughly with soap and water, and cut away all diseased and ragged parts as well as the white, powdery decayed horn and substance, even if the flesh is exposed and the frog much reduced. Then pour Pratts Liniment over the affected parts. Dress daily until cured. Another excellent remedy is to wash out diseased portion of hoof with one part Pratts Disinfectant and 20 parts of water three times a day.
Worms
Horses take in worm eggs on pasture, in hay, and in drinking water from contaminated troughs or ponds. Marsh or swale hay is particularly liable to infest with worms. Avoid sources of worms. Cleanliness is imperative.
Cut down feed one-half, mix bran with feed and dampen it. Give one dose of Pratts Specially Prepared Worm Powder with the feed twice a day for four days. After fourth day give large, soft, well-scalded bran mash to loosen bowels freely. Repeat the bran mashes if necessary, as the bowels must be moved freely. Should the horse refuse to eat the bran mash, it will be necessary to give him a dose of Glauber's salts, or some other purge to loosen the bowels.
Pin Worms.—Sometimes pin worms remain just inside the rectum, and are very hard and stubborn to cure. In cases of this kind, if the desired result is not obtained by feeding Pratts Worm Powder, dissolve one of the powders in a quart of water and inject in the rectum. Repeat this once a day in the evening, and continue for four or five days. Do not fail in this case, as in all other cases of worms, to feed bran mashes until the bowels are freely moved, and should the horse refuse the bran mash or should it fail to move the bowels, give the horse a dose of Glauber's salts.
Pratts Worm Powder is a special preparation for the destruction of all kinds of worms in horses, hogs, and sheep. It is purely vegetable, has a strong tonic effect that builds up and helps the animal to regain strength, and is the quickest and most thorough worm destroyer on the market.
- Every PRATT PREPARATION is sold with a positive and absolute GUARANTEE "Your Money Back If You Are Not Satisfied." -
CATTLE
Cows will bring large or small profits in proportion to the care they receive. If properly housed, properly fed, properly bred, and properly protected against disease they will fully repay the little extra attention required. Strive intelligently to secure the greatest possible regular production. Keep a sharp lookout for unfavorable symptoms and be prompt in finding a cause for poor condition and remedying it. Cows kept in perfect health are the least expense, least trouble, and the greatest profit-earners.
You do not need to be a veterinarian to know that the health of a cow depends on a good healthy appetite with complete digestion and perfect assimilation of the daily ration.
That is just plain common sense. No cow which is not a big eater can be profitable. But appetite is not of itself sufficient to make a cow a money maker. There must be sound digestion.
Once establish and maintain good digestion, food performs its natural functions. Bodily waste is repaired. Strength and growth are noticed and the cow gives the utmost possible amount of milk. See then, that your cows have hearty, healthy appetites and good digestion. Good digestion does not always follow a large appetite. A cow giving only a few quarts of milk a day will often eat as much as one giving gallons. She requires the same amount of care and attention.
The trouble is that she does not have good digestion to convert food into milk. Of course there are cows which will always be small milkers, but there are many many more cows which can be made to give substantial, paying increase of milk production if proper attention is given them. Perhaps there are such cows in your herd. Without your even realizing it, they are out of condition. A little help and they would give enough more milk to pay you a satisfactory profit.
This "help" can easily be given. Your own dealer has it. We mean Pratts Cow Remedy, for cows only.
We all know how, when we are well, the sight or smell of pleasant tasting food, "makes the mouth water." This is literally true because the digestive glands of the mouth and stomach pour out their secretions and are ready to begin digesting the food.
When, however, the nerves fail to send their messages to the glands or the glands fail to respond, we have a diseased condition and we take medicine to assist in recovery.
Thus the sensation known as appetite is really at the basis of sound health. Without it, it is doubtful if animals would eat enough to supply their bodily needs.
The mere forcing of food into the stomach would avail little. There must be desire for food, and restoring the appetite is the first step in bringing the health back. In other words an appetizer is often required to induce us to eat. Then thorough digestion builds up bodily strength.
Pratts Cow Remedy does all this for the cow, assisting Nature in bringing up the appetite, stimulating digestion, restoring and maintaining health.
Cattle is generally divided into dairy, beef and dual purpose breeds. The names signify the advantages claimed for them. In the dairy breeds, the Holstein, Jersey, Guernseys, French Canadian and Ayrshire are leaders.
Shorthorns, Herefords, Polled Durhams are the best-known beef breeds.
While among the dual purpose breeds, Milking Shorthorns, Red Polls, Brown Swiss and Devons have many admirers.
The indications when selecting dairy females, and important in the order given, are: (1) Much length or depth in the barrel or coupling, indicating a large possible consumption and utilization of food. (2) Refinement of form, as evidenced more particularly in the head, neck, withers, thighs, and limbs. (3) Good development of udder and milk veins. (4) Constitution, as indicated by a capacious chest, much width through the heart, a broad loin, a full, clear eye, and an active carriage. (5) Downward and yet outward spring and open-spaced ribs, covered with a soft, pliable and elastic skin.
The essential indications of correct form in beef cattle are: (1) A compact form wide and deep throughout, and but moderately long in the coupling. (2) A good back, wide from neck to tail, well fleshed, and straight. (3) A good front quarter, wide, deep, and full. (4) A good hind quarter, long, wide, and deep. (5) Good handling qualities, as indicated in elastic flesh and pliant skin.
The important indications of good form in dual females are: (1) Medium to large size for the breed or grade. (2) Good length and depth in the coupling. (3) Good development of udder and milk veins. (4) Good constitution, as indicated by good width through the heart. (5) Head and neck inclining to long and fine. (6) Ribs of medium spring, open spaced, and covered with a good handling skin. The dual types have an absence of extreme development in the direction of either the dairy or the beef form.
In males selected for breeding, the evidences of masculinity should be markedly present. These include increased strength as shown in the head, neck, breast, shoulders, back and limbs.
The advantage of having pure blood stock over "scrubs" is apparent. For those, however, who want something better than scrubstock and cannot pay the high price which pure blood commands, the ownership of grade cattle offers a satisfactory solution of the problem.
Grading consists in mating thoroughbred sires with common females and with the female progeny for a number of generations. Where the work is wisely done by the use of good sires, accompanied by the rejection of all inferior animals for future breeding, the progeny of beef sires may be brought up to the level of the pure breed for beef making from which the sires have been selected in four generations. To bring milking qualities up to the level may call for one or two more generations of such breeding. Not only do these grade animals answer almost equally well, with pure breeds, but they may be bought for much less.
If cows are to produce a maximum return in milk, they must be kept in comfort. In winter they are usually tied in the stall. The light should be ample and the ventilation thorough. Lack of proper ventilation causes the spread of tuberculosis in cattle.
Cows must be allowed exercise, even in winter.
They should be allowed to go out daily for an hour or more into a sheltered yard, save on days when the weather is extreme; or, better still, be given the liberty of a closed and well-ventilated shed during a portion of the day. It should be supplied with a fodder rack.
In summer, cows in milk must be protected from storms, from excessive sunshine, and from flies, as far as this may be practicable. Pratts Fly Chaser is unequalled as a fly repellant. It is perfectly safe to use, does not injure or gum the hair, and is economical. A light spray is both lasting and effective.
Cows in milk should be driven gently. The pasture should not be too distant from the stable, and driving during the heat of the day should be avoided.
The quality of milk is easily injured by coming in direct contact with foreign substances or by imbibing odors. The milk must be drawn from clean udders, with clean hands, into clean pails, and amid clean surroundings. The stables must have attention. The udder and teats should be wiped off by using a damp cloth. Milking should be done with dry hands into metal pails, kept clean by scalding. Milking before feeding prevents dust particles from getting into the milk. Noxious odors are kept down by the prompt removal of droppings and by strewing sand, plaster, rock phosphate, or dry earth in the manure gutters.
————————————————————————————————- _Elderton, Pa.
"I have used Pratts Cow Remedy with best results. I fully believe it cannot be surpassed for increasing the flow of milk."
JAS. YOUNG._ ————————————————————————————————-
Unless milking is done at stated times, and by the same person, there will be a loss in the production. When milking is delayed, a decreased flow is noticeable the following morning. When a change of milkers is made, some cows resent it by withholding a part of the milk.
It is not easy to dry some dairy cows prior to the birth of the next calf, and yet, as a rule, it ought to be done. When they are to be dried the process should begin by milking them once a day and putting them on dry food. The food may also be reduced somewhat in quantity. Later the milk is taken out at intervals which constantly increase in length until the cow is dry. The udder should be carefully watched during the later stages of the drying process.
Where suitable pasture may be obtained, it is usually a cheaper source of food for cows than soiling food or cured fodders, as the element of labor in giving the food is largely eliminated. The best pastures, viewed from the standpoint of production, are those grown on lands that may be irrigated during the season of growth. These consist of clover and certain grasses. Permanent pastures which are grown on moist land, and which contain a number of grasses, are usually satisfactory, but the nature of the pasture must, of course, be largely determined by the attendant conditions. Blue grass pastures are excellent while succulent and abundant, but in midsummer they lose their succulence for weeks in succession. Brouer grass is a favorite pasture in northwestern areas, and Bermuda grass in the South. In the Eastern and Central States, the most suitable pastures are made up of blue grass, timothy, and orchard grass, and of the common red, white and alsike clovers.
There is more or less of hazard to cows when grazing on alfalfa—liability to bloating, which may result fatally. Likewise second growth sorghum or the second growth of the non-saccharine sorghums is full of hazard, especially in dry seasons when it has become stunted in growth. Nor should rape and rye be grazed, save for a short time after the cows have been milked, lest they give a taint to the milk.
The change from winter rations to grazing should never be suddenly made, or purging caused by the fresh grass will lead to loss in weight and loss of milk, though at first there will probably be an advance in the same. The change may be made in outline as follows:
(1) The cows will not be turned out until after the food given in the morning has been sufficiently consumed.
(2) They will be kept out an hour, or two the first day, and the time increased.
(3) The time called for to effect the change should never be less than one week or more than three.
(4) As soon as the change begins, the reduction in succulent food, ensilage, and field roots should also begin.
(5) The dry fodder should be continued morning and evening as long as the cows will take it.
(6) There should be some reduction and it may be modification in the grain for a short time.
After turning out a full supply may be necessary. Should the pasture be composed mainly of grasses, food rich in protein, as wheat bran, should be fed, but if it is composed mainly of clover, then more carbonaceous grain, as corn, should be fed.
When pasture is succulent and abundant, it is a disputed point as to whether it will pay to feed meal of any kind in addition. The following conclusion in regard to this question would seem safe:
When cows are fed grain on pastures succulent and abundant, the tendency is to increase the yield in the milk and also to increase flesh.
The quality of the milk is not materially influenced.
————————————————————————————————- _Millsboro, Del.
Pratts Cow Remedy was fed to the cow from the receipt of Remedy until the calf was eight weeks old and the calf weighed 234 pounds and was acknowledged unanimously to be the nicest calf that was ever shipped from this depot.
W.R. ATKINS._ ————————————————————————————————-
Some saving is effected in the grazing, and the resultant fertilizer from the grain fed has a tangible value. It is certain, therefore, that full value will be obtained for a small grain ration thus fed.
GET MORE MILK MONEY Help your cows, every one, to give the largest possible amount of milk and to produce big, strong, husky calves each season. The extra pounds of milk, the extra value of the calves are all clear profit. It costs as much to house and care for and nearly as much to feed a poor producer as a good one. The first may be kept at a loss. The latter is a sure profit-payer. The difference is generally merely a matter of physical condition. And this you can control. Pratts Cow Remedy makes cows healthy and productive. It is not a food it is all medicine, preventive and curative. It is absolutely safe to use because free from arsenic, antimony and other dangerous ingredients. PRATTS COW REMEDY is nature's able assistant. It not only improves appetite and assists digestion, increases milk yield and percentage of butter fat, but in large measure prevents and overcomes such disorders as barrenness and abortion, garget, milk fever, scours, indigestion, liver and kidney troubles. The reason is plain when you know the ingredients. Here they are gentian root, Epsom salts, capsicum, oxide of iron, fenugreek, nux vomica, ginger root, charcoal, soda, salt. All of superior quality and properly proportioned and combined. You may think your cows are doing their best when they are not. Now find out. Secure a supply of the original and genuine Pratts Cow Remedy. Use it and watch results. You will be astonished and delighted. But if for any reason you are not "YOUR MONEY BACK IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED"
As soon as the supply of pasture becomes insufficient in quantity or lacking in succulence, it should be supplemented with food cut and fed in the green form, as winter rye, oats and peas, and oats and vetches grown together, millet in several varieties, grasses, perennial and Italian rye, especially the latter, alfalfa, the medium red, the mammoth, alsike and crimson clovers, corn of many varieties, and the sorghums. Alfalfa, where it can be freely grown, is king among soiling foods. Peas and oats grown together are excellent, the bulk being peas. Corn is more commonly used, and in some sections sweet sorghum is given an important place. The aim should be to grow soiling foods that will be ready for feeding in that succession that will provide food through all the summer and autumn. Soiling furnished by grains, grasses, and clovers are usually fed in the stables or feed yards, and corn and sorghum are usually strewn over the pastures, as much as is needed from day to day.
Where much soiling food is wanted from year to year, it would seem safe to say that it can be most cheaply supplied in the form of silage. Even when grass is abundant, cows will eat with avidity more or less of ensilage well made. They should not be fed in winter more than 25 pounds per animal per day, but the quantity needed is determined largely by the condition of the pastures. Because of the less quantity of the silage called for in summer, the silo that contains the silage should be of less diameter than the silo that holds food for winter use, otherwise the exposed silage will dry out too much between the times of feeding it.
In autumn soiling foods may be fed with profit that are possessed of less succulence than would suffice at an earlier period, as in the autumn the pastures are usually more succulent than in the summer. Corn may be fed at such a time with much advantage from the shock, and sorghum that has been harvested may likewise be fed from the shock or from the cocks. Pumpkins may be thrown into the pasture and broken when fed.
Viewed from the standpoint of milk production, the legumes (clover, cow peas, soy beans, etc.) must be assigned first rank. After these come grain fodders, corn and sorghum fodders, and fodders from grasses, suitable in the order named. Lowest of all is straw furnished by the small cereals. Fodders when fed are not restricted in quantity as concentrates are.
Among legumes, hay furnished by alfalfa, any of the clovers, cow peas, soy beans and vetches, is excellent for producing milk when these are cut at the proper stage and properly cured. Alfalfa should be cut for such feeding when only a small per cent. of blooms have been formed, clovers when in full bloom, and cow peas, soy beans, and vetches when the first forward pods are filling. Proper curing means by the aid of wind stirring through the mass rather than sun bleaching it.
When good leguminous fodders are fed, from 33 to 50 per cent. less grain will suffice than would be called for when non-leguminous fodders only are fed.
————————————————————————————————- _Leavenworth, Kansas.
When two veterinarians had given up a cow to die, I gave her Pratts Animal Regulator with the result that she was on her feed in about a week. I am a constant user of Pratt Products.
J.D. WATSON._ ————————————————————————————————-
Fodder may usually be cheaply furnished from corn and sorghum, when grown so that the stalks are fine and leafy, and if cut when nearing completed maturity and well cured. Such food is excellent for milk production when fed with suitable adjuncts, even though the fodder is grown so thickly that nubbins do not form. The aim should be to feed the sorghums in the autumn and early winter and the corn so that it may be supplemented by other hay when the winter is past, as later than the time specified these foods deteriorate.
Rye and wheat straw are of little use in making milk, oat straw is better, and good bright pea straw is still more valuable. When fodder is scarce, these may be fed to advantage if run through a cutting box and mixed with cut hay.
————————————————————————————————- _Thomaston, Ga.
Since I started feeding her Pratts Cow Remedy, my cow has shown an increase in her daily flow of milk of over one gallon and is now in better condition than she has ever been. I give all the credit for this remarkable improvement to Pratts Cow remedy.
O.W. JONES._ ————————————————————————————————-
The necessity for feeding succulent food in some form where maximum milk yields are to be attained has come to be recognized by all dairy-men. The plants that furnish succulence in winter are corn in all its varieties, field roots of certain kinds, and the sorghums. Corn and sorghum to furnish the necessary succulence must be ensiled. Corn ensilage is without a rival in providing winter succulence for cows. Field roots furnish succulence that, pound for pound, is more valuable than corn, because of the more favorable influence which it exerts on the digestion. But roots cost more to grow than corn. Rutabagas and turnips will give the milk an offensive taint if fed freely at any other time than just after the milk has been withdrawn, but that is not true of mangel wurtzel, sugar beets, or carrots.
The necessity for giving grain feed containing high percentage of digestible matter (known as concentrates) to dairy cows is based on the inability of the cow to consume and digest enough coarse fodders to result in maximum production, even though the fodders should be in balance as to their constituents.
Concentrates are purchased or home grown. It matters not from which source they are obtained, but the values of those purchased are becoming so high as to force upon dairy-men the necessity of growing them at home as far as this may be practicable, and of insuring sound digestion by giving some such tonic and appetizer as Pratts Cow Remedy. This splendid prescription should be kept on hand the year round, and should be given with every feeding, especially in winter. Its value in keeping up milk production and for maintaining health is unequalled.
The method of furnishing concentrates by growing certain of the small grains in combination is growing in favor. These combinations may include wheat, barley, outs, peas, and flax. Frequently but two varieties are grown together. They are grown thus, in the first place, to secure better yields, and, in the second, to furnish concentrates in approximate balance. Such a food, for instance, is obtained from growing wheat and oats together, and if some flax is grown in the mixture it will be further improved.
When choosing concentrates for feeding cows, the aim should be to select them so that when fed along with the roughage on hand, they will be in approximate balance, that is, the elements in them will best meet the needs of the cows.
If a flesh and milk-making food, like clover, is the source of the fodder, then a fat and heat-producing food, like corn, should furnish a large proportion of the grain fed. But it is not more profitable in all instances to feed foods in exact balance. Some of the factors may be so high priced and others so cheap that it will pay better to feed them more or less out of balance.
When good clover hay or alfalfa is being fed to cows in milk, any one of the following grain supplements will give satisfactory results.
(1) Corn meal and wheat bran, equal parts by weight.
(2) Corn meal, wheat bran, and ground oats in the proportions of 2, 1, and 1 parts.
(3) Corn meal, wheat bran, and cottonseed meal in the proportion of 2, 1, and 1 parts. Whether corn meal or corn and cob meals is fed is not very material. Barley meal may be fed instead of corn.
Should corn ensilage be fed to the extent of, say, 40 pounds per day along with clover or alfalfa, any one of the following grain supplements should suffice:
(1) Corn or barley meal, wheat bran, and ground oats, fed in equal parts by weight.
(2) Corn or barley meal and wheat bran, fed in the proportions of 1 and 2 parts.
(3) Corn or barley meal, cottonseed meal, and wheat or rice bran, fed in equal proportions.
(4) Ground peas and oats, also fed in equal proportions. The succotash mixture may be fed alone or in conjunction with other meal added to make the food still more in balance.
It is preferable to feed meal admixed with cut fodders. The mastication that follows will then be more thorough and the digestion more complete. When ensilage is fed, admixture will result sufficiently if the meal is thrown over the ensilage where it has been put into the mangers.
In order to insure the animal obtaining full benefit of all its feed, it will be found highly profitable to include Pratts Cow Remedy with the daily ration. It acts as a digestive and at the same time insures a healthy and natural action of the bowels.
Bulls should be fed and managed with a view to secure good, large and robust physical development and the retention of begetting powers unimpaired to a good old age. The aim should be to avoid tying bulls in the stall continuously for any prolonged period, but to give them opportunity to take exercise in box stalls, paddocks, and pastures to the greatest extent that may be practicable.
————————————————————————————————- _Jacksonville, Fla.
Have used Pratts Cow Remedy with good success as a general tonic and for increasing milk. Omitting it at intervals as a test showed a falling off of about a pint for each cow, which was always made up when the remedy was added.
T.C. JOHNSTON._ ————————————————————————————————-
A ring should be inserted in the nose when not yet one year old. Rings most commonly used are two and one-half to three inches in diameter. When inserting them the head of the animal should be drawn tightly up to a post or other firm objects, so that the muzzle points upward at a suitable angle. A hole is then made with a suitable implement through the cartilage between the nasal passages, and forward rather than backward in the cartilage. The ring is then inserted, the two parts are brought together again, and they are held in place by a small screw. When ringed, a strap or rope with a spring attached will suffice for a time when leading them, but later they should be led with a lead, which is a strong, tough circular piece of wood, four to five feet long, with a snap attached to one end.
SELL THE MILK BUT GROW THE CALVES Whole milk is too valuable to use as calf feed, even if calves both veals and those kept for dairy purposes are selling at such high prices. Sell the milk, get all the cash out of it, but grow the calves just the same. Merely feed the perfect milk substitute PRATTS CALF MEAL "BABY FOOD FOR BABY CALVES" When prepared and fed in accordance with the simple directions, Pratts Calf Meal will grow calves equal to those grown on whole or skim-milk and at less cost. This truly wonderful calf feed has practically the same chemical composition as the solids of whole milk. It is made of superior materials, carefully selected and especially adapted to calf feeding. These are milled separately and bolted to remove hulls and coarse particles, which insures perfect digestion. Finally, the mixture is thoroughly steam-cooked, in a sense pre-digested. Calves fed Pratts way thrive and grow rapidly and are not subject to scours and other calf disorders. Just make a test. Feed some calves your way and some Pratts way. Let your eye and the scales tell the story. Learn how easy it is to grow the best of calves at less cost. "YOUR MONEY BACK IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED"
Avoid using in service bulls under one year. During the one-year form they should not be allowed to serve more than a score of cows; after they have reached the age of 24 to 30 months they may be used with much freedom in service until the vital forces begin to weaken with age. When properly managed, waning should not begin before the age of 7 or 8 years. It has been found that the bull's service can be made more sure by the use of Pratts Cow Remedy, because of its mild and safe tonic properties. Bulls should he able to serve from 75 to 300 cows a year without injury when the times of service spread over much of the year.
Calves reared to be made into meat at a later period are very frequently allowed to nurse from their dams. This should never be done in the dairy. Such a method of raising them is adverse to maximum milk giving, as the calves when young cannot take all the milk the cows are capable of giving; hence the stimulus is absent that would lead her to give more.
At no time in the life of a dairy cow should she be allowed to suckle her calf longer than the third day of its existence.
In certain parts of the country, especially where whole milk is sold for consumption in the cities, dairy-men frequently kill calves at birth because of lack of milk for feeding them. This practice is wrong and unnecessary. All strong calves should be grown, either for milking animals or veal. And this can now be done, easily and cheaply, by feeding Pratts Calf Meal, the perfect milk substitute, the guaranteed "baby food for baby calves." When this scientific food is used, calves of really superior quality, big, sturdy, vigorous, are grown practically without milk.
Pratts Calf Meal must not be confused with coarse mixtures of mill by-products sometimes sold as "calf meal" or "calf food." Pratts is as carefully made as the baby foods which are so widely used for children. It appeals to the calf's appetite, is easily and quickly digested, produces rapid growth and even development. It does not cause scours and other digestive troubles. And it is easy to prepare and feed.
In chemical composition, Pratts Calf Meal is practically identical with the solids of whole milk. It is made exclusively of materials especially suited to calf feeding and these are always of the highest quality obtainable. This is one secret of the great success of this truly remarkable feed.
The various materials are ground very fine, milled separately, and are then bolted to remove any coarse particles. They are then combined in exact proportions and thoroughly mixed.
Finally, the mixture is steam-cooked, which makes the feed easy to digest and assimilate. This expensive, but most necessary process, prevents indigestion and bowel troubles which accompany the use of unbolted, uncooked meals.
Where milk is available for calf feeding the following plan may be used:
The young calf should take milk from its dam for, say, three days. During that period the milk is only fit for feeding purposes. It is very important that the calf shall be started right, and in no way can this be done so well as by Nature's method, that is, by allowing it to take milk from the dam at will. At the end of that time it should be taught to drink. This can usually be accomplished without difficulty by allowing the calf to become hungry before its first lesson in drinking. It should be given all whole milk, for say, two weeks. This given in three feeds per day, and not more in quantity, as a rule, than two quarts at a feed.
The change from whole to skim-milk should be made gradually. A small amount of skim-milk should be added to the whole milk the first day, and a corresponding amount of whole milk withheld. The amount of skim-milk increased from day to day, and the whole milk fed decreased correspondingly. The time covered in making the change from all whole to all skim-milk should be from one to two weeks. Any skim-milk that is sweet will answer, but it should not be fed to young calves at a lower temperature than about 98 degrees in winter. Milk obtained by cream separators, soon after drawn from the cow, is particularly suitable.
As soon as the change from whole to skim-milk is begun, some substitute should be added to replace the fat withheld by reducing the amount of whole milk fed. Ground flax or oil-meal is the best. It is generally fed in the latter form. In some instances the oil-meal is put directly into the milk beginning with a heaping teaspoonful and gradually increasing the quantity. A too lax condition of the digestion would indicate that an excessive amount was being fed. Later the meal may be more conveniently fed when mixed with other meal.
————————————————————————————————- _Riverdale, Md.
Very much pleased with results of Pratts Animal Regulator during the present period of my cows breeding. An extraordinary strong calf and the mother in fine condition.
WM. C. GRAY._ ————————————————————————————————-
As soon as the calves will eat meal it should be given to them. No meal is more suitable at the first than ground oats and wheat bran. A little later whole oats will answer quite well. To calves grown for dairy uses they may form the sole grain food. If the calves are to be grown for beef, some more fattening food, as ground corn, or ground barley, should be added to the meal. For such calves, equal parts of bran, oats whole or ground, and ground corn, barley, rye, or speltz are excellent. Until three months old they may be allowed to take all the grain that they will eat. Later it may be necessary to restrict the quantity fed. Calves for the dairy must be kept in a good growing condition, but without an excess of fat. The meal should be kept in a box at all times accessible to the calves and should be frequently renewed. Grain feeding may cease when the calves are put upon pasture.
As soon as the calves will eat fodder it should be given to them. Fodder gives the necessary distention to the digestive organs, which makes the animals capable of taking a sufficient quantity of food to result in high production. Alfalfa, clover-hay, and pea and oat hay are excellent, provided they are of fine growth and cut before they are too advanced in growth. If field roots can be added to the fodder the result in development and good digestion will be excellent. Any kind of field roots are good, but mangels, sugar beets, and rutabagas are the most suitable because of their good keeping qualities. They should be fed sliced, preferably with a root slicer, and the calves may be given all that they will eat without harm resulting.
The duration of the milk period more commonly covers three to four months with calves that are hand fed, but it may be extended indefinitely providing skim-milk may be spared for such a use. Such feeding is costly. Calves reared on their dams are seldom allowed milk for more than six or seven months, save when they are reared for show purposes.
(1) The amount should be determined by the observed capacity of the calf to take milk and by the relative cost of the skim-milk and the adjuncts fed along with it.
(2) During the first weeks until it begins to eat other food freely, it should be given all the milk that it will take without disturbing the digestion.
(3) Usually it would be safe to begin with six pounds of milk per day, giving eight pounds at the end of the first week, and to add one pound each week subsequently until the age of 10 to 12 weeks. Any excess of milk given at one time usually disturbs the digestion and is followed by too lax a condition of the bowels.
When milk has been the chief food, and the weaning is sudden, usually growth will be more or less arrested. When sustained largely on other foods, the change may be made without any check to the growth, even in the case of calves that suck their dams. When hand raised, the quantity of milk is gradually reduced until none is given. In the case of sucking calves they should be allowed to take milk once a day for a time before being shut entirely away from the dams. The supplementary food should be strengthened as the milk is withheld.
Calves should have constant access to good water, even during the milk period, and also to salt.
Where many are fed simultaneously, the milk should be given in pails kept scrupulously clean. The pails should be set in a manger, but not until the calves have been secured by the neck in suitable stanchions. As soon as they have taken the milk, a little meal should be thrown into each pail. Eating the dry meal takes away the desire to suck one another.
Calves of the dairy, dual purpose, and beef breeds may be reared by hand along the same lines, but with the following points of difference:
(1) The dual types want to carry more flesh than the dairy types, and the beef types more than either.
(2) To secure this end, more and richer milk must be given to calves of the beef type, especially during the first weeks of growth. Forcing calves of the beef type would be against the highest development attainable. Until the milking period is reached, the food and general treatment for the three classes is the same. They should be in fair flesh until they begin to furnish milk.
————————————————————————————————- _Coshocton, Ohio.
With good care and Pratts Animal Regulator (which I have used for two years) this Jersey calf grew like a weed. I can prove what it has done for my cow and calves.
MRS. ELLEN BUTZ._ ————————————————————————————————-
When calves come in the autumn, the heifers enter the first winter strong and vigorous. They should be so fed that growth will be continuous right through the winter, but on cheap foods. It is different with animals for the block, which should have grain every winter until sold, when reared on the arable farm, unless roots are freely fed, when they may be carried through the winter in fine form on straw and cornstalks, feeding some hay toward spring. They may be fed in an open or a closed shed, and without being tied when dehorned as they ought to be when not purely bred. It is a good time to dehorn them when about one year old, as they will be more peaceful subsequently than if the horns had never been allowed to grow. The bedding should be plentiful and they should have free access to water and salt.
To carry growing animals through the winter so that they make no increase and in some instances lose weight, to be made up the following summer, is short-sighted policy and wasteful of food. If a stunted condition is allowed at any time, increase is not only retarded, but the capacity for future increase is also lessened.
The pastures for heifers should be abundant, or supplemented by soiling food where they are short. This is specially necessary because the heifers will then be pregnant, and because of the burden thus put upon them in addition to that of growth, certain evils will follow.
In some instances calves are grown on whole milk and adjuncts, and are sold at the age of 6 to 9 months. This is practicable when two or three calves are reared on one cow. The meal adjuncts to accompany such feeding may consist of ground corn, oats, bran, and oil meal, fed in the proportions of, say 4, 2, 1, and 1 parts by weight. In some instances they are kept two or three months longer, and when sold such calves well fattened bring high prices.
The growing of baby beef is coming into much favor. Baby beef means beef put upon the market when it can no longer be called veal and when considerably short of maturity, usually under the age of 24 months. To grow such beef properly animals must be given a good healthy start, growth must not be interrupted and must be reasonably rapid, and the condition of flesh in which they are kept must be higher than for breeding uses. The process is in a sense a forcing one through feeding of relatively large amounts of grain. Though kept in good flesh all the while, the highest condition of flesh should be sought during the latter stages of feeding.
When stall feeding begins, cattle are led up gradually during preliminary feeding to full feeding. Full feeding means consumption of all grain and other food the animal can take without injuring digestion. A lean animal cannot be fattened quickly. Before rapid deposits of fat can occur the lean animal must be brought into a well-nourished condition. Preliminary feeding should cover a period of four to eight weeks in ordinary fattening.
When cattle are to be finished on grass, they are usually fed a moderate amount of grain daily the previous winter. The amount will be influenced by the character of the fodders and by the season when the cattle are to be sold. Usually it is not less than three pounds per animal, daily, nor more than six pounds. Steers will fatten in much shorter time when Pratts Cow Remedy is used. It causes them to quickly put on solid flesh, due to its action on the blood, bowels, and digestive organs.
COMMON DISEASES OF CATTLE
The cow is generally healthy and if fed, stabled and cared for properly she will seldom be ill.
When a cow is sick, provide clean, comfortable quarters, with plenty of bedding and let her lie down. If weather is cold, cover her with a blanket. A healthy cow has a good appetite, the muzzle is moist, the eye bright, coat is smooth, the horns are warm, breathing is regular, the milk is given in good quantities and the process of rumination is constant soon after eating. The sick cow has more or less fever, the muzzle is dry and hot, the breathing is rapid, no appetite, an increase in the pulse, dull eye, rough coat, a suspension of rumination, and the cow will stand alone with head down. Usually all that is needed is Pratts Cow Remedy with bran mashes and good digestible feed. Give pure, clean water, and careful attention.
Preventing Milk Fever
Many excellent cows have been lost through milk fever within a day or two of the birth of the calf. The preventive measures include:
(1) Reducing the quantity of the food fed.
(2) Feeding food that is not unduly succulent, lest the milk flow should be overstimulated.
(3) Giving a mild purgative a day or two before the calf is born, or within a few hours after its birth. The purgative most commonly used is Epsom salts, and the dose is three-quarters of a pound to one pound.
(4) Removing only a small portion of the milk at a time for the first two or three days. Only moderate amounts of food are necessary until the danger of milk fever is past. Where Pratts Cow Remedy has been given, there is little, if any, danger of milk fever. The value of this splendid prescription during the calving season has been tested time and time again.
Abortion
A germ disease highly contagious and one of the most injurious of those which affect dairy cattle. The money-making value of a herd in which the germs of contagious abortion are permitted to exist will be completely destroyed.
A cow which has once aborted will do so again unless carefully treated. So contagious is the disease that the germs introduced into a perfectly healthy cow will cause her to abort, and it is no uncommon thing for the infection to spread through an entire herd in a single season. The herd bull readily becomes a source of herd infection, and service from a bull, where there are aborting cows should be refused.
Cause.—By infection, the herding together of a large number of cows, high feeding, smutty corn and ergotty pastures. In a small number of cows abortion may result from accidental injuries. Such cases are pure accidents and are not to be considered along with contagious abortion.
————————————————————————————————- _Bradford, Ohio.
Abortion had got a hold on my herd and I was expecting to have to dispose of them, when Pratts Cow Remedy came to my rescue. Calves are all coming now at the right time.
BENJ. LOXLEY, JR._ ————————————————————————————————-
Treatment.—As in all contagious diseases, treatment should be given the infected animals and sanitary measures with treatment should be adopted to prevent its spread to healthy cows. For increasing the disease resistance of cows as well as for building up the vitality of infected and suspected animals, Pratts Cow Remedy is most effective. It is a true remedy and tonic, which restores to health and upbuilds the cow's constitution. It is all medicine, free from harmful ingredients or mineral poisons.
Give one level tablespoonful of Pratts Cow Remedy three times a day to each cow, either with the grain or separately.
Pratts Cow Remedy should be given before and after service, and when Contagious Abortion is only suspected, should be continued during the period when the cow is in calf.
An excellent preventive practice is to douche the vagina of all pregnant cows and to wash the tails and hind quarters of the entire herd with one part Pratts Dip and Disinfectant to 100 parts warm water.
As a certain number of the cows will harbor the germ in the womb when treatment is started, it is not to be expected that abortion will cease at once, but by keeping up the treatment the trouble will probably disappear the following year.
When the small cost of Pratts Cow Remedy and Pratts Dip and Disinfectant and their wonderful effectiveness in ridding the cow of the disease are considered, there is no question but that it ought always to be given to all cows to keep them well.
To prevent the spread of Contagious Abortion, the entire premises should be disinfected regularly with Pratts Dip and Disinfectant.
COMFORT FOR COW AND MILKER Milking is a twice-a-day job. And if the cow has a sore, feverish and inflamed udder, cut, cracked or sore teats, milking time is most uncomfortable for both the cow and the one who does the milking. Whenever a cow gives any indication of tenderness or soreness of udder or teats, apply PRATTS BAG OINTMENT and speedy improvement will follow. It quickly penetrates to the seat of the trouble, softens and soothes the feverish parts, and heals up the sores. Use it for caked bags, or garget, for cuts, cracks, scratches or sores on udder or teats. It works wonders. Better keep a package on hand for quick use. "YOUR MONEY BACK IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED"
Retained After-Birth
Causes.—The cow, the most of all our domestic animals, is especially subject to this accident. It is most likely to occur after abortion. Again, in low conditions of health and an imperfect power of contraction, we have causes for retention. The condition is common when the cow is given food insufficient in quantity or in nutriment.
Treatment.—Blanket the cow in a warm stable, and three times a day give hot drinks and hot mashes of wheat bran to which two tablespoonfuls of Pratts Cow Remedy have been added. When the after-birth comes away, continue treatment giving one tablespoonful of Pratts Cow Remedy until full recovery. The vagina and womb should be syringed with a solution of one ounce of Pratts Dip and Disinfectant to a gallon of warm water. Repeat daily until all discharge has disappeared.
Prevention.—If the cow has been given Pratts Cow Remedy during pregnancy or from two to four weeks before calving, there will be very few cases of this trouble.
Barrenness and Sterility
When a cow persistently fails to breed and bear young, she is said to be barren. That a barren cow cannot be a profit maker, goes without saying.
Causes.—Barrenness in many cases is due to malformation of the generative organs, tumors or other diseased conditions. Very frequently it is a result of Contagious Abortion, and this should always be suspected. Cows bred at too early an age frequently produce calves which prove to be barren, due to constitutional weakness.
Treatment.—The true preventive of such conditions is to be found in sound hygiene. Use Pratts Dip and Disinfectant freely about the premises.
The breeding animal should be of adult age neither overfed nor underfed, but well fed and moderately exercised.
In proof of the beneficial results of exercise, it is of record that a cow pronounced barren, when driven to a new owner, living several miles distant, became fertile and for years thereafter produced healthy calves.
Vigorous health must be sought, not only that a strong race may be propagated but that the cow may breed with certainty.
For toning up the generative organs, so that they can perform their natural functions, Pratts Cow Remedy is safe and positive.
The usual dose is a level tablespoonful twice a day in the feed.
Thus for less than a cent a day, you can make sure of the cow enjoying health and being productive.
Aphtha, Sores on the Lips and Tongue
Symptoms.—Painful blisters which become sores on the lips and tongue. Occurs often in sucking calves.
Treatment.—Wash the mouth twice a day with one ounce of borax and one fluid ounce of myrrh mixed in one quart of water or a mild solution of Pratts Dip and Disinfectant. Give Pratts Cow Remedy daily. If the mouth is very sore give the remedies in gruel form. Feed animal on regular gruel feed. If it occurs in calves, give Pratts Cow Remedy with milk and use borax as mentioned above.
————————————————————————————————- _Pittsfield, Ill.
Am using Pratts Bag Ointment on young heifer with a very sore bag and she is doing fine. I would not do without it.
F.E. STORCK._ ————————————————————————————————-
Bloat
Symptoms.—While eating, or shortly afterward, a swelling appears on the left side, and as the swelling increases the animal appears to be in great distress, pants, strikes belly with its hind feet, the belching of gas is noticed and the animal does not chew its cud. Later the breathing becomes difficult, the animal moans, its back is arched, eyes protrude, the tongue hangs out and saliva runs from the mouth.
Cause.—Eating damp grass, succulent grass of early spring and second crop clover in autumn when wet with dew or rain. Also caused by a change of food or over filling the paunch of animal with indigestible food.
Treatment.—At this stage mix one ounce aromatic spirits of ammonia in one pint of water and give the mixture as a drench. Repeat in twenty minutes if necessary. In extreme cases a mechanical treatment can be successfully employed by the use of Pratts Cattle Trocar.
Caked Udder, or Garget
Apply Pratts Bag Ointment according to directions. It is very penetrating, and has great softening and cooling properties. Use also for chafing and inflammation.
Cold
Symptoms.—Heated forehead, sneezing, coughing, may have diarrhoea or be constipated, fever and loss of appetite. Urine deficient.
Treatment.—Give large doses of Pratts Cow Remedy in gruel form and gradually reduce quantity. Keep animal warm, bandage legs and rub throat and lungs with Pratts Liniment.
————————————————————————————————- _McDonoghville, La.
Pratts Animal Regulator can't be beat for sick calves—this is from actual experience.
E.M. HUBERT._ ————————————————————————————————-
Colic
Animal will be uneasy, gets up and lies down, and suffers much pain.
Walk the animal for a few minutes, then give one pint of Glauber Salts dissolved in a pint of warm water, and inject a quart of warm water, with two fluid ounces of laudanum, into the bowels. Give regularly Pratts Cow Remedy mixed with warm water as gruel until animal is relieved, then mix with the feed. In extreme cases give four drams of carbonate of ammonia, two drams of belladonna, mixed with one pint of water. Blankets wrung out of hot water and applied will help to relieve the pain. Another remedy is one ounce of sulphuric ether and one ounce tincture of opium in a pint of warm water. A pint of whiskey in a pint of warm water is also good.
Constipation
Cause.—From eating dry, coarse food, lack of exercise and not enough water.
Treatment.—Give Epsom salts or a pint of raw linseed oil and plenty of green food, linseed meal, bran mashes, roots and Pratts Cow Remedy daily. Exercise is necessary.
Cow Pox
(Variola)
Symptoms.—Round inflamed spots appear upon the teats. They enlarge and form large scabs. The milk yield is always diminished. It is very contagious. This is the vaccine-virus used as a preventive for smallpox.
Treatment.—Separate the cows affected. Do not break the pox. Apply Pratts Healing Ointment to the sores and give Pratts Cow Remedy to all the cows, whether affected or not.
Closing of the Milk Duct
Use Pratts Self-Retaining Milking Tube. Never use a solid probe or needle.
Cut, Cracked, Injured or Sore Teats
Apply Pratts Bag Ointment according to directions on box.
Diarrhoea
(Scours)
Treatment.—Give large doses of Pratts Cow Remedy at first, then reduce to regular quantity. Give starch gruel or flour and water. Another remedy is two fluid drams of tincture of kino three times daily.
Foot and Mouth Disease
Symptoms.—Sore feet and blisters form in and about the mouth and on udder. Animal shivers, has fever, becomes lame and teeth become loose. It is very contagious.
Treatment.—Separate all sick animals and wash mouths with one part Pratts Disinfectant to 100 parts water, or one-half teaspoonful of tincture of aloes and myrrh. Stand animals in a trough containing one part Pratts Dip and Disinfectant to 20 parts water. Repeat in five days. Disinfect all stables, litter, etc. Give daily Pratts Cow Remedy with the regular feed. Use Pratts Bag Ointment on teats and udder. When recovered, sponge all over with one part Pratts Dip and Disinfectant to 20 parts water.
Foot Rot
Treatment.—Clean stalls and disinfect with one part Pratts Dip and Disinfectant to 100 parts water. Pare away all ragged portions of the foot and keep animal on clean floor until cured. Make a poultice of one part Disinfectant to five parts water and stir in a little flour to the proper constituency and apply to the foot.
Lice
Lousy stock cannot grow fat for the nourishment given is absorbed by the lice.
Treatment.—Clean stable thoroughly and spray Pratts Dip and Disinfectant everywhere. Sprinkle a small quantity on an old blanket and tie it around the animal for two or three hours. Spray the legs and such places the blanket does not cover. Repeat if necessary.
If Pratts Powdered Lice Killer is used, dust the animals thoroughly with the powder, rubbing the hair the wrong way, then rub it thoroughly into the skin.
Lump Jaw
Cause.—A vegetable parasite. It is contagious.
Treatment.—Remove the tumor by surgical means or paint daily with tincture of iodine. Give daily two drams of iodide of potash. Give nourishing feed with Pratts Cow Remedy daily. Disinfect stable with Pratts Dip and Disinfectant.
Milk—Bloody or Stringy
Cause.—By rupture of minute vessels in the udder due to injury, irritation or inflammation and derangement of the system.
————————————————————————————————- _East Point, Ga.
Please send me a box of Pratts Cow Remedy and some Pratts Bag Ointment. I sure do need it. I found no other that will do the work. It brings in calves easy.
MRS. MATTIE BROWN._ ————————————————————————————————-
Treatment.—Change the food and pasture. Give large doses of Pratts Cow Remedy at first, and gradually reduce to regular quantity. Give good nutritious feed with bran mashes and clean fresh, water. Rub udder twice daily with Pratts Bag Ointment. Four drams of hyposulphite of soda in feed twice a day has produced good results.
Milk—Blue and Watery
Treatment.—Keep stable perfectly clean, disinfect thoroughly with Pratts Disinfectant and treat same as for bloody milk. Sometimes blue milk is the sign of tuberculosis. If so, have the cow killed and burned or buried deep.
Milk Fever
Symptoms.—There is a feverish condition and inflammation of the brain; a complete stoppage of milk, weakness in hind quarters, animal staggers and when down is unable to rise, throws head to one side and goes into a state of stupor. |
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