Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 May 1919 — HEIFERS DROP FIRST CALF [ARTICLE]

HEIFERS DROP FIRST CALF

According to Experiment Carried on at Maryland College Thirty Months Is Best Age. About thirty months was found to be the best age for Ayrshire heifers to drop their first calf, according to an experiment carried on at the Maryland Agricultural college. If the calves were dropped six months earlier, the milk flow was lessened considerably, but if dropped six months later the decrease was slight-. This will vary for the breeds according to size; the smaller the breed type, the shorter the time. Eckles of Minnesota found that this variation would be three to five months which would bring the minimum age for Jerseys and Guernseys about twenty-five months and for Holstelns, thirty months. This is for well-developed animals.