E2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 7,1910 UNIVERSITY PARK - Freshening heifers at 28 to 30 months of age or inore adds to the overhead expenses of operating a dairy herd. Most heifers should calve for the first time at 22 to 24 months of age, says Penn State Dairy Specialist Dick Adams. It is important, however, that they reach adequate size without over conditioning by freshening time. This is necessary to obtain good production and keep calving difficulties at a minimum, he says. Most heifers of the large breeds become sexually mature when they reach a bedyweight of 550 to 600 pounds. They may be bred at a weight of about 750 pounds when about 13 to 15 months Red production up HARRISBURG - Com mercial red meat production in Pennsylvania during April totaled 86.7 million pounds, up five percent from April 1979. Cattle slaughter at 58,500 head down three percent while calf slaughter at 20,700 bead was down less than one percent from last year. Hog slaughter at 305,100 head increased 17 percent from a year ago. The number of sheep and lambs slaughtered totaled 11,600, down 30 percent from April 1979. Shoot for 24 months for heifers’ first calf old. Sexual maturity, however, may be con siderably delayed if animals are underfed. Excessive' flesh or fat tening at any age should be avoided to prevent depressed milk production and reduced life span. Sometimes growth depression occurs in younger calves. This often stems from underfeeding of liquid before weaning. In other cases, low quality milk replacers containing a relatively high proportion of vegetable products rather than milk solids may be involved. Setbacks due to disease, especially scouring and pneumonia, may prevent good gains, Adams says. meat Nationally, commercial red meat production during April totaled 3.31 billion pounds, an increase of 15 percent from April 1979. Beef production at 1.74 billion pounds was up 10 percent while veal production at 30 million pounds declined nine per cent. Pork production totaled 1.51 billion pounds, up 22 percent from April 1979. Lamb and mutton produc tion increased 12 percent to 28 million pounds. A lack of selenium may result in depressed gains and diarrhea in calves and heifers. Inadequate water intake or poor quality water may greatly reduce growth at any stage beyond weaning. Calves under six months need to eat four to six pounds of concentrate mixture per head and enough forage to provide about 1.2 pounds of hay-equivalent per cwt. of bodyweight daily. Depressed growth in heifers over six months of age frequently results from underfeeding of forage. Many dairymen do not realize how much forage is needed' by replacement ' heifers. Hay-equivalent 5% \P REVERSE CAGE LAYER SYSTEM ★ MINIMIZES FEED WASTE Not only the physical shape of the feed trough, but the operation of the feeder has been engineered to reduce feed waste. The trough shape cuts down on feed loss from “raking” and “billing,” while the feeder has been specifically designed for Chore-Time’s programmed and performance feeding concept. ★ LET US SHOW YOU A REVERSE CAGE SYSTEM IN OPERATION AGRI- cattle HOG - POULTRY EQUIPMENT R.D. 4, EPHRATA, PA. 17522 ' PH: 717-354-4271 STORE HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 7:30 to 5:30; Sat.7:3oto 12:00. SERVING PA, N.J. AND N.Y. intake must reach 2.0 to 2.2 per cent of bodyweigbt daily, he says. A good approach to follow is to full-feed forage. This means that young stock should have forage available at least 20 hours daily. Feed forage to the point where there is a refusal of about five per cent daily. If forage quality is high and heifer start to fatten, reduce amounts fed ac cordingly. *" Lack of minerals, protein and energy may be involved in depressed growth. In ternal or external parasitism also may con tribute to aproblem. A balanced ration is required by all animals: young and old. ★ LESS BIRD STRESS equipment, INC* ; • BARN PAINTING • ROOF PAINTING i • BIN PAINTING • MASONRY & EPOXY COATING • Sandblast preparation | All work is guaranteed satisfactory. [ "Call the Country Boys J with the Country Prices” I eebharts Agriculture - industrial - Commercial Box 145 A, R.D. 4 Hanover, PA 17331 Ph: 717-637-0222 *■ The system has been design ed for bird comfort! Each bird has her place at the feed trough. Each has easy access to water. Obstruction to light and the flow of air have been greatly reduced, providing more uniform ventilation and lighting for every bird. Com bined with Chore-Time’s auto matically controlled air mlettmg system, you get a layer house environment designed for bird comfort and the resulting better production. AGRIEQUIPMENT INC., OFFERS COMPLETE • SALES • INSTALLATION • SERVICE
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