Proactively protect livestock and poultry from the cold

The cold air is intensifying, the North will be the coldest since the beginning of winter. In some mountainous areas, the temperature may drop to 0 degrees Celsius. In the face of complicated weather developments, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has asked localities to proactively deploy measures to prevent hunger and cold for livestock and poultry to minimize damage.

Use the contingency budget

Faced with the complicated developments of the cold fronts, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued a document directing the northern provinces to proactively deploy measures to prevent hunger and cold for livestock.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat has requested the People's Committees of provinces and cities in the Northern mountainous region, North Central region and Central Highlands to strictly implement the Ministry's Directive to protect livestock and poultry from the cold. He requested that provinces, especially those in the Northern mountainous region, send working groups to guide, inspect and urge the work of preventing hunger and cold for livestock. When the temperature is below 12 degrees Celsius, people should not graze freely, bring buffaloes and cows to the place of confinement, cover them tightly and keep them warm.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam, to proactively prevent cold and hunger for poultry and reduce losses in livestock farming, provinces and cities in the Northern mountainous region, North Central and Central Highlands must focus on directing people to prevent cold for livestock.

According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, a cold air mass is moving south. Due to the influence of the strengthening cold air, in the early morning of December 16, the northeast wind in the North Central provinces will increase to level 3-4, and in coastal areas to level 5. The weather in the Northern provinces will continue to be cold, with severe cold in mountainous areas and some places. Severe cold is likely to occur widely in the Northern Delta provinces. In some mountainous areas, the temperature may drop to 0 degrees Celsius. The meteorological agency forecasts that from December 16 to 19 will be the coldest time since the beginning of winter; severe cold will occur widely. Some places in mountainous areas will have frost and frost.

In particular, “The People’s Committees of provinces and cities direct provincial agencies to have specific action plans to prevent hunger and cold for livestock. Special attention should be paid to highland areas where livestock are most at risk of being affected,” said Deputy Minister Vu Van Tam.

At the same time, “Proactively use local reserve budgets to implement cold protection for livestock, support materials and funds for poor households, policy families, and ethnic minorities in mountainous areas to reinforce and cover barns. Disseminate experiences in preventing hunger and cold for livestock of localities and develop plans when severe cold occurs,” said Deputy Minister Tam.

In addition, according to the Department of Animal Husbandry, local specialized agencies need to guide breeders to stockpile concentrated feed, roughage, preserve by-products as feed for cattle and buffaloes and require each cattle-raising family to have a haystack that ensures an average of 5-7 kg/head/day during cold days.

Raising awareness of farmers

To protect crops and livestock from weather changes, some localities have proactively prevented the cold. According to the People's Committee of Cho Don district (Bac Kan), the district has directed communes to strengthen the work of preventing cold and hunger for buffaloes and cows. Farmers are instructed to keep the barn floor dry and lay bedding to warm the livestock in the upcoming cold days.

Minimize cold damage by reinforcing barns.

In particular, "Pay attention to heating space so that livestock is warm enough but must ensure safety in the barn. Do not graze livestock on cold rainy days, when the temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius. Feed livestock with food stored in the barn. Localities should send ministries to proactively check the epidemic situation and instruct people on how to prevent and fight the cold to protect livestock", said Mr. Ha Sy Huan - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Cho Don district (Bac Kan).

Learning from the cold spell in 2011, which caused over 2,600 livestock to die of cold in Na Hang and Lam Binh localities, the People's Committee of Tuyen Quang province has strongly directed localities and functional branches to strengthen measures to prevent hunger and cold for livestock.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tuyen Quang province said that it has developed a plan to prevent hunger and cold for buffaloes and cows this winter; proactively coordinated to guide farmers to prevent cold for buffaloes, cows and other livestock. At the same time, it directed veterinary staff to guide farmers on disease prevention and control measures, and increased propaganda and mobilization of people to effectively implement plans to prevent hunger and cold for buffaloes and cows.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tuyen Quang also said that it will continue to propagate and raise awareness for livestock farmers, avoiding people's subjective mentality. In particular, local authorities need to promptly inform about weather developments so that people know, proactively provide food, and cover barns.

To disseminate information and guide people on how to protect buffaloes and cows from the cold, Deputy Minister Vu Van Tam requested: "Local Departments of Agriculture must coordinate with organizations to inspect the implementation of measures to prevent cold and hunger for buffaloes and cows in each village and household."

Technical guide to cold protection for livestock

The barn must be protected from rain and wind, airy in summer, warm in winter. The barn must have bedding made of straw and dry grass 10-15 cm thick. The barn floor must be kept dry and clean. On cold and rainy days, the bedding must be changed more often so that the cattle do not get cold.

You can use light bulbs or heat the cattle in the barn with rice husks, sawdust, charcoal. The place where the heater is placed must have a certain distance to ensure that the cattle are warm enough, avoid causing fire or too much smoke in the barn, causing burns to the cattle.

Make raincoats for calves; heat with electricity, coal, and rice husks depending on available conditions. Experience of some localities when heating with coal and firewood, in addition to ensuring warmth and fire prevention, occasionally add a few dried soapberry fruits to the coal. Soapberry smoke has the effect of preventing respiratory failure. Pay attention to vaccination to prevent infectious diseases, according to the instructions of veterinary agencies (septicemia, foot and mouth disease...).

Monitor the health of livestock daily. If livestock shows signs of illness, immediately notify the local veterinary staff. Supplement cattle with silage such as peanut stalks, cassava leaves, corn stalks. Ensure cattle drink enough water. It is best to give cattle warm water mixed with salt at a dose of about 5g/100kg of body weight these days.

(Department of Animal Husbandry)

According to NNVN