Many ways to protect livestock from the cold of Nghe An farmers

During these days, the temperature in some places in Nghia Dan district has dropped to 13 - 15 degrees Celsius, greatly affecting livestock. Nghia Dan district People's Committee has directed specialized departments to coordinate with localities to deploy cold protection plans for livestock.

Farmers in Nghia Hung commune (Nghia Dan) protect livestock from the cold. Photo: Minh Thai

Nghia Hung Commune is one of the localities with a strong livestock and poultry raising movement, with a total herd of over 1,200 buffaloes and cows, and a flock of about 70,000 poultry. Every year, during the cold season, Nghia Hung Commune focuses on directing hamlets to implement hunger and cold prevention work for livestock and poultry.

Mr. Le Minh Duc's family in Nghia Nhan hamlet has 5 buffaloes and 1 cow. Although they have a grazing area, the family still takes advantage of the vacant land around the house to grow elephant grass for the buffaloes and cows to eat. Through training courses organized by the District Agricultural Service Center, his family has also applied livestock raising techniques in the cold winter days, the barns are carefully covered.

Mr. Le Minh Duc said: "Recently, the local authorities have regularly warned about the cold weather that will continue. Therefore, these days, the family has proactively covered the barns and laid straw on the floor for the buffalo and cows. Proactively providing food sources, supplementing nutrients, ensuring that the buffalo and cows grow well and do not get sick during the long cold days.

Feed livestock with additional nutritious foods to ensure their health. Photo: Minh Thai

As one of the households with many years of experience in raising livestock, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thin in Tan Cay hamlet, Nghia Loi commune shared: Every year, after harvesting rice, the family collects and stores straw to feed the buffalo and cows during the cold winter days. According to Ms. Thin, in addition to ensuring a source of food for livestock, it is very necessary to cover and ensure that the barn is dry and clean during the cold season. In addition, when the temperature drops, her family also supplements concentrated feed such as rice bran, corn flour... and gives the cows warm water and salt water to increase their resistance; focusing on good vaccination, so over the years, the family's buffalo and cow herd has developed well.

Currently, Nghia Dan district has more than 28,000 buffaloes and cows; more than 1.6 million poultry; 30 thousand goats...

Mr. Nguyen Van Nam - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghia Dan district said: In recent days, the cold air has increased, the weather has turned very cold, the Department of Agriculture of the district has directed communes and towns to propagate on loudspeakers to villages and hamlets and also recommended that livestock farmers must proactively prevent and control diseases, protect livestock and poultry from the cold...

Aquaculture is also greatly affected by the cold weather, if there is no solution to prevent the cold. This is the third year that Mr. Ho Dinh Nhiem in Quynh Bang commune (Quynh Luu) continues to raise winter shrimp in greenhouses.

Farmers in Quynh Luu collect water hyacinth and release it into the pond to protect fish from the cold. Photo: Viet Hung.

Mr. Nhiem shared: “In winter, the low temperature makes it difficult for shrimp to grow, so farmers need to understand the techniques and prepare for the conditions before raising them. In winter, farmers should limit changing the water many times in the pond, which will cause thermal shock due to the cold weather. In addition, it is necessary to periodically supplement microorganisms and add lime to the pond to stabilize the alkalinity and pH in the pond. The most important thing is to release shrimp before winter, with a stocking density of 80 - 100 shrimp/m2”.

In a large commercial fish farming area of ​​over 20 hectares in Quynh Van commune (Quynh Luu), people here are covering the pond with plastic and releasing water hyacinth into the water surface to ensure warmth for fish to grow. Mr. Dau Duc Kinh, a commercial fish farmer, said: “My family raises 10 hectares of freshwater fish such as tilapia, grass carp, common carp, and snakehead fish.

In winter, the weather is very cold, so the pond water depth must be maintained at 1.4 - 1.5 m. On the water surface, plant 2/3 of water hyacinth to block the wind, and in the corner of the pond, place bundles of straw and rice husks to provide shelter for the fish; at the same time, use an oxygen fan to increase the absorption capacity of the livestock.

Fish ponds are covered with water hyacinth to protect the fish from the cold. Photo: Viet Hung

In particular, this winter, Mr. Kinh's family uses fresh garlic as fish food to increase resistance and reduce the possibility of infection. According to him, the dosage of garlic used is from 100 - 150g/100kg of fish/day. With 6 tons of fish in the pond, Mr. Kinh feeds about 180kg of peeled, crushed garlic mixed into the food each time.

In cold weather conditions, aquaculture households said that it is absolutely forbidden to use nets and other fishing equipment, which can injure fish, making them susceptible to disease and death. For commercially raised fish that have reached a certain size, when the temperature drops too low, they need to be harvested immediately to avoid causing damage to aquaculture.

Investing in modern ponds includes lining the bottom of the pond and building greenhouses to protect shrimp from the cold. Photo: Viet Hung.

In the winter crop of 2020, people in Quynh Luu district and Hoang Mai town raised nearly 200 hectares of winter shrimp, out of a total farming area of ​​over 900 hectares for the whole year; about 700 hectares of freshwater fish area. Winter aquaculture households in Quynh Luu are currently implementing many measures to prevent and control diseases as well as care for the shrimp to grow healthily./.