Preventing hunger, cold and disease for livestock

(Baonghean) - In recent days, Nghe An has been experiencing severe cold, especially at night and in the morning, but in many places, people are still complacent in preventing hunger and cold for their livestock. Some communes have not yet given strong instructions in propagating and mobilizing people to implement measures to prevent cold for their livestock.

We returned to Nhoi village, Chau Cuong commune, Quy Hop in the winter afternoon, the cold wind seemed to cut into the skin but still saw some owners letting their buffaloes and cows roam freely in the fields and forests. At Mr. Van Dung's cowshed in Nhoi village, it was empty. Mr. Dung explained: "We know that in cold weather it is better to keep buffaloes and cows in the barn, but due to the scarcity of food, we still have to take the risk." Currently, Mr. Dung's family has 6 cows, but in the cold season, his cows are still being let out into the forest. At Lo Thi Giang's cowshed in Nhoi village, there was no sign of buffaloes or cows, the barn was torn and patched up temporarily. Many households have many buffaloes and cows but only have one barn, not enough space for them to shelter from the cold. For example, Mr. Van Xuyen's household has 4 buffaloes but only has a makeshift barn covered with bamboo and thatch. When herding the buffaloes back, Mr. Xuyen has to add more tarpaulin to protect the buffaloes and cows from the cold, but it is still not guaranteed. According to our observations, many people are still subjective in leaving wet barns and stagnant manure unsanitary, so even if they bring buffaloes and cows home to keep, it is still not safe.

Taking care of cows in Xa Luong (Tuong Duong). Photo: VT

Ms. Ly Thi Huong - Head of Nhoi village said: The village has 176 households with over 100 buffaloes, due to difficult economic conditions, most of them have temporary barns. Because Nhoi village has not been able to grow elephant grass to proactively provide food for buffaloes and cows, the food source is scarce, only a few households have stored dry straw, so letting buffaloes and cows out to find food in cold weather is inevitable. The village management board is actively propagating and mobilizing people to bring buffaloes and cows from the forest to put in barns to minimize damage. Mr. Sam Van Ngoc - Commune Agriculture Board added: The whole Chau Cuong commune has 1,165 buffaloes and 882 cows, the rate of having new barns is over 60%. Among them, many villages still have the habit of letting buffalo and cows roam freely, such as Nguong village, Khi village, Nhoi village... In 2006, Chau Cuong had 240 buffalo and cows die due to hunger and cold, causing heavy economic losses. Currently, the commune has not planned elephant grass areas, the commune has established a steering group to urge people to cover barns, store dry straw and starchy food to increase the resistance of buffalo and cows in the cold season.

In addition, some communes in Quy Hop district have proactively protected their livestock from the cold quite well, such as in Quang Thinh village, Chau Quang commune, there are 120 households with over 200 buffaloes and cows, of which over 90% are kept in barns. At the cow barn of Mr. Le Viet Vinh in Quang Thinh village, the roof is made of cement and the barn is covered with canvas. Mr. Vinh said: The barn is enough to hold 2 cows, my family has stored dry straw and corn flour, so we can ensure the amount of food for buffaloes and cows in the cold season. It is known that the whole district of Quy Hop has 21,709 buffaloes and 10,830 cows, of which only over 70% use new barns, most of which have not been invested in solidly but are only temporary with bamboo and thatch. Many households raising buffalo and cows on a large scale of 10-15 animals do not have enough barns to keep them, so they mainly use canvas and stakes in the outdoor breeding area, which does not ensure protection against the cold for buffalo and cows. Currently, in remote communes such as Yen Hop, Bac Son, Lien Hop, Ha Son, etc., people often let their buffalo and cows roam freely during the cold season.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thai - Head of the Department of Agriculture of Quy Hop district said: On December 7, 2013, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district issued an official dispatch to deploy measures to prevent and combat hunger and cold for cattle and buffaloes, assigning relevant departments and branches such as the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Veterinary Station... to advise the Steering Committee for disease prevention and control of livestock and poultry in the district to inspect the actual situation in the communes. On December 27, the People's Committee of Quy Hop district established a team to inspect and prevent hunger and cold for livestock, disseminate and guide farmers to strengthen barns, cover and keep moist, and ensure barn hygiene. The difficult problem is that currently the whole district has less than 100 hectares of elephant grass, the food source is quite scarce, while people who produce rice do not have the habit of storing straw for buffaloes and cows, so it is very necessary to propagate to people to invest in buying more concentrated feed such as bran powder to supplement.

In the remote district of Tuong Duong, people in the communes are actively preventing hunger and cold for buffaloes and cows. In Thach Giam commune, the commune Party Committee, the village management board coordinates with organizations to regularly urge and inspect households on the work of preventing and fighting cold for livestock. The village management board signed a commitment with the commune People's Committee to bring enough buffaloes and cows from the forest, prevent and fight cold according to the process to avoid buffaloes and cows dying from hunger and cold. Thach Giam has long had the habit of letting buffaloes and cows roam freely in the forest, but thanks to the determined efforts of all levels from the district to the commune and village, more than 2,000 buffaloes and cows have been brought back to the barn. The current difficulty is that many people raise buffaloes and cows on a farm model, and when bringing them back, there is not enough space to keep them. According to Mr. Lo Van Tan in Khe Chi-Thach Giam, his family has 10 cows. When he brought them from the forest, he had to stake them, fence them with tarpaulins, and light fires all night to keep them warm. His family really wants the State to support them financially to reinforce and build new barns. Many households in Thach Giam have actively prepared food for their cows and buffaloes, such as Mr. Vi Quy Thanh's family in Phong village. In addition to preparing corn bran and rice, his family often goes to the fields to pick more grass for their cows and buffaloes.

Mr. Lo Kham Kha - Head of the Agriculture Department of Tuong Duong district added: The People's Committee of Tuong Duong district has established 3 inspection teams to check the work of preventing and fighting hunger and cold for buffaloes and cows in 18 communes and towns. Each team consists of 5 comrades including officers from the Veterinary Station, Agricultural Extension, Department of Agriculture... to inspect from December 20, and by December 24 the team had completed the inspection. The teams mainly stay directly in the villages, giving detailed instructions to the people on how to prevent and fight cold for buffaloes and cows and use reserve food sources. For communes where buffaloes and cows still roam freely such as Xieng My, Nga My, Yen Hoa, Yen Na... continue to send officials to "stay" in the villages to inspect and urge the people.

In Quynh Luu, there are currently 40 thousand buffaloes, cows, 130 thousand pigs, and nearly 2 million poultry. To strengthen the prevention and control of hunger and cold for livestock and poultry in the cold winter, the district has directed communes and towns to regularly monitor and update information on weather developments to propagate on mass media, loudspeakers, or in conferences... to help people effectively implement prevention measures. Direct the Agricultural Extension Center, Veterinary Station and related sectors to regularly sell to localities and provide specific technical guidance on preventing hunger, cold and epidemics for livestock, at the same time, localities monitor and report the situation of epidemics or hunger and cold of livestock and poultry to superiors so that the district steering committee can give timely instructions. Ms. Vu Thi Bich Hang - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quynh Luu district added: "During the cold and rainy season, we regularly propagate on the loudspeaker system to each household about measures to prevent and fight cold and epidemics, prepare enough roughage and concentrate feed for buffalo and cows such as straw, stubble, and take advantage of areas to grow grass to provide enough food for buffalo and cows to increase their resistance to the cold. Instruct people to add salt and minerals to food to increase the resistance of livestock and poultry...".

Mr. Ho Sy Hung's family in hamlet 4, Quynh Thang mountainous commune, has 50 pigs and 6 cows that are preparing to be sold during the Tet Giap Ngo. Right from the beginning of this cold winter, the family has always prepared good measures to protect the livestock. Along with stockpiling food sources, he also takes advantage of sugarcane tops, cassava plants and regularly adds starch to the meals of buffaloes and cows. In addition, he also buys tarpaulins to cover the barn, avoid wind blowing into the barn and clean it twice a day. Mr. Hung said: "Every year, my family stores food, both fresh food in the garden and silage for the livestock. The weather is cold, so I regularly monitor the livestock's progress, thereby proactively keeping the barn warm and covering it so that the livestock can develop normally."

The mountainous commune of Quynh Thang currently has the largest herd of livestock and poultry in the district. The whole commune currently has nearly 10,000 livestock and over 90,000 poultry. To protect livestock during severe cold spells, the commune has closely directed each village, hamlet, especially each household, in addition to taking advantage of available food sources, to reserve agricultural by-products for food, grow more grass and corn to regularly supplement the source of food for livestock. Actively cover barns, clean barns and fully vaccinate.

It is known that in addition to the directive documents, since December 16, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has established 3 inspection teams to direct and urge the work of preventing and fighting hunger and cold and diseases of livestock and poultry in the winter-spring crop. The inspection team is divided into 3 routes including National Highway 7 and National Highway 48 and the plain districts. The inspection period is from December 18 until the end of the winter-spring crop. At the end of each working session, the team leader reports the results to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

According to the recommendation of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, to proactively provide food for livestock, especially during the cold and rainy season, localities need to instruct people to take advantage of the land around the house, fallow land to grow grass, and prepare enough materials to keep cattle warm. Particularly on cold days below 12 degrees Celsius, do not use cattle to plow, do not graze cattle in the fields, supplement concentrated feed and warm water, supplement roughage with minerals and vitamins to improve the health of livestock. Mobilize people to regularly disinfect the livestock environment. Assign the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee to direct the veterinary department to strengthen the inspection and supervision of the health status and disease developments in livestock and poultry, promptly detect and handle signs of exhaustion, hunger, cold, and disease, promptly report epidemics, and do not hide them.

According to the forecast of the hydrometeorological agency, severe cold will continue to last, specialized departments, organizations and commune authorities need to seriously organize and implement measures to prevent and fight hunger and cold diseases for livestock and poultry to minimize economic losses for people.

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