By Chipfuwo Agriscientist |08 April 2022 | 02:00 am
January disease also known as Theileriosis has taken its toll in almost every cattle production community of Zimbabwe. In smallholder set-ups, some families have lost all cattle. Research and experience has shown that most farmers try to use trees in cattle pens to tie (22) ANIMAL HANDLING STRUCTURES – YouTube animals during dipping sessions and or treatment exercises. This is a cumbersome process that can only be done on one or two animals before tiring. In worst case scenarios, animals tend pull out the trees and injure stockmen in the process. These are true events that take place in most cattle production communities. Stockmen will resort to easy way of doing things without consulting the owners or managers. This includes knapsack dipping of free moving cattle in pens.
With the current race to restock: Is it a good idea to restock with no handling facilities? Are farmers knowledgeable and well capacitated? Is it safe to invest more in production units (cattle) and less on supporting infrastructure/structures?
Most people would argue that communal and smallholder set-ups are blessed with community centres (dip tanks) for therapeutic and prophylactic exercises. However, not all farmers are located within a walking distance for treatment in the event of a disease case. It is a challenge and not practical for farmers to drive their animals to and from the dipping centre each time they require handling facilities. In some cases, animals are required to be handled at least everyday when treating diseases. For instance, when using short acting drugs and or dressing wounds.
Handling structures are key and instrumental in basic animal management irrespective of farming scale. Smallholder and large-scale farmers should always consider animal handling before putting in heavy investments in stock.
Handling facilities are not only limited to sophisticated designs. Simple structures made from locally available resources like timber/ gum poles, mopane trees and scrap metal/poles can save the day. A simple 6m race could be a starting point for a serious cattle producer. It is advisable for farmers to consider:
Behaviour
Cattle behaviour is generally the same except when categorised as beef and dairy. Dairy animals are more friendly as compared to beef cattle. For a low budget structure, one would look at a height of 1.5m. This might work for very friendly animals with short frames but with heavy breeds you need at least 1.7m. A wise cattleman should always take time to understand the behaviour of his animals.
Handlers/ Stockman
The structure should provide safety to the handlers. This is key and important for survival of cattle projects.
Stock investment should precede careful considerations of handling procedures and related infrastructure. Expensive or cheap stock (cattle) without a way to handling is a time bomb. Its either animal handlers will get injured in the handling process or therapeutic, prophylactic and all related operations will fail.
…Chipfuwo Agriscientist…
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Chipfuwo focus is a weekly agriscience article extracted from Chipfuwo Agriscience®️ field files. It focuses on critical analysis of challenges faced by farmers based on the company’s consultancy work.
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