Keeping cattle in Tyumen villages is becoming a luxury

Fewer and fewer livestock are kept in suburban villages. The reason for this is the difficulty in harvesting feed.

"You can watch them for hours..."

From time immemorial, cattle has been the breadwinner of the Russian people. Now more and more villagers refuse to farm. And if before people got rid of cattle mainly because of age and lack of strength to care for it, now the reasons are completely different.

About whether it is profitable to keep cattle in our time, we asked Marina Nagumanova, a resident of the village of Zhelezny Perebor, to tell.

The Nagumanov family has been keeping livestock for over 15 years. Now they have chickens, ducks, geese, goats and several pigs on their farm. They also love the dogs of the owner - an avid hunter - several greyhounds.

According to Marina Valerievna, keeping her own household is troublesome, but she likes it.

“I love animals,” says the hostess. – You grow, take care of them... Take, for example, goats or chickens, you can watch them for hours. Plus your MILK , egg, MEAT. Another thing is that every year it becomes more and more expensive to keep cattle. Many refuse this, and we are also thinking about removing some of the animals next year.

Remembering the past

- During the Soviet Union, this village had a cowshed and a pig farm, - says Marina. - In addition, in almost every yard they kept several heads. Then the farm workers even brought food for free. My grandmother lived in this house, so she had three cows, 11 pigs and she did not know any special problems. And now you have to find yourself where to get cheaper feed, go yourself - buy it, then bring it.

Marina noted that all the meadows around Zhelezny Perebor had become private property. There was nowhere to walk the cattle. You can’t walk through the village with a cow either, people have become picky: they don’t even like the smell of an animal.

- Our goats walk only in our backyard, - the hostess complains. - There is nowhere to prepare hay ourselves, you have to buy all the time. And if two bales of hay are enough for four goats, then 12 bales are needed for one cow for the winter. A neighbor also kept cows, goats and chickens, but recently she removed them all, because they "eat up" half of the pension. And she's not the only one who's given up cattle. First of all, the cows are removed. Because they are very expensive to maintain.

How much is a pood of hay?

- Now we can't get oats anywhere. It can be seen that they want to raise the price for it, so they are holding it back for now, ”Marina Valeryevna added. - What about replacing it? It has become very expensive to buy shredder now, if last year a bag (30 kg) cost 380-420 rubles, now it is already 700-800 rubles. Okay, we still cook our vegetables from the garden for the piglets. Somewhere we will find bread cheaper, somewhere we will buy a delay.

Feed prices are the main problem for the owners of subsidiary plots. But apart from this, a lot of investments are required. Warm paddocks need to be built, plus constant repairs to the livestock sheds are needed. According to the owners, pigs are active animals: either they will demolish the partition, or the doors, or they will damage the floor.

The HEALTH of livestock also requires considerable funds. Livestock breeders have some skills in helping, but sometimes you need to call a specialist.

As Marina Valerievna said, only calling a veterinarian to their village costs about three thousand, plus treatment, if necessary, - all this can result in a tidy sum.

Farmers are now afraid of more frequent epidemics.

- You constantly hear: either bird flu, or some other plague is walking around, - the hostess complains. - They recently came to us, took chicken manure for analysis. Fortunately, everything worked out... Last year, the forests around the village were on fire - all the inhabitants were evacuated. But no one will put goats and pigs in a car, but how can you leave cattle alone?

Of course, I want to eat my own meat, drink my own milk,” she explained. - At least goats and chickens should be kept for yourself. After all, your own products can not be compared with the store. But every day it becomes more and more difficult and expensive.

It should be noted that depending on the settlement, the conditions for keeping animals vary slightly. For example, in the village of Vinzili there are free meadows, so walking and making hay for cows is easier. In the village of Borovsky, cow and goat owners also have to deal with a lack of pasture. According to local residents, the field, where many used to grazed cows, is now heavily polluted, while others are located near the highway. But the increase in prices for mixed fodder is noted by residents of all municipalities.