The best livestock breeder of the Vitebsk region about raising calves: you need to love them like your children

February 26, Vitebsk /Alesya Pushnyakova - BELTA/. They need to be loved like your children. Tatyana Pshonko, a livestock breeder of the UE "Prozhektor-agro" of the Lepel district, who was awarded the title "Person of the Year of the Vitebsk Region - 2020", shared this opinion about her work in an interview with a BelTA correspondent.

Tatyana Pshonko has been working at the same enterprise for 16 years and has been fattening calves from 2 to 6 months. Every day, her four-legged wards gain about 950 g in weight, thus the specialist has achieved the preservation of young cattle by 99%. Tatyana Pshonko shared the secret of her success: "They need to be loved like your children. Care, affection, attention - all this animals need just like good food."

Twice a day she comes to the farm to feed and water the calves. They recognize her already by her steps and begin to low, barely hearing the sound of the door opening. Now Tatyana Pshonko is in charge of 95 heads of black-and-white breed. An experienced livestock breeder noted that it is not as easy with them as with specially bred thoroughbred calves, they are more sensitive and whimsical. And yet the woman manages to grow them almost without loss.

Tatyana Pshonko feeds small heifers and bulls with hay, mixed fodder, milk, which is given for drinking. All feed is prepared by the company itself. On the farm, calves are kept 10-11 heads in a separate stall. They are warm and spacious. By 6 months, the wards of the breeder reach an average of 170 kg. After that, they are transferred to the rearing group. All livestock of cattle in "Prozhektor-agro" is its own: there is a closed cycle of livestock breeding from birth to calving.

Tatyana Pshonko is also a mother of many children: she has three children. During the holidays, they always go with her to the farm and help care for the calves. Children help without objection both on the farm and in the household. Now the Pshonko family has a vegetable garden and several pigs. And four years ago, there was a cow in the barn. The horned nurse had to be sold: it became difficult to combine caring for her and the calves on the farm.

When asked if she wanted to leave this job and find it easier, Tatyana Pshonko replied that she could no longer imagine herself without her lowing "pupils". "Cows are very smart animals, they feel everything. Some calves are so beautiful that you want to hug and stroke them. When I come to the farm, I talk to them, the calves moo in response, they understand by intonation that I am praising them. If I leave, who take care of them?" - shared the best breeder of the region.

About 400 calves pass through the caring hands of Tatiana Pshonko every year. For each of them, she is like a mother.