Namaskaram!
I’m sitting near a cow shed situated on one side of my plot. Behind me is a haystack, not likely to be a familiar sight to members of the new generation. It is perhaps even a rare object now. My entry into cow-rearing was accidental. As you can see, this is a rocky place. When I bought it, my intention was to grow a few trees. I felt that if I dug pits, filled them with cow dung, and planted saplings, they would grow well. I bought cow dung for the purpose but bringing it right up to the top proved to be a herculean task because the incline is very steep, inaccessible to vehicles. The cost of the cow dung was Rs 15,000, and I had to pay the same amount as labour charges!
Tired from the sheer strain and also out of pity for me, the headload workers themselves suggested that I adopt the better option of rearing cows for the purpose. Accordingly, with Raghu Chettan the caretaker’s help, I bought a Jersey cow. Soon it calved but managing the animal was tiresome, as it was hard to control. I sold it and decided against raising cows. Later, when I was involved in making a documentary on Soshamma teacher – of Vechur cow fame - the subject of rearing cows came up. She suggested that I buy Vechur cows. But I was not favourably inclined as they were a very expensive breed, each costing anywhere between Rs 90,000 to 1.5 lakhs.
That was when she told me how in the course of a seminar at Cheruvally in Bharananganam, she had identified the Cheruvally cow, a wild variety. Subsequently, I bought two Cheruvally heifers and brought them here. Now, a fresh problem arose. As the semen of the same variety was not available, if I needed to raise new calves, I had to buy a Cheruvally bull. I did, and gradually, their numbers increased, and we sent some of them to Munnar. Later we bought two Vechur cows. Now, all put together, we have 10-15 cows. Since all of them cannot be accommodated here, we have made arrangements to relocate them, leaving only three in this cow shed.
The point I wish to make is that growing cows is a good idea only if you are involved in farming. If you are engaged in any other work, don’t think of rearing cows on your own. Although I speak about raising them, others do it for me, and do it sincerely. The cows need to be bathed and milked regularly, their sheds have to be kept clean. Therefore, if you don’t have assistants, you won’t be able to manage the business on your own. You can do it only if you are totally free, have the inclination, and can spare a lot of time.
There are two advantages in raising indigenous cows. One, they are hardy, healthy and rarely fall ill. None of the cows here have contracted the foot-and-mouth disease whereas my Jersey cow did within one month of my purchasing it, and required medical attention. We have also purchased a couple of Attappady black, a goat species reared by the Adivasis of Attappady. And also Thalassery goats. All these are multiplying rapidly. The other advantage is that we get good quality organic manure. But if the cow dung gets too dry, the microbes in it may die.
Fresh cow dung from indigenous varieties contains crores of microbes that are not found in that of the Australian or the Swiss variety. These microbes work on our soil and make it fertile. Therefore, do not allow cow dung to go too dry. Organic farmers and experts in the field advise us to add cow dung to the soil before its moistness disappears completely. To ensure that, we must rear cows ourselves so that cow dung and urine are readily available. Here we have been able to put up a biogas plant that produces enough fuel for us to boil water.
However, the subject that I actually wanted to speak about today was the design of the cow shed. An architect I spoke to a couple of years back suggested building a shed and fixing fans in them. Many people do this, some even air-condition their cow sheds. This cow shed of mine was designed by my friend named Sudhir. He fitted a toy fan on this mango tree to determine the path of the wind. Then he designed three sheds in such a way that they get maximum aeration. They have three walls, and the fourth one in the front is a parapet. The top is open, covered over by tree branches. We cut trees only when it was absolutely essential. On the other side, near the rocks, we planted banana plants and colocassia. This has brought the temperature down. With trees on the other side too, we have created a natural environment. The cows do not seem to be inconvenienced at all. So instead of cooling the cow shed through artificial means, if we can leave it open and allow light and air to enter it freely, I believe the cows will remain largely disease-free.
There may be many among you who may desire to see the design of this cow shed. My response to them is that I’m neither a designer nor an architect. My subjects are journalism and law. So I leave these things to the experts. Architects pursue their passion day and night. Speak to them about your exact needs and show them the site so that they can design the cow shed up to your specifications. That will be the most practical way to do it.