Protecting your Livestock Investment

A few months  ago, I decided to resume catfish production on the farm, and so a little over a week ago, we took a road trip to keffi (nassarawa state) where I bought clarias fingerlings. I already left instructions for the concrete pond to be filled with water before i got back. But on getting back to the farm the pond was near empty! turns out the pond was leaking, the staff had filled the pond and all of the water had leaked out, ha! Imagine the shock and fear, the fingerlings were already stressed from a two hour journey and now the pond was leaking. We managed to patch the leaking point and stocked the fish. Two days later I noticed the water in the pond had reduced drastically, I checked well and saw the pond was still leaking and could not be fixed unless we emptied the pond. By the time I was done emptying the pond, the fingerlings were weak and many of them died.

The thing is, all of this could have been avoided if I had been more cautious and taken necessary Steps at protecting my investment, as livestock especially day old chicks and fingerlings could be very fragile. here are some of the ways you can protect you livestock investment

• Have an alternative housing/pond, in case something goes wrong. in my case I had a plastic pond in almost good condition and I was able to move the fingerlings in there
• Ensure that the housing/pond is in good condition at least a week to the arrival of your livestock. I should have filled the pond earlier and double checked that all was well with it.
• Always have a professional/an experienced person at least a phone call away. the beautiful and kind lady who owns the hatchery was nice enough to walk me through moving the fish without loosing more than I could have.
• Keep adequate records of feed consumption, illnesses, weight (if possible), age etc. these would aid in a time of crises to determine the rate of drugs to be administered.
• Administer vaccines and/or other necessary treatment at the appropriate time, no skipping or postponement.
• Hope for the best!

What are the ways you have been able to protect your livestock investment? please share with us in the comments.

Abisola Oladele