IDUKKI: With its sophisticated facilities, the bull mother farm at Kolahalamedu in Vagamon here challenges the usual notion of a Government enterprise. Acclaimed as a top research-oriented facility in the dairy sector in the State, the high-tech bull mother farm comes under the Kerala Livestock Development Board (KLDB), which was born after the integration of the Indo Swiss Project, Kerala, and the Bull Station in Dhoni in 1976.
What makes the bull mother farm different from other dairy farms is that its goal is not milk production, but developing bull calves from the highest milk-producing cows. The farm was established in September, 2014, on 84 hectares at Kolahalamedu to produce high-quality bull calves. The superior-quality bull calves thus developed here are sent to other KLDB cattle breeding centres at Kulathipuzha, Mattupetty and Dhoni for cross breeding.
The cattle in the farm are given the best-quality treatment with nutritious fodder and spacious areas to rest besides a special arrangement to collect the dung and urine. The cattle are also protected from flies and mosquitoes using fly catchers and mats.
Of the total strength, 80 are milking cows belonging to genetically superior Holstein Freisen and Jersey breeds and 68 are calves. Once the cows stop producing milk, i.e. after almost six deliveries, they are sold for culling. Almost 700 litres of milk are produced in the farm on a daily basis, out of which 600 litres are sold commercially in the Kurishumala Milk Society and a nearby ashramam.
The exclusive rotary milking parlour in which 24 cows can be milked simultaneously is the main attraction of the farm, besides the automatic milk recording facility and udder cleansing facility.
“Within two years of its commissioning, the mother bull dairy farm, the first-of-its-kind in the government sector, could develop large number of bull calves from the highest milk producing cows. The main challenge is to get disease-free cows for developing bull calves,” says KLDB Managing Director Dr Jose James.