Vechur Cow to be Micro-chipped Today

 

 THRISSUR: The Vechur cow, a rare breed of Bos indicus cattle with an average length of 124 cm and height of 87 cm, is all set to join the elite club of the ‘micro-chipped livestock’ in the world on Monday as the authorities have made elaborate arrangements to tag the indigenous cattle species with pet microchips that uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.

The Vechur Conservation Trust, a body formed to conserve domestic animal diversity in the state, will officially begin the drive of electronically tagging Vechur cows and distributing the pedigree certificate to the owners of the cows at a function to be held in Kottayam on Monday.

Dr Sosamma Iype, Professor of Animal Breeding and Genetics, who is instrumental in popularising the Vechur breed in the country, said the Trust came forward with this venture of tagging the animals following widespread complaints of genetic pollution in the rare species of this local cow variety.

The unscrupulous middlemen in this sector have been promoting the sale of calves of Vechur cows that were bred with local ox varieties in the absence of enough Vechur cows because of the high demand for the indigenous cattle population among dairy farmers in the country. The introduction of micro-chipping and distribution of pedigree certificates will not only check the practice of genetic pollution,  but also serve as a tool to trace and isolate them in the event of a disease outbreak, said Dr Abraham Varkey, who assists the project.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/Vechur-Cow-to-be-Micro-chipped-Today/2015/01/26/article2636928.ece

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Punganur Cattle

Punganur Cow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punganur_Cow The Punganur dwarf cow , which originated in Chitoor District , Andhra Pradesh , India , is considered one of the world's smallest cows . The Punganur breed's milk has a high fat content and is rich in medicinal properties. While cow milk normally has a fat content of 3 to 3.5 per cent, the Punganur breed's milk contains 8 per cent. [ 1 ] The Punganur is found in Chittoor district situated in the south-eastern tip of the Deccan Plateau with an average rainfall of 700 mm. It is the worlds shortest, humped cattle. Animals are white and light grey in colour with a broad forehead and short horns. Its average height is 70-90 cms and its weight is 115-200 kg. The cow is an amazingly efficient milker with an average milk yield of 3-5 L/day on a daily feed intake of 5 kg. It is also highly drought resistant, and able to survive exclusively on dry fodder. Some of the breed characteristics are: Back sloping d
Read more