Farmers Lose Cattle to Wrong Medicine
ZIMBABWE - Two farmers from Nyamandlovu are counting their losses after they lost ten beasts after their worker mistakenly gave the animals chemicals mixed with stalk borer powder which he had mistaken for a chemical to treat intestinal infections.Mr Beverage Sibanda of Epping Forest in Nyamandlovu area lost six cattle from a herd of nine while Mr William Moyo of the same area lost four cattle from his herd of eight when their herdboy mistakenly mixed the chemicals. The two farmers who are based in Bulawayo were last week called to witness the unfortunate incident as their investments were wiped out within minutes.
"We both work in Bulawayo and we had to rush to Nyamandlovu after being told that our cattle had been poisoned. What happened is that a day before the incident occurred I had received stalk borer chemicals from South Africa and when the herdboy came to get the chemicals there was only a young girl at home who gave him the stalk borer powder.
"He then realised he used the wrong chemical when the cattle began to collapse one by one after their licked the chemical. He rushed to call the Veterinary Services who advised him to administer grounded charcoal mixed with water to the cattle. All the cattle were down but a few survived after being given the solution," said Mr Sibanda.
Mr Sibanda said he was devastated by the loss and has come to accept that it was not necessarily the herdboy’s problem.
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Source: The Sunday News
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