Poland | Swietokrzyskie | Monthly report February: Farm Animal Service
Sarniec Zwola. Our team is trimming the claws of a limping cow.
Sarniec Zwola. Two cows on this farm have problems with claw deformations. This causes painful bruises.
Mlynek. The owner built a new kennel for his dog.
Brody. We teach the owner how to properly wash the infected skin of his mare.
Gosciecin. A mare stopped eating. Our farrier is checking her teeth.
This month our Farm Animal Service (FAS) team starts their work on a farm in Siekierno. We are visiting this place for the first time. This small farm belongs to young farmer. He keeps two young horses and three cows. The animals are kept boxes and outside on paddocks. The owner agrees with the rules and guidelines of our ATET programme and signs the contract. From now on he will belong to an engaged group of farmers in Poland who are willing to improve the living conditions of their animals.
After our visit in Siekierno, we are called to a farm in Sarniec Zwola. Two cows on this farm are limping due to claw deformations. The overgrown claws cause painful bruising. Our team trims the claws of the two cows so that they can walk without pain again.
Our next visit is on a farm in Psary to check on a foal who previously stopped eating. On our last visit we advised the owner to deworm the young horse. Today, we are happy to see that our advice helped since the foal started to eat normal again.
Then we drive to a farm in Mlynek. Here, we are pleased to see that the owner installed a new dog kennel. As a reward within the framework of our ATET programme we trim the hooves of two horses. However, on our next visit on a farm in Lechow we disappointed to see that the owner did not keep his promise. He wanted to build a kennel for the dog which he is currently keeping on a short chain. Unfortunately, nothing has changed since our last visit. We are giving him a warning and urge him to build the dog kennel and provide the dog with a longer chain in the meantime.
Afterwards, we are visiting a farm in Lipiny. The owners are interested in joining our ATET programme. We are soon finding out the farm belongs to a horse trader. However, our programme is aimed at supporting small farms so the trader will not be able to join.
Our team is now moving on to a farm in Brody. A few days before, a horse ran away and was found standing in a cesspool. The owner of the farm shows us that the fur on her legs is worn and the skin is red. We show him how to properly wash the irritated skin with a medicament. Later, we are discussing with him the problem of wet and muddy terrain where we usually trim his horses. We suggest building a solid ground for the trimming area which will protect the horses form sliding. The owner promised to solve this problem.
On our final visit for this month, we are asked to check a mare’s teeth at farm in Gosciecin. After examining the mare, we are not surprised why she stopped eating. One tooth has very sharp edges and is hurting her whilst eating. We are trimming her teeth, but it will take her a couple of days for her previous wounds to heal and to get used to her newly trimmed teeth. However, after a couple of days she will be able to eat normally again.
In February, our team visited 23 farms. They trimmed the hooves of 17 horses and the claws of two cows. Additionally, we trimmed the teeth of one mare and treated two horses with skin infections. Moreover, we provided one farm with an electric fence and a new farm joined our ATET programme.
