Leisurely Life: I Have Ten Thousand Acres of Grassland-Chapter 83 - 81: Ranch Owner: This Is What Professionalism Means!
On the grassland, Jiang Feng stood calmly in the midst of a large herd of cattle.
The ranch employees Niu Erhu, Hadan, and Bugude all hurried over towards him.
The drone was capturing footage of the grassland from the sky.
More than 50,000 people were watching the livestream.
It was around 10:30 in the morning, the sun was becoming warm, and the grassland seemed more lively.
"Master Jiang, what’s going on?" Niu Erhu asked hurriedly once the three of them arrived.
Jiang Feng said to them:
"Some cows are sick. I’ll point them out shortly. You take them back to the ranch and isolate them, then go to the quarantine station to buy some medicine, and also get a veterinarian from the management station to come over."
Upon hearing this, Niu Erhu immediately said, "Alright, no problem."
"Which ones are the sick cows?"
Jiang Feng walked forward, with Niu Erhu and the others following behind.
At the same time, Jiang Feng was explaining to everyone:
"There are two main types of diseases in cows that have the highest mortality rates."
"One aspect comes from the gastrointestinal tract, and the other from the lungs."
"Let’s talk about the gastrointestinal tract first; you can tell by looking at cow dung."
"If the dung has mucus, it’s viral enteritis. If it’s loose, it’s bacterial enteritis. If it’s very oily, then it’s a true stomach ulcer."
As he was speaking, Jiang Feng looked at one of the black Ujumqin cattle and pointed at it, saying:
"This one has bacterial enteritis. The dung is too loose, so give it medicine quickly."
Upon hearing Jiang Feng’s words, Hadan quickly stepped forward to lead the Ujumqin out.
Cattle are very gentle animals. As long as you don’t anger them, they are very close to humans.
The cow followed Hadan, completely obeying orders.
The viewers found it interesting, and the bullet comments became lively.
[Treat for just having diarrhea?]
[The owner is a dung observation expert!]
[Isn’t this normal? Don’t you also have to test the stool in pre-surgery checks?]
[Exactly, they give a little cup and ask me to pile it in. It’s so small it can’t fit, so I end up using a ladle.]
[Damn! I’m eating! Can you stop talking about this?]
[I’m eating too! It’s making me eat even more!]
Jiang Feng ignored the comments. He looked at Niu Erhu and said:
"Old Niu, when you let the cattle out in the future, keep an eye on their dung, and take preventative action if something seems off."
"Gastrointestinal disease is an old issue."
Niu Erhu responded quickly: "Master Jiang, I watch them every day, and I administer the anti-parasite medicine, but with so many cows, I can’t tell whose is whose."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Feng nodded. This matter could only be managed gradually; as long as they regularly give the cattle gastrointestinal medicine, the problem shouldn’t be too big.
Then Jiang Feng continued:
"The second main cause of cow deaths comes from the lungs, with all fatal pneumonia being caused by high fevers."
"So, as soon as a cow has a fever, it must be treated immediately, or it might end up dying from pneumonia."
"I’ve been in contact with a factory, and in the future, we’ll custom order a set of equipment for measuring the body temperatures of the cattle; every cow that enters the pen will have its temperature measured."
"Right now, without equipment, it’s all about visual judgment."
Jiang Feng continued to walk among the herd and came up to a large yellow cow.
"Look at this cow, its eyes and lips are a bit red, and its nose is dry, which in nine cases out of ten means it’s running a fever."
"Take this one back, let it rest, and prepare for an IV drip."
Jiang Feng has the "Grandmaster Level Veterinarian" skill, which is practically a divine skill for running a ranch, so he can clearly see which cows are sick.
Niu Erhu, Hadan, and Bugude were quite astonished—they didn’t expect Jiang Feng to be able to identify sick cows with his naked eye after just a quick tour.
There are more than 400 cows on the grassland now, and they all look similar. The cows are also very good at pretending; when they’re sick, they become sensitive and act nonchalant, making it hard to detect their illnesses.
Niu Erhu went over to take a closer look and found that the cow was indeed as Jiang Feng described, with redness around the eyes and mouth.
Most notably, its nose was dry; other cows’ noses were somewhat moist.
Niu Erhu also felt the cow’s forehead and face; with his extensive experience in cattle farming, he could tell this cow did have a mild fever.
A mild fever is easily treatable.
If the fever worsens, it consumes time, effort, and money to cure, and ignoring it is not an option.
"It really does have a fever! Treat it right away!"
Niu Erhu had Hadan take this cow along as well.
Then Jiang Feng continued to move forward and saw another yellow cow with similar symptoms—dry nose and redness around the mouth and eyes, then pointed to it and said, "This one has a mild fever too, take it back."
Bugude went over to lead the cow out.
The viewers grew increasingly amazed at such scenes.
[The owner’s eyesight is amazing!]
[No wonder he can run such a big ranch, he’s truly skilled!]
[Honestly, with judgment skills like his, he could strut in my village; everyone would call him to check their cattle!]
[We have an old vet like that here too; as soon as he starts treating in a household, everyone gathers around him, wanting him to check their cattle!]
[Just one glance from someone like that can help a farmer save thousands of dollars in assets. How can they not appreciate him!]
[Skills like that are valued anywhere.]
Niu Erhu and the other two grew more and more impressed with Jiang Feng.
Jiang Feng looked around at the surrounding cattle and said to Niu Erhu and the other two:
"There are still some showing symptoms of fever, you need to keep an eye on them."
"For example, leaning against the wall with eyes closed, if you see a cow doing so, it’s definitely feverish and weak, pretending to be tough. You must go and check it out."
"These guys are stubborn as hell."
Niu Erhu and the other two quickly nodded in agreement.
At this moment, Jiang Feng looked forward and quickly walked to a black Ujumqin cattle.
"Look at this cow, so much nasal discharge and the mouth is dirty, this kind is also having a fever."
Jiang Feng spoke.
"This one should be taken back too."
Niu Erhu continued to nod, "Alright."
Jiang Feng observed amidst the herd, while Niu Erhu followed behind.
Hadan and Bugude led the four cows Jiang Feng identified back to the ranch.
Then, Jiang Feng found another feverish Ujumqin cattle, but that was all.
Niu Erhu suddenly felt some pressure.
Jiang Feng said to him, "It’s normal to have a few sick cows when raising so many. Sheep are the same, they catch colds often and are hard to treat, so you can only eat them."
"But if a cow suddenly falls seriously ill, you might not even be able to eat it, so disease prevention is crucial."
"You’ve done well, just continue managing them this way. Call the veterinarian to bring medicine, or buy medicine and I’ll give them an infusion myself."
Niu Erhu replied, "No problem, Ranch Master, just tell me what needs to be done."
Following that, Jiang Feng asked Niu Erhu to keep an eye on the herd’s condition.
He himself took another round among the cows, confirmed nothing was wrong, and then called Red Hare, preparing to return to the ranch.
Taking advantage of this break, Jiang Feng glanced at the streaming comments.
He saw everyone was quite interested in him diagnosing the cows.
Jiang Feng mounted his horse and said to everyone:
"It’s normal for cows to get sick. My ranch has over 400 cows, only 5 are sick, and all with minor ailments. Not every sickness means death; they might recover on their own."
"Just to eliminate the risk of worsening conditions, I treat them as soon as I find out."
Many ranchers asked in the chatroom:
[Master Jiang, can you talk about how to prevent cows from getting sick? We can’t tell if they are sick, so prevention is better.]
[Yes, I’m a rancher and have been watching your stream, please share with us!]
[Prevention is more important for us.]
After seeing these comments, Jiang Feng said:
"Preventing cows from getting sick is very simple, just two aspects."
His voice transmitted through the stream.
Everyone listened attentively.
This practical knowledge is captivating, giving people an enlightening feeling.
Many enjoy watching science popularization for this reason; even though knowing obscure flora and fauna might be useless, it doesn’t stop them from watching all the explanations.
Jiang Feng continued:
"First is feeding grass at set times and portions; most ranches keep cows in pens, filling the trough with fodder."
"My ranch does this in winter too."
"Some people, for convenience, fill the trough with lots of grass at once, letting the cows eat as they please."
"This is not right because as cows eat, they secrete saliva, which falls into the trough and easily breeds bacteria."
"If there’s still fodder left in the trough, it will breed a lot of bacteria, like overnight food, it’s no longer clean."
"If cows keep eating like this, they can easily develop gastrointestinal diseases."
Jiang Feng’s words are based on experience.
His family runs a large ranch, and the experience from such ranching is far richer than that of small household farms and newcomers.
Upon hearing him, everyone nodded frequently, realizing there are considerations like this.
You can’t feed too much at once, otherwise leftover grass becomes "overnight food", mixed with cow saliva, breeding bacteria and becoming unclean.
Many ranchers took out notebooks to jot down notes.
Jiang Feng continued:
"The second point is to ensure the water is clean."
"Some cow farms lack resources, have no water troughs, and farmers fill the trough with water, including lots of grass roots, debris, and so on."
"This is not good because besides bacteria, grass also gathers a lot of dust."
"Many farmers think drinking water like this, similar to humans drinking porridge, not only quenches thirst but also helps cows eat grass."
"But imagine if porridge had lots of dirt in it, would it be healthy for your body?"
"So you must ensure water is clean, better yet, just make a water trough, it’s not much trouble."
"I use water troughs here to feed water."
After Jiang Feng’s explanation, ranchers began to see the light.
Raising cattle requires care; prevention is necessary for diseases.
Doing more work upfront prevents cases of cows becoming seriously ill and needing costly treatment later.
The craftsman who wishes to perfect his work must first sharpen his tools, and these are all summaries of experience.
[The Ranch Master is amazing!]
[This is true professionalism!]
[Listening to a professional talk about professional matters is brilliant!]
[Although I don’t raise cattle, I enjoy hearing the Ranch Master lecture, it’s very interesting!]
The chatroom remained lively as ever.
