Munching and chewing on fodder and forage
KARACHI: Before letting your imagination run wild with recipes, spices, barbecues and skewers after bringing home your goat, lamb, cow, bull or camel, think first about what you are going to feed them during their brief stay with you. These days there are several roadside shops selling a variety of feed for livestock to help you in that department.
A chaff cutter stands in one corner of the shop. It is used for cutting straw or maize stalks into small pieces for cows and bulls to chew on easily. A little goat brought to the shop by its owner turns away from the straw and maize, as it is more interested in the grass-like fresh green leaves, known as jantar, which its owner quickly bought for Rs15 per kilogramme.
The shop owner, Mohammad Naveed, smiles and says: “Yes, we get plenty of sacrificial animal owners bringing in the animal to select food for itself as they are not really sure as to what to feed them.
“These animals are all herbivores i.e. strictly vegetarian. You may allow them to graze on your lawn, feed them grass or vegetable leaves such as spinach leaves but that doesn’t mean they can be fed anything besides meat that you may have to offer them at home. For instance, your goat cannot easily digest cooked roti or naan. And if you think you are helping it by giving it water to easily wash down that roti, it will result in indigestion instead. Then the goat’s stomach will swell and it will most probably die,” explains the fodder shop owner.