Cold waves and livestock: keeping cows, calves and goats healthy this winter

12 November 2026 · 2 min read · Krishoker Thikana desk

When cold waves sweep the north and fog lasts for days, farmers cannot take animals out to graze, fodder runs short, and animals fall sick. One dairy farmer in Lalmonirhat told The Daily Star his cows' milk had dropped from about 9 litres to 5–6 litres during a cold spell. Calves, kids, and old or weak animals suffer most.

Protect the shed

• Cover the open sides of the shed with polythene, jute sacking or black cloth at night, as livestock officers and the agro-weather service advise.
• Leave some gap at the top for fresh air. A closed, damp shed full of ammonia smell causes lung disease.
• Keep the floor dry. Put down dry straw or husk as bedding and change it when wet.
• A bulb can keep a calf or poultry shed warmer. Never light a fire or a stove inside the shed: smoke harms the lungs and a shed fire can kill animals.

Keep animals warm

• Put a jute sack or old blanket on calves, goats and weak animals at night, tied so it cannot slip around the neck.
• Let animals stand in the sun in the middle of the day.
• Do not wash animals on cold days. If you must, use lukewarm water and dry them quickly.

Feed and water

• Animals burn more energy in the cold. Give extra straw, green fodder if you have it, and some concentrate feed.
• Give clean drinking water that is not ice-cold; lukewarm water helps animals drink enough.
• Make sure newborn calves and kids get the mother's first milk (colostrum) within the first hours.

Warning signs: call a vet

• Fast or difficult breathing, coughing, runny nose or fever. These can be signs of pneumonia, which can kill young animals quickly.
• Diarrhoea in calves or kids, or an animal that stops eating.
• Blisters in the mouth or on the feet, drooling or limping: possible foot-and-mouth disease (khura rog). Keep the animal apart and report it.

Call your Upazila Livestock Office or a registered vet for treatment and medicine doses; do not give antibiotics on guesswork. Ask the office about foot-and-mouth and other vaccines. The Livestock and Dairy pages of this site list the offices and helplines.