Bóthar na mBó-Welcome to the Bóthar Second Level Schools page.

In November 2001 we launched our second-level pack, entitled Bóthar na mBó. Since then many schools have taken part in it, whether as part of CSPE, Transition Year, Senior Cycle, or throughout the school. With, in addition to widening their awareness of Third World issues, have taken part in fundraising and have successfully sponsored or part-sponsored an Irish heifer for a poor family in one of our heifer projects in Cameroon, Rwanda, Uganda, Lebanon, Malawi, Albania or Kosovo.

Of course schools have also sponsored other animals for Bóthar and all are welcome. If you would like further information on any other of our animal projects, such as goats, bees, yak or rabbits, you will find the links to them on the front page. Here we concentrate on heifers, but all are equally important.

Frequently asked questions about Bóthar na mBó.

What is a heifer?
A heifer is a female Bóvine that has not calved. Heifers are usually less than two years old.

Where do the Bóthar heifers come from?
Many are donated free by Irish farmers. Some community groups either buy or are given calves by farmers who are then paid by the group to rear them until ready to travel. Others are purchased by individuals, and so on.

What is the sponsorship money needed for?
The €1800 to sponsor a heifer is an average figure that is made up costs associated with rearing as well as transportation of the animal and training of the receiving family.

How old are the heifers when they are sent abroad?
Generally the animals are two years of age at the time of travelling.

What breeds are sent and why?
Bóthar heifers are Holstein Friesians as they thrive in the countries to which they are sent and also because they have a high milk yield.

Are they always in calf?
All heifers are inseminated prior to departure and are normally between two and seven months pregnant at shipment date.

How long will a dairy cow live?
This varies, depending on the care they receive. In Ireland cows are not kept beyond 10 years, but in project countries because of the extra care they are given they often live several years longer than that.

How many calves will she produce at one time?
Generally just one. Twins are rare and triplets even rarer. In the case of a cow producing a male and female twin, the genes of the male become dominant and the female calf is always infertile. This is known as a freemartin.

How often will she calve?
Beginning at two years it is possible for her to calve each year of her life.

How are the heifers put in calf in subsequent years in receiving countries?
In Ireland and receiving countries the preferred option is AI (Artificial Insemination) straws, which are of Irish origin and of high quality.

Does the African climate affect the cows adversely?
The climate in the receiving countries in Africa is temperate and comfortable for the animals.

Where do they live?
Recipient families in Africa must first build a zero-grazing unit as part of their preparation for the animal. A zero-grazing unit is a housing facility constructed of locally available material. It is divided into four sections: one each for sleeping, feeding and milking, and one for the calf. It leads out onto an enclosed exercise area. Cattle are not allowed to wander freely for several reasons. If they come into contact with local cows they will pick up disease-carrying ticks. Also it is important to maximise the benefit of smallholdings. In Ireland it is reckoned that more than 50% of grass is destroyed by cows walking or lying on it. This could not be afforded in East Africa. In other countries often there will be existing housing accommodation for the animals, but it must meet a certain standard in order to be acceptable.

What are they fed?
In Africa cows are fed several species of grass, including elephant grass, a tough fast-growing native species that can grow up to two metres high; also alfalfa (or lucerne) and dismodia, which are not grasses but legumes, important as nitrogen fixers. In European and Middle Eastern countries alfalfa is the most popular choice. This fodder is cut and chopped several times a day by the family and brought to the animal for feeding.

How much milk will they produce?
Because of their quality, Bóthar cows will routinely produce 15-20 litres of milk a day, as opposed to one litre or less with local breeds. This is normally the highest daily production over a 300-day lactation period. A cow that is a "20 litre cow" might give 15 litres daily after calving. This will rise to 20 litres after about one month. It will hold that level for about five months and then start to decrease, possibly to about 10 litres eventually. The percentage of milk in each of the two daily milkings varies, depending on the time lapse between each milking.

What are the benefits for the family of having a Bóthar cow?
Milk is nature's most complete food and it transforms the diet and health of the family. If you consider how much milk your family uses each day you will see that the amount produced by an Irish cow is greatly in excess of the needs of even a large family. The surplus may readily be sold, so giving extra income which allows the family to buy food and clothing, to improve their housing and, perhaps most importantly, to pay for their children's education. In many developing countries there is no such thing as free education and many families cannot afford even the modest fees to send a child to primary school. Even if they have some income it is usually the boys who are educated, leaving the girls to do domestic chores at home, so the cycle of poverty and ignorance is perpetuated. Receiving a Bóthar animal can empower such families over the course of time and help to break this cycle for them and their children.

What is the composition of milk?
Fresh milk provides a better balance of nutrients than possibly any other single food, even though it is mostly water. Composition varies depending on breed, feeding, etc., but an average sample would contain the following:
Water (87.51%), Fat (3.8%), Lactose (4.7%), Vitamins and Minerals (0.76%), three proteins - Casein (2.63%), Albumen (0.3%) and Globulin (0.1%) and lastly Non-protein Nitrogen (0.2%).

Are there any other benefits from the cow?
The manure from the cow may be used to produce biogas to power both a gas cooker and domestic light. It is fed into a special unit called a biomass converter, of which there are several types. The manure is then left to decompose and will produce significant amounts of methane as biogas, which is piped into the house.

In African countries most project families would have no electricity for light, cooking or heat; huge environmental damage is caused by the chopping down of trees for firewood or charcoal to provide fuel for cooking. This is known as deforestation. The land, which was formerly shaded by trees, becomes dried out and burned by the sun, resulting in desertification. The exposed soil is either blown away in huge dust clouds in the dry season or washed away by the torrential rains of the two wet seasons each year. As the trees near the family home are felled, the women often have to walk for miles each day to collect firewood, carrying it back on their heads in the heat of the sun.

By giving families the possibility of biogas this process of degrading the land is arrested and life made a little easier. Manure, which is removed from the digester, may then be spread on crop fields or vegetable patches as fertiliser, and is said moreover to assimilate faster into the soil if the gas has been removed first. The other benefits deriving from the cow are the small spin-off enterprises such as the manufacture of butter or cheese, which some co-operative groups are beginning to undertake.

Are the cows killed for meat?
The cow is much more valuable to the family when alive. At the end of her life, as in Ireland, she may have to be sold for her meat and hide, but very few project families would kill their own cattle as they regard them as family members.

What is the gestation period of a cow?
On average the gestation period of a cow is 283 days, or around nine months.

What is the cycle of reproduction?
Once a cow gives birth she will give milk for around 300 days. After about three months of this period she will be inseminated again while in heat. She comes into heat every 21 days and this lasts for just one day. The milking continues but towards the end of this period the flow of milk slows down naturally and the cow must be "dried off". This is done by first milking three times in two days, then once a day, then once in two days and so on until the flow stops. The drying-off process takes around two weeks to complete. Ideally the cow remains dry for about 65 days before calving, although the figure may vary for many reasons. The calf is born head and feet first and the cow begins to lactate (give milk) again.
The first milk the calf drinks from the mother after calving is called colostrum or beestings, which is dark in colour and differs from normal milk in composition. It is vital that the calf receives colostrum within a few hours of being born, as it contains important antibodies which protect the calf against disease. The cow's milk returns to normal within three or four days.

What are the major diseases affecting cattle?
These are generally divided into those caused by bacteria and viruses. Bacterial infections include mastitis and brucellosis, while viral ones include foot and mouth and viral pneumonia. External parasites such as ringworms and ticks usually feed on the animal's skin or hair, while internal ones live inside it. Signs of a healthy cow include a moist nose, bright eyes, a good appetite and an alert and lively posture.

What about foot and mouth?
At the time of writing Ireland has been permitted to begin sending heifers abroad once again, following the foot and mouth emergency. This serious disease caused all Bóthar operations involving heifers and goats to cease for many months, leaving families that had completed their training course waiting for long periods in the hope of receiving their promised animal. Thanks to the vigilance of the public and the co-operation of farmers we hope that this episode is now behind us.

Where are the Bóthar heifers kept before travelling?
On a given date there is a special "open day" at a farm near the village of Boher, Co. Limerick, to which all of the donated heifers are transported by farmers from around Ireland in preparation for their journey to their new homes. This is a major logistical exercise but the goodwill and hard work of many volunteers ensures that it passes off smoothly. The animals are checked by Department of Agriculture vets, and a certificate of fitness to travel is issued.

How are the heifers transported?
All the animals are transported by air, as this is the quickest, cheapest and least stressful method. Usually 70 heifers travel together as a group. The interior of a large cargo plane is specially adapted, having purpose-built pens and absorbent flooring installed. The cattle are comfortable during their journey are not in any way perturbed by the flight. On arrival, they are again checked by the local veterinary staff. Following this they are fed and watered and have a rest, and the next day they are distributed to their new families who have been eagerly awaiting their arrival.

Does it cause difficulty if one family gets a heifer and another does not?
There are trained and experienced personnel involved in Bóthar projects who, in consultation with local church and community groups, select the most needy families.

What preparations do the families make?
In addition to undergoing a training course in the correct care of the animal, the principal task undertaken by the receiving family in an African situation is the construction of the zero-grazing unit. This must be completed prior to any hand-over. The family also plants an area of fodder.

What about environmental conservation?
In many areas of Africa, the land has been seriously depleted by erosion of the topsoil due to deforestation and desertification. In the rainy season there is nothing to anchor the soil and deep gullies are carved out by heavy rain.

Part of the process of land improvement is the construction of retaining banks in order to contain the run-off of this rainwater and halt the erosion. This is called terracing or contouring.

These improvements are an incentive to neighbouring families to maintain their own land and property by taking some of the above measures in the hope of receiving pass-on calves or a heifer of their own.

In an eastern European context the family must also be trained and must ensure that there is adequate housing for the animal, in addition to a good supply of fodder. Many families in Kosovo would have had livestock before the war and would already be familiar with animal husbandry methods.

What about male calves?
Bull calves that are born are valued for breeding and are often sold by the families to other farmers. Sometimes these Irish bull calves are cross-bred with the local species. The first offspring of this cross, known as an F1, has hybrid vigour, which makes it a far more productive animal than the native cow. A cross-bred cow will produce approximately seven litres of milk per day. A second cross, F2, will be an improvement again, and so on. The fourth cross, F4, is considered a pure-bred.

Will the animals be safe from war?
They are safest in the hands of one-animal farmers. Bóthar only sends animals to peaceful areas in countries which have settled administrations. In both Kosovo and Albania there are now several project areas. Many Albanian families took in Kosovar refugee families during the war despite being in poor circumstances themselves already.

What about the heifer's name?
If you are sponsoring a heifer you may choose her name.

We have tried to answer the main questions that people ask about BNB. If we have forgotten anything you can mail your questions, marked "FAO The Webmaster" to bothar@eircom.net