Lal Chan, a bull weighing about 25 maunds, is Bhola's big attraction for the coming Eid-ul-Azha markets. Owner Jahangir Alam says the bull, fattened entirely on natural feed, costs about Tk 1,500 a day to keep. He wants to sell it for Tk 15 lakh and claims it is the biggest cow in Bhola district.

Cattle have been kept as a hobby at the Baoli house of Md Jahangir Alam in Velumia Union, Bhola Sadar upazila, since his father's time. His farm now has five cattle of various sizes, among them the three-and-a-half-year-old Lal Chan, weighing about 25 maunds.

Md Jahangir Alam said Lal Chan was born to one of his own cows. At three and a half years old he weighs about 25 maunds, and he has been fattened with great care entirely on natural feed.

He said he was spending Tk 1,000 to 1,500 a day on Lal Chan ahead of the Eid market. He claims the bull, about 15 feet long and 8 feet tall, is the biggest in Bhola district and wants Tk 15 lakh for it at the market.

Jahangir Alam's nephew Md Arif Hossain said Lal Chan had been carefully fattened for sale at the Eid market on fresh grass, khesari lentils, oilcake, bran and soybean.

People crowd Jahangir Alam's home farm every day from morning to afternoon to catch a glimpse of the huge animal.

Md Sujon Hossain, Md Hanif and Md Amir Hossain, who came to see Lal Chan, said they had heard that Md Jahangir had a huge bull and came to have a look. They said the bull was so big that they had never seen anything like it, and that it would be Bhola's biggest at this year's Eid market.

Bhola livestock officer Md Rafiqul Islam Khan said Jahangir Alam had raised Lal Chan on natural feed on their advice. This year demand for sacrificial animals in Bhola's seven upazilas is 85,011, and 92,450 animals are ready.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.