The unusual livestock production cycle is often surprising to visiting veterinarians who come as consultants. From the summer milk production comes horse milk, a favorite drink of these nomads. It is slightly alcoholic and is fermented for preservation. Livestock milk is also used to make a hard cheeselike product that is dried in the summer sun and eaten in the winter as a calcium-phosphorous source. The nomadic people always offer their best to us.
Herders face hardships because of overgrazing by livestock and harsh weather conditions.
During the winter, snow blankets whatever grass if left in the countryside, causing animals to lose 25 percent to 30 percent of their body weight. Livestock are viewed as wealth, so lowering the stocking rates to increase production is a difficult practice for herders to accept. Even harder to accept, though, is the massive death of livestock from brucellosis as a result of inadequate vaccination programs. The lack of fences in Mongolia requires a heavy dependence on vaccination in any control program. We are confronted everywhere by Mongolian veterinarians who want to develop private practices to tackle these problems.