Manik and Babu, two giant bulls, are drawing hundreds of curious people to the modest cattle farm of Oli Mia at Maslandapur in Nasirnagar upazila of Bramanbaria district ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, the Islamic festival of sacrifice.

With less than two weeks before the second biggest religious festival of Muslims, many cattle farms in the country are brimming with the sacrificial animals.

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Many people like Oli, reared cattle to sell before the Eid.

He has been in the business of rearing cattle for the last four years.

Manik and Babu are his two prized possessions at the farm.

Oli is asking a price of Tk 22 lakh for the bulls, each containing approximately 25 maunds of meat, as demand for sacrificial animals has increased ahead Eid-ul-Azha.

The bulls are of Frisian variety. Oli has taken special care in rearing them feeding them natural food like husk and grass.  

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“I’m spending Tk 1,000 every day on fodder for the two bulls. I have started cultivating grass in my land to feed the bulls,” said Oli.

So far, some would-be customers offered Tk 14 lakh for the two bulls, he said.

“The bulls have become like my own family members.  Yet I have to sell them for money I need to expand my cattle farm,” he added.

Habiba Begum, wife of Oli, said “Manik and Babu were born in the farm four years back and since then we have been rearing them.”

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District livestock officer, Dr. ABM Saifuzzaman, said “Many people have returned home from abroad due to Covid-19 pandemic. They take to rearing cattle as safe investment with good returns.”

He said his office advises and guides people who are interested in rearing cattle.