This archive report was first published on 10 January 2020.
The clinic: Experts give insights on varied crop and livestock issues ¶
Published on January 10, 2020
Experts from Seeds of Gold offer advice on dairy cow purchases, dairy meal production, and various livestock-related issues.
When looking to buy high-yielding dairy cows, it's essential to source them from a reputable breeder who has registered their animals with the Kenya Livestock Breeders Association. This ensures that the animals have undergone rigorous testing and meet specific standards.
One such breeder is Marula Farm in Naivasha, which offers high-quality dairy cows for sale. You can contact them on 0724908998 for more information.
Producing dairy meal at home ¶
Dairy meal is a concentrate feed specifically designed for cattle that are being milked to boost milk production. To produce dairy meal at home, you'll need to mix various ingredients, including protein sources like cottonseed cake, sunflower cake, soybean meal, and fishmeal, with energy sources like wheat and rice bran.
When calculating the amount of each ingredient to use, it's essential to consider the crude protein content of each material. For example, if you want to achieve a protein content of 18%, you can mix 29kg of wheat bran with 3kg of soybean meal.
Marketing rabbit urine ¶
Rabbit urine is rich in nutrients and can be used as a foliar fertilizer or pesticide. If you have 200 litres of rabbit urine, you can sell it to crop farmers in your locality, especially if production is in smaller quantities.
Market prospects for bee products ¶
For those interested in beekeeping in Kericho, the market prospects are promising. The Ogiek community has been keeping bees in the area, and the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) of 2018-2022 supports bee farming through the provision of hives to groups.
However, to realize high yields of quality honey, it's essential to familiarize yourself with the value chain, including the type of bees to keep, beehive management, and pest control.
Qualities of a good beehive ¶
A good beehive should be easy to construct and repair, contain bees, be affordable, and have ease of mounting and bee handling. It should also have longevity, minimal intrusion of brood during honey harvesting, and higher yields of quality honey.
You can acquire beehives or beekeeping equipment from public organizations like the National Beekeeping Station and Baraka Agricultural College, Molo. Contact Cosmas of National Beekeeping on 0721575332 or try 0725777421 for Baraka.
Where to market rabbits and their urine ¶
There is a big market for rabbits due to the growing demand for white meat. Rabbit urine is also in demand due to its high fertilizer qualities. You can try Deevabits on 0733301507 for the rabbits and any organic farmers in your locality for urine marketing.
When to wean calves and vaccines to use ¶
When to wean calves depends on breed, age, weight, or growth formulas. Routine vaccines include Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) and Lumpy skin disease (LSD). They can be administered at any age, and a booster given every six months for FMD and annually for LSD.
Storeyed poultry house ¶
When constructing a two-storey raised floor poultry house, it's essential to consider disease control, space, and cost-effectiveness. While sketches for storey poultry houses are available, disease control is a challenge in timber structures, and concrete houses are expensive to put up and have a low return on investment.
Unless you have special reasons why you wish to put up storey buildings, we recommend purchasing cost-effective and minimal space-consuming battery cages.
