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Dairy Goats
These are the goats that are kept or
their milk production.
Feeding
Often, feeding them is pretty
much easier than feeding the other goats since they are fed on locally
available fodder such as nappier grass, Calliandra,
and desmondium. Also, one can feed
them on maize stalks, and hay which are pretty much available. a good number of farmers have also opted to feed their goats on hydroponic fodder. However, just
like any other animal, the nutritional value of the feeds provided to these goats
should never be compromised. For this reason, it is necessary to provides food supplements
that will ensure that the dairy goats get the necessary supplements. Some of
the feeds that are very good nutritional value valuable for dairy goats are
cotton seed cake, maize or rice jam, bran, and dairy meal. Also, farmers with enough
land can plant sweet potatoes for their vines which provide high protein
content.
Breeding
Breeding these goats is also not
as cumbersome. There are two ways of breeding them, one being artificial insemination
– which is less common in Kenya and using their males. Since goats generally
have a very high libido, only a single male is enough to service up to 25
females. He-goats are introduced to the females two weeks after kidding, or 10 at
the age of months. It is important that a farmer selects the best he-goat for
his/her breeding purposes so as to ensure best quality. The he-goat should be
left with the female goats for between 2-3 weeks to ensure that he mates with
most of them. This is very good since most of the farmers goats will kid at
almost same time, making it very easy for their management by the farmer. After
kidding, the kids are allowed at least 1 liter of milk a day for at least 3
months, although the amount of milk can be reduced depending on the weight, with
feed and supplements introduced in the second week after birth.
Breeds
High
altitude areas you need: Saanen, Toggenburg, East African Goat.
Medium
altitude: German Alpine, E.A Goat, Angora Galla and Boer goat.
Low
altitude: Galla, Boer and E.A.Goat
High
yield Milk producers are; Alpine, Toggenburg and Saanen.
Meat
producers are E.A Goat, Galla and Boer
Production
The
Alpine 2.4-4.6 litres a day (3.6%butterfat),
Toggenburg
3-5 litres a day (3.8%butterfat)
Saanen,
can produce even 7 liters a day under good management
Doing
an average of 5 liters a day, less the one liter for the kid one is left with 4
liters. Goat milk fetches between Ksh. 30 and Ksh. 120 depending on the place. So,
if a farmer can fetch Ksh.60 for his product, he/she will get Ksh. 240 for one goat in a day. If a
farmer has 10 goats, he/she can get up to Ksh.
2400 daily, and Ksh. 72,000 in a
month of course, the costs of production are not factored here since these will
change depending on what the farmer has.
Challenges
Just like any other animal
production venture, availability of quality feeds has been a major challenge to
most farmers. Most farmers do not have a reliable supply for fodder and supplements
while those who have are forced to spend huge sums of money on the same. Other challenges
are diseases and pests, lack of reliable human resources, and lack of quality
breeds.
However, the biggest challenge that
faces most dairy goats is the market for their milk. Although it is no longer a
secrete that goat milk fetches very high prices in the market, and that it is
very valuable for hospitals and HIV patients, most farmers are faced with a
burden of fetching reliable market for their milk. This could be due to their low
quantities of production that means that the logistics of collecting their
products from their localities do not make economical sense. Also, the high price
of the products makes it out of reach to the low income earners as compared
with the prices of milk from cows.
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“What you want is by your doorstep yet you do not know,” says Kirwa.
Why ZERO GRAZING?
ZERO GRAZING improves milk production. The energy which the
animal would have spent on free range is consolidated and used for milk
production. The number of attendants is also reduced; they seemed to have
plenty of time. And by the look of things, I must say I found them well
informed and smart. I wouldn’t have noticed them had I not been told. What
still amazes me is the way the animals were composed. They appeared stress
free - never seemed to be taken aback by such a large team visiting. They
are lovely and appealing to the eyes. No wonder they got 3 awards and the
concomitant benefits.
The farmer in Machakos was getting 35 litres of milk per cow
whereas all his 8 at home gave an accumulated 30 litres. He came back home and
decided to do Zero Grazing and feed his livestock exclusively on dry matter.
Of the 8, he isolated 3 and put them on ZERO GRAZING while the rest were left
on free range as before. The confined 3 for ZERO GRAZING refused to feed. In
desperation, he brought in the other 5 who fed ravenously on the dry matter.
That motivated the initial 3 to begin eating. 2 months down the line, the milk
production doubled to 70 litres. And since then, things have never been the
same for WILSAM Dairies. Exponential growth has been the order of the day. This
he attributes to FEEDS; MANAGEMENT; BREED
“Give me a business that gives you daily revenue by as
early as 6:00 a.m. and I’ll show you milk business. How? Doing dairy farming as
a business brings in income as early as 5:00 a.m. and continues throughout the
day, the week, the month, and throughout the years. In fact, it
continues up to the close of business at 8:00 p.m. when the cows bid you good
night”
Those were the opening words of Willy Kirwa when we, 52 farming
enthusiasts, paid a visit to WILSAM Farm which he owns and manages with his
wife, a farm manager and 2 farm assistants. People came from far and wide-
Kisumu; Mombasa; Muranga; Ukambani; Nairobi; Nakuru; Bomet; Eldoret; Kitale;
Webuye, etc. Whereas most of us were first timers, several were doing repeat
visits; many more will go back again and again from what I heard...
Kirwa, who travels a lot, later on visited Israel where he
was astounded when he found out the high cost of producing milk. Therein,
due to transport as most ingredients are imported, the costs are high. Upon
critical and open thinking, it struck him that he could do dairy farming at a
much cheaper cost back here in Kenya where Maize Stover, Wheat Stalks, Rice
Husks are readily available locally. According to Brian Tracey, “The
key to success is action,” creativity, openness, and imagination
notwithstanding. "The talent of success is nothing more than doing what
you can do well; and doing well whatever you do, without a thought of
fame," adds Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. And Zig Ziglar says that the
skill to do comes from doing. Therefore, you must place yourself in a
position to practice these skills.
Coupled with enthusiasm, these principles work to bring about
fast, predictable improvements in performance and results. The faster you learn
and apply them, the faster you will move ahead. It was Frank Tibolt who
once said, “We should be taught NOT TO WAIT for inspiration to start a thing.
Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.”
“Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the
world better,” as Martin Luther King, Jr. observed.
All successful people are forever attempting to expand their
horizons; to stretch their minds. Thomas Carlyle put it beautifully when he said,
"Once the mind has been expanded by a big idea, it will never go back
to its original state." Carlyle was right, when you have expanded your
mind you have developed a greater awareness, and awareness is not something you
can lose, asserts Bob Proctor... Willy is back in Israel for
updates on the latest dairy technology; some new things have just come up. He
doesn’t let anything novel pass him by- he looks for opportunities in every
vista available.
Feeds
The cows are exclusively fed on dry matter. Dry matter is more
important than green matter in dairy feeds as the volume consumed is less and
the water intake is enhanced. A cow which consumes 80kgs of green matter takes
only 40kgs of dry matter. Then it takes 60 litres of water on average. It's
worth noting that 80% of milk is composed of water!!!!!!!!!!!
The dry matter is made up of roughly chopped
§
1 bag Bhoma Rhodes grass;
§
1 bag Wheat Straw;
§
1 bag Maize Stover;
§
1 bag Rice husks
This makes up approximately 120kg of feed from the 4 bags based
on an assumption of 30 kgs per bag of each input. Of these, the most critical
component is the BHOMA RHODES.
“Ideally, you should be doing 4 bags of BHOMA RHODES, but since
it is expensive and we are aiming to drive down costs, we add fillers- what
would be called ''waste'' material (maize stovers, rice husks, wheat straws),”
says Kirwa.
These are thoroughly mixed with 2 litres of molasses in 15
litres of lukewarm water. Thereafter the moist mixture is compacted in
plastic drums. How many drums they will fill depend on drum size, muscle power
and weight (compacting ability). The use of metal drums is discouraged
owing to rust. The mixture, in the drums of course, are then sealed with polythene
sheet and put in the sun to ferment to maturity. It’s advisable that the
chopping is medium size so as to allow for chewing rather than swallowing. This
is necessary for the development and built up of rumen. The moisturised feeds
become ready for consumption in three days. By then it is softer and tastier.
This feed can last for long, too.
His herd of 36 animals consumes 2-2.5 drums of this in a
day. Each mature in-milk cow consumes 35 – 40 kgs daily. The maximum is
about 40 kg daily for a cow that is in full milk production. Note that the
quantity consumed per cow reduces owing to the animal size and status- in-milk,
in-calf, expectant heifers, young calves... Calves and heifers are also fed on
the same feed. Calves are only allowed to suckle from their mothers for two
days after which they are introduced to artificial feeding. Solid salt lick is
also provided adlib and a cow is estimated to consume between 130-150g/day.
This is split up into 3 as they are milked thrice daily.
When asked about the use of UREA to substitute for molasses in
the feeds, Kirwa said that that requires much more technology than he has
access to. Otherwise, the unfortunate herd deaths as have been reported
elsewhere.
Water is provided adlib and at body temperature. Cows take small
quantities of cold water; instead, they drink plenty of the lukewarm one. That
explains why within the cowshed, the water is in the open area of the
confinement.
It is advisable to Store feeds enough for your animals to last
for at least a year. Use this to know the estimates required-365days x 40kgs x
#cows.
Of the 18 in–milk cows, he gets between 350 and 370 litres of
milk daily.
Milk producing cows are given dairy meal in addition to the dry
matter. “Don’t buy dairy meal,” he warns. “Make your own”, he advises. “It has
cost implications,” he adds. If he were feeding 35 cows 2kgs of dairy meal
each, he would save between Kshs. 21,000 and Kshs. 26,250 monthly. This saving
doubles when he gives each cow 4kgs.
Dairy meal administration
>15litres 4kgs per day
<15litres 2kgs per day
Costs
Factory
made
Homemade Variance Savings
2000-2250
1400-1500
500-750 18,000-22,500
Dairy meal composition
Ingredient Quantity Availability
Cotton Seed Cake 05kg Dealers
Wheat Pollard 05kg Millers
Maize Flour 10kg Home made
Rice Germ 15kg Rice factory
Wheat Bran 18kg Millers
Maize Bran 15kg Millers
High Phosphorous 01kg Agrovet
Dairy Lime 01kg Agrovet
PS:
Lucerne can be used to substitute for COTTON SEED CAKE;
Soya is too expensive;
Sunflower fattens and this inhibits milk production. It’s
instead, better for the beef cattle. As to the much publicized fodder
millet, Willy has just brought in the seeds. Until he gets it right, he doesn’t
want to comment. This homemade dairy meal costs between Kshs. 1400 and 1500 per
bag.
Milking
A dairy cow is milked for 10months in a year and left to dry for
2 months just before delivery. Milking at the farm is mechanized. The cows are
trained and when the equipment is switched on, and gates opened, the cows
literally queue to await their turns. The machine milks four cows at a go as
the dairy meal is fed to the cow during process. In approximately 5 minutes the
milking is complete and another lot gets in.
Breeding
He says the best cows are the ones you breed yourself. So he
serves his dairy cows using conventional semen and sexed semen. Sexed semen is
used only on heifers. From his experience, sexed semen works best in heifers;
>90% efficacy. He uses semen from CAIS, Worldwide Sires and ABS Semex.
Medication
Spraying of the animals is done weekly within the farm. In fact,
WILSAM Dairies is like a miniature Agrovet, stocked with all kinds of animal
medicine. When need arises, vets are called in and paid for the services that
cannot be administered by the farm workers.
Plans
With over 350 litres daily, it’s not so economical to operate
without a chilling plant. So he plans to bring in a milk-cooler. He’s already
put up a structure for it. When that happens, he says he’ll be in a
better position to negotiate with the milk processors for better terms.
Besides, savings made on transport cost when the processors collect milk from
his yard would also be huge financial boost for him.
Meanwhile, he intends to add 20 more cows into the herd in the
next couple of months as well as build a bigger biogas plant; he had a small
smaller one which he’s broken down to pave way for the bigger one. Wilsam is
aiming at milking 40 cows, more cow dung, and at least 1,200 litres per day! At
30 bob per litre, we are looking at 36,000/- per day gross, or 1,080,000/- per
month gross, or 12,960,000 gross per year!!
There is “Good news” for his animals. They might soon be
sleeping on mattresses when he buys enough for all. He has begun bringing in
these mattresses albeit gradually given the high costs involved. Meanwhile,
they make do with straw on the murram floor which is comparatively warm unlike
the concrete one
For the feeds’ needs, he has planted 10 acres of Bhoma Rhodes
grass
Poultry
From a humble beginning of 200 chicks, a plan hatched in flight
as he came back from ISRAEL, he now has approximately 700, and a structure that
can take in up to 1000 birds. His estimated daily income from this is Kshs.
1700. Within the 18 months, he gets a net of about Kshs. 300,000. He saves a
minimum of Kshs. 25,000 on the homemade feeds-maize flour, maize bran, etc.
There are also layers whose eggs sell for Kshs. 30 each. In 21 days these bring
on board chicks.
For this farm, with an average income of about Kshs. 900,000 per
month, the future is brighter than ever before. The visit was quite an
eye opener. We came, saw and I‘m now believing in its possibility, seeing
it as it is done. Everything is possible for everyone who believes. This
thing is doable!!!!!!!!!!!!!"People with the best intentions will often
give you advice on why you shouldn’t take a risk because of what could happen.
While some of what they say may be true, you should never allow them to get
their negative anchors into your mind because, like them, you too will begin to
sink. Next time this happens, throw them a life-line, and ask them what is good
about their situation." - Bob Proctor
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Hydroponic farming
Hydroponics is a subset
of hydro culture. This is where plants are grown in water without soil but
using mineral nutrients solutions to substitute for soil. Terrestrial plants
are grown with the roots inside the mineral nutrient solution. They can also be
grown in inert media such as perlite, gravel, wool with minerals, clay pebbles
as well as coconut shells.
This is a relatively
new art of farming in Kenya, although it was first tested in the year 1929 by
William Frederick Gericke of the University of California at Berkeley.
Farmers in Kenya have
been able to adopt the art and are using it mostly to grow fodder for their animals.
Farmers are able to grow fodder which is ready in 8 days after planting. This has
been able to offer these farmers fodder throughout the year. Using this
technology, farmers are able to yield more than 50 kilograms of fodder from a
space of 20 feet by 10 feet. This method is very good for modern day farmers
who have limited space to grow fodder. For example, a greenhouse which is 140 meters
squared can hold up to 1800 trays which can produce approximately 1.2 tons of
fodder per day using between 700-900 liters of water. However, the temperatures
in the greenhouse should be controlled.
Most farmers prefer to grow
grains such as barley, wheat, maize, and oats although barley is the preference
choice of most farmers since it has more protein nutrients which have supper
results to animals.
Advantages of Hydroponic farming
Some of the reasons why
hydroponics is being adapted around the world for food production are the
following:
- No soil is needed for hydroponics
- The water stays in the system and can
be reused - thus, lower water costs
- It is possible to control the
nutrition levels in their entirety - thus, lower nutrition costs
- No nutrition pollution is released
into the environment because of the controlled system
- Stable and high yields
- Pests and diseases are easier to
get rid of than in soil because of the container's mobility
- It is easier to harvest
- No pesticide damage
- Plants grow healthier
- It is better for consumption
Today, hydroponics is
an established branch of agronomy. Progress has been rapid, and results obtained in
various countries have proved it to be thoroughly practical and to have very
definite advantages over conventional methods of horticulture.
There are two chief
merits of the soil-less cultivation of plants. First, hydroponics may
potentially produce much higher crop yields. Also, hydroponics can be used in
places where in-ground agriculture or gardening is not possible.
Disadvantages
Without soil as a
buffer, any failure to the hydroponic system leads to rapid plant death. Other
disadvantages include pathogen attacks such as damp-off due to Verticillium wilt caused
by the high moisture levels associated with hydroponics and over watering of
soil based plants. Also, many hydroponic plants require different fertilizers
and containment systems.
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