Smart farms

: 26 September 2022; Hits: 2150

Fact sheet on commercial kienyeji chicken management

Kuku

Commercial indigenous chicken farmers for a long time have thought that keeping these type of chicken on free range is just enough. They therefore avoid taking care of them properly and still expect good earnings from them. This is not recommended. Generally chicken require good feeding, housing, protection against diseases and predators in order to give good return.

Indigenous chicken have over time proved to be more profitable both in their meat and eggs as compared to hybrid types and any farmer keen to make more money out of them should go an extra mile just from free range.

Housing

A good chicken house should protect the chickens from the cold and wind and keep away predators such the mongoose, dogs, wild cats or snakes.

The house should be spacious enough to reduce congestion, which causes stress in chickens and even cannibalism and pecking. Ideally, each chicken requires at least 2 square feet of space. In this 100% more floor space is fine.

If space allows, ensure that you leave an open area where the chickens can be released in the evenings (this is called a chicken run) where they can run, pick insects and eat vegetative matter such as grasses and plant vegetables such as kales. This should also take care of ventilation for natural breeze.

RELATED ARTICLE: Aloe vera keeps off poultry diseases

A chicken house should also be constructed facing East to West direction to reduce wind or draft that can affect chickens.

Feeding

A laying hen for example requires 122g of feed every day for good production of eggs. Similarly a chick requires at least 30g of feed per day to grow well.

“Chickens should be provided with clean water at all times for food transport to all parts of the body and to maintain their health. Farmers can also add 2 or 3 teaspoonfuls of EM1 and Aloe Vera solution in the water to improve digestion and provide immunity from diseases,” said Mr. Ochieng’ Ouko, poultry research assistant- KALRO

Disease control

Indigenous chicken. Just like any other breed they should be vaccinated against the most common diseases such as fowl pox, Newcastle, Mareks and coccidiosis diseases.

Poultry farmers should keep eye on their chicken for any sickness. They should ensure that all the chickens are vaccinated against the most common diseases such as fowl pox, Newcastle, Mareks and coccidiosis diseases. Diseases make chickens weak and retard their growth, feed conversion, egg production and eventaully reduce the good returns that farmers desire.

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: 26 September 2022; Hits: 2124

Kirinyaga sweet potato farmers resort to irrigation to maintain yields

Sweet potato Kirinyaga

Sweet potatoes farmers from Kirinyaga County have resorted to sprinkler irrigation system where water is distributed by overhead high-pressure sprinklers from a central location in the field in order to help them improve and maintain their crop production during this low rainfall period.

Kirinyaga County alone produces about 500 tons of sweet potatoes every year. This is used to produce flour, baking and chips or even sold in their fresh state for food.

However, the greatest challenge remains availability of reliable water throughout the season as most production is rain-fed.
Nelson Ngaara is sweet potato farmer in Sagana, Kirinyaga County. He says he has six sprinklers in his one acre piece of sweet potatoes land. He irrigate them once a week given they have over grown and their leaves and vines covering the ground reducing the rate of water lose through evaporation.

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“I irrigate my sweet potatoes once a week now that they have over grown but when they are still young with their leaves not yet spread enough I sprinkle water twice to enable roots development,” said Ngaara adding that the water he draws from River Tana has been of benefit to him and other farmers in the region.

He expects between 40-50 bags of potatoes from the land late October when he will be harvesting. His main markets are Sagana centre and Kagio where traders from Nairobi come occasionally to buy sweet potatoes from them.

Yields under sprinkler system are up to 15% more than the drip system which can be attributed to more vigorous growth due to rooting of the vine nodes on the wet soil between the beds. Root quality is superior to the tape system but weed growth is more of a problem. A mini-sprinkler system needs to be correctly designed to give complete and even ground cover.

Kenya’s potential to produce sweet potato for the export market is high due to favourable soil and vine quality plus water availability in production areas. Sweet pomato processing factory can be located at Kagio because of the area’s high production of the produce.

Experts say that root maturity of sweet potatoes can vary between varieties and root development is slower during cooler weather. Growers need to monitor the development of roots with regular checks of root size after 18 weeks. Marketable grades of roots are between 0.25 and 1 kilogram. If harvested at the correct time, around 60-70% of total roots should be within this grade. If grown during the dry season most varieties should be ready for digging at about 20 -22 weeks from planting. If left too long in the ground the roots can become oversize and unmarketable.

“The economy of Kenya relies on Agriculture. Eighty percent of the country is arid or semi-arid. In the arid and semi-arid areas sustainable agriculture can only be achieved through well planned and operated irrigation. The Government of Kenya has identified irrigation as an important tool for improving food self-sufficiency and enhancing household incomes in the rural sector,” writes M.K. Gakundi General Manager, Smallholder Irrigation Scheme Development Organization, Kenya in a FAO report.

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: 26 September 2022; Hits: 2003

Cattle diets to ensure optimum milk production over dry period

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Smallholder farmers in Kenya face many challenges during the dry season due to dwindling feed for their animals. Farmers usually lack good quality feed that can enhance milk production as their animals depend on various grasses which are only available in abundance during the wet season. As such, poor feeding leads to poor health and low milk production hence farmers get low income from their cows/goats.

Four diets for more milk have been tested by the scientists at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization and farmers in the highlands of western Kenya.

The first step for farmers is to think about the feeds they have on their farms and identify what their cows/goats need. Good fed cows must have at least one food from each of the three sources: Proteins, energy and minerals.

Energy foods available for smallholder farmers currently include natural grasses, Napier grass, and reject maize. Protein food includes bean straw and sweet potato vines whereas food that fills includes banana pseudostems and maize stovers.

It is important therefore for farmers to ascertain extra diets that can improve on their livestock health and enhance milk production.

To increase energy farmers need to provide their cows with molasses, maize and wheat germ. More protein sources can be found in fodder trees (Calliandra, Sesbania & Leucaena), desmodium, poultry waste, lucerne, omena and sunflower. For minerals, dairy lick should be provided.

Examples of balanced diets to be fed on dairy cows for more milk

Diet 1

This diet can give farmers up to 8.5 bottles of milk. It will cost KES 29 a day and gives KES 89 a day. Farmers will need a quarter of an acre of Napier grass or roadside grass to feed their cows all year round.

Diet 2