Smart farms

: 31 January 2017; Hits: 11085

Feeding increases milk production

Wycliffe Ochango feeding his hybrid cow during the Kakamega County show pn June 17, 2016. PHOTO BY LABAN ROBERT.jpg

Kakamega County farmer, Wycliffe Ochango feeds his cow at the Moi AKS Showground during the 2016 tradefair. Monitoring of the dairy feeding programme is gradually increasing the milk yield for Nyandarua farmer, Peter Maina. PHOTO BY LABAN ROBERT.

Taking charge of the feeding programme of his five Friesians is gradually paying off to Peter Mwangi after consistent losses of milk despite having a superior pure breed of cows.

Children and his wife were helping him in managing the 20acre piece of land in Nyandarua County, but the cows were performing poorly even after buying the required mineral supplements and sufficient feeds.

But from 2016, when Mwangi decided to ‘troubleshoot’ the low yields, the effort is quickly increasing the milk.

“I had a fluctuation of the milk let down every time. Sometimes I lost up to three litres per cow even after calving down. But this days I can milk thrice a day immediately after calving down, reaching 30 litres per day per cow,” he said.

He milks between eight and 12 litres per day from one cow at the intervals of about six hours.

From three cows, which have varied calving down dates, he gets about 90 litres of milk while the other two are on a dry spell.

“I feed my cows a lone to ensure that I administer the right quality and quantity of feeds and mineral supplements at the right time to my cows. This I gradually boosting production because of the balanced nutrients supply. No feeding stress in the animal body system programme,” he said.

Dairy lactating cows require at least 30kg to 35kg of green and about seven kilos of green and dry fodder per day. Five to six kilos of concentrates up help the animal meet other nutritional requirements other than those in the fodder.

Protein content is one key factor that keeps milk yields high.

For Mwangi, he slices purple vetch and mixes it with Napier grass and dried maize stalks.

Whilst the vetch will give between 16 per cent and 26 per cent of proteins, Napier grass majorly offers carbohydrates even as the maize stalks play the dry fodder role.

Although he does not control the amount of water every cow must consume per day, he approximated that each of them takes about 40 litres. He believes in letting them drink to satisfaction.

In dodging the middlemen, who take advantage of most farmers, Mwangi delivers milk to the Kinangop Cooperative Society. The society pays Sh30 per litre of milk.

Mwangi always seeks the help of a health office in carrying out artificial insemination to reduce the chances of failed fertilisation.

The health officer also ensures the animals are checked and in case of anything, necessary remedies are taken.

The purple vetch is grown with other crops, where it also helps in fixing nitrogen in the soil to boost productivity.

Before slicing and mixing with other feeds, it has to be withered for three to four hours to reduce its moisture content.

Although it takes three to four month to mature, it is recommended that it should be fed after attaining at least 10 nodes.

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: 30 January 2017; Hits: 18898

Turkeys hatch for guinea fowls

Turky hatching guinea fowl eggs.JPG

Ornamental birds farmer, Lucy Ngugi, inspects duck and guinea fowl eggs being incubated by a turkey at farm in Kiambu County on January 28, 2017. She uses turkeys to hatch guinea fowl eggs. PHOTO BY LABAN ROBERT.

An ornamental poultry farmer, who lost more than 50 per cent of eggs to artificial incubators, has realised more than 90 per cent hatching success of guinea fowl turkey using a turkey bird.

Out of 60 guinea fowl eggs that Lucy Ngugi lets a turkey incubate, at least 55 keets are hatched. This is a 91 per cent success.

Guinea fowls and turkeys hatch fertilised eggs after 28 days. But domesticated guinea fowls rarely incubate eggs and if they do, their hatching percentage is dismal.

Ms Ngugi, who hatches and sells months old keets and other ornamental birds, realised that a well fed turkey can incubate eggs for more than one season if the young ones are progressively taken away as they hatch.

More eggs are introduced in the process.

“Artificial incubators are said to be 85 per cent to 95 per cent efficient. That has never worked for me, however. I lost almost half of the eggs wherever I used one. But the turkeys have change the game for me,” the Kiambu County farmer said.

Ms Ngugi, who has 23 guinea fowls and more than 100 keets at different ages, said the bird matures quickly and it is less susceptible to poultry diseases like chickens.

“It is expensive to rear chickens. One needs more than 100 of them to make a marginal profit. A change of diet or any other kind of stress leads to a drop in egg production in chicken. Guinea fowl laying season in marked with consistency. For the more than two years I have been rearing these birds, I have never seen them sick,” she said.

The nest of the turkey is made of a plane and saw dust waste filled in a car tyre. Unlike a chicken, turkey can handle more than 50 eggs, from different poultry birds because of its well built body.

In minimizing the movement of the birds from the nests, Ms Ngugi places sufficient food and water to these ‘giant’ natural incubators.

Whilst a month old chicken chick can cost between Sh250 and Sh300, -depending on the breed- a keet of the same age fetches Sh1,000. This is over three times more than chicks.

Ms Ngugi sells a two months old keet at Sh1,500.

A mature bird of about six months earns the Ruiru’s Membley Estate farmers Sh2,500.

The benefits are even better in egg selling where she can make between Sh100 and Sh200 depending on the season and demand.

Guinea fowls do not lay eggs well during the dry spell.

“Out of 10 females, one can get eight to nine eggs during the rainy season, which is unlikely when it is dry. Laying pattern determines the cost of the eggs from time to time,” she said.

The farmer brought 20 eggs at Sh50 each from her brother in 2014. After hatching the 12 first keets, she turned the venture from ornamental birds into an agribusiness after seeing the opportunity.

“People started asking me to sell the guinea fowl. I could not refuse because if am getting something out of it. Indeed the demand has been growing and sometimes I cannot satisfy it. That is why I want to set up a bigger ornamental farm in Limuru (a region within Kiambu County) soon,” the farmer said.

Apart from feeding the mature birds on commercial feeds, she boots their feed and minerals content with dagaa fish, famously called omena and kitchen remains like vegetable leaves.

The fowls make noise when an intruder or visitor comes into the compound. They are, therefore, good security alert 'bells'.

Ms Ngugi can be reached on +254717019511

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: 27 January 2017; Hits: 13421

Mixed farming earns agripreneur double cash

Pepino melon Jesse Kiorio NyeriBy LabanRobert.JPG

Nyeri farmer, Jesse Kiorio, displays pepino fruits at his farm in Tetu in February 2016. Another farmer is making more money from fruits and bees. PHOTO BY LABAN ROBERT.

A Nyandarua County farmer has found inclusion of bees in fruit production to be more profitable as a result of the interaction between livestock and crops.

Part of Peter Njoroge Mwangi’s 20 acre piece of land is under pepino melons, tree tomatoes, and yellow passion fruits.

The rear bushy part of his farm is dotted with at least 50 beehives, which he made locally to cut on costs of the starting capital.

Mwangi attributes the constant harvest of fruits all-year-round to the support of his 24 feet well.

“I harvest tree tomatoes thrice a month. I harvest passion fruits weekly and once a month for the pepino melons. I link this to the bees, which I have learnt, are key in pollination. The water from the well is defining me as an all-season mixed farmer,” he said.

On average, Mwangi harvests 90kg of passion fruits and 130kg of pepino melons. Tree tomatoes, which are also called tamarillos, yield 120kg.

One kilogramme of tree the tomato fruits earns him Sh100 while a similar quantity of pepinos fetches Sh80.

Yellow passion fruits earn Sh50 per kilo. He sell the produce locally, a fact he says, causes low prices unlike those in urban areas, where a pepino melon fruit, for examples can fetch more than Sh50.

The totals sale from the fruits alone per month is about Sh64,400.

Bees are agents of pollination. Given that he has a huge population of the hives, chances of failed fertilisation of the fruits are miminal, therefore, giving him a continued supply.

From the five year-old bees venture, however, he does not make as much money as from the fruits.

He harvests honey twice a year. He gets about a litre of pure honey after extraction from the wax.

And after selling each litres at Sh200, Mwangi he makes Sh20,000 in a year.

Modern beehives yield up to 10 liters of honey in three to four months. But the production is low as a result of the poor quality of the hives, which he made locally.

In inviting the bees into new or deserted hives, Mwangi crashes juicy fruits like pineapples, whose strong scent attract the insects. Those looking for new shelter, move in.

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