Animals

By Francis Ndungu Farmers in Nyeri County are losing up to ten dairy cows in a day to foot-and-mouth disease with the county’s veterinary officers reporting that after years of having sporadic cases of the disease since the last week of January, some family farms are being completely wiped out. Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is the […]

By Francis Ndungu A strawberry farm in Laikipia uses crushed eggshells to keep off snails and slugs that had been feasting on their export fruits.  Baraka’a production manager Raphael Osongo explained that they lost about half of their strawberry harvest before they began laying eggshell ‘traps’ for the slimy creatures. “We have gone from harvesting

Chicken feed prices have risen by at least 37 per cent in the last four years according to a new report by the Competition Authority of Kenya, driving farmers to make their own feeds. This has led to the price of chicken feed in Kenya being almost double that in South Africa and Brazil. According

Livestock keepers face two months imprisonment if they move Foot and Mouth Disease and Peste des Petits Ruminants unvaccinated animals.  As of the start of the national livestock vaccination programme two weeks ago farmers will be required to have vaccination certificates for the two diseases from their County Director of Veterinary Services to transport livestock

By Francis Ndirangu Naivas poultry farm has increased its egg production from 500 to 1,200 per day from their 1,500 kienyeji chicken by doing away with expensive chicken feeds for a free weed grown on water. According to farm manager Alex Maina who is a veterinarian by profession this has all been made possible by

A lawyer who retired his robes for gumboots and overalls is helping herders navigate the uncharted waters of goat importation bringing in Red Kalahari goats from South Africa which gain weight at double the pace of local Galla and Small East African goats. Bred by South African herders in the 1970s and named after the

A farmer is giving out free ‘magic tree seeds’ that have helped Kiambu dairy farmers reduce the amount of dairy meal they use by half while increasing the daily amount of milk they produce by eight liters. Ken Mithamo, a dairy farmer in Kahawa Wendani, replaced a kilo of the two kgs of dairy meal

Kenyan farmers and animal fodder sellers are crossing borders into Tanzania in search of the milk-boosting calliandra.  Calliandra, a fodder tree ready for harvest in half a year, is highly sought after because it adds one liter of milk for every two kilograms of its leaves reducing the amount of expensive dairy meal farmers buy.

The currently unregulated beekeeping sector is in for a major shakeup as the government pushes mandatory registration for anyone who sets up a beehive, failure to which they face a one-year jail term. The Livestock Bill 2024 will require anyone keeping bees for honey to be registered and will also regulate the standards and branding

Growing sunflower, maize, and Azolla weed for his chicken has helped a poultry farmer realise mega-profits by trimming down the cost of buying chicken feed which was threatening to run him out of the poultry business. Evans Mwania rears over 1,000 Red Leghorn and improved Kienyeji chicken on his Michorani farm in Kibwezi East constituency.