KALRO has developed a sheep fattening recipe that shortens the time sheep take to reach maturity by 2.5 years.
Developed by the institute’s Sheep and Goat Research Institute, KALRO Buchuma, near Tsavo, the new feeding formula dubbed Wonder Feed rears Dorper sheep in a feedlot reducing the time taken to reach the market weight of 46Kg from three years to 6.5 months.
KALRO Director General Eliud Kireger pointed out that most Kenyan farmers are struggling to make money from sheep farming because they keep slowly maturing sheep and do not know what to feed them to get them to mature in half a year. “Livestock keepers are feeding local sheep for 18-24 months for them to reach the market weight of 45 kilograms. This leads to huge losses because, by the time that sheep is sold, it has already eaten any potential profits it would have made,” he said.
The Formulation, Testing, and Commercialization of Dorper sheep Finisher Ration Technology for Kenya’s ASALs first recommended that farmers keep Dorper sheep which gain weight faster than any other sheep breed in Kenya from the Blackhead Persian, red Maasai, and Merino sheep. Dorper lambs gain 129.97 grams of weight daily compared to local sheep which gain just 67.78 g/day.
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Their fat is also well distributed throughout the body and they are also hardy being able to survive in dry arid and semi-arid lands.
KALRO’s Wonder Feed recommends that farmers wean the lambs from their mothers at three months and place them in feedlots.
Here the sheep are fed on 1.65 kg of feed per day and gain about 0.357kg of weight per day.
The Dorpers are fed on 39.8 per cent maize grain, which is a rich source of energy, and 45.8 per cent lucerne hay, which provides high-quality protein and fiber. Smaller amounts of wheat bran (3.8%) add additional fiber, while molasses (2%) enhance the taste of the fodder and give the sheep additional energy.
To meet their protein requirements, seven per cent cottonseed is included, while Rhodes grass hay (0.7%) contributes a small amount of roughage. Essential minerals are supplied by dicalcium phosphate (DCP, 0.1%), limestone (0.2%), and a mineral premix (0.25%), ensuring the feed supports bone health and body functions. Salt (0.5%) is added to meet the animal’s sodium requirements, and Diamond V (0.1%), a yeast-based additive by CKL was included to improve the health of the animal’s stomach. An aflatoxin binder (0.1%) such as TOXO-MX from Elgon Kenya was added to reduce the risks of molds or fungi rotting and infecting the prepared feed.
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All this feed was placed on polythene paper on the ground and mixed using hands.
In just 6.5 months the sheep exceeded the 45kg target by one kilo By seven months, these sheep achieved a live weight of over 50kg.