Cattle, sheep, goat, and camel farmers in Kenya can now boost their animals’ growth by 5gm a day and milk production by 33 per cent following the launch of a new cattle feed supplement called nutri-cake by Jangara Farming Services (JFS), an animal feeds commercialization company in Voi.
According to Mr. Kiriga Samuel, one of the co-founders of the company, nutri-cake has been researched extensively by the Kenya Agricultural Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) and found to be fit as animals’ feed supplement.
“Most farmers today find it hard to get quality feeds for their animals but with nutri-cake they can achieve almost all the nutrients needed as it facilitates extra-extraction of nutrients in the feed consumed to be absorbed into the body for increased production,” said Kiriga.
The cake which is supposed to be given to the animals every day after the day’s foraging and watering improves the digestibility of the ruminants and all farmer needs is to hang it with a string within reach of the animals for them to lick.
In addition to boosting growth and milk output, the cake also normalizes heat periods in female animals and increase heat in bulls and makes them resistant to some diseases.
“This is because the cake has a high crude protein content of 19.4 per cent, ME (MJ kg Dm) of 11 per cent, sodium of 10.33 per cent, calcium, phosphorous, magnesium at 1.237, 2.43, and 0.069 per cent among other nutrients,” said Kiriga.
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Some of the ingredients of nutri-cake include wheat bran, molasses, urea, common salt, premix, and water among others.
For the cattle it should be served 400 grams per day, sheep 20 grams, goats 20 grams, calves of six months on should be given 70grms, and camels 500 grams per day per animal.
“In this,” said Kiriga, “farmers will start witnessing dropping reduce in size and their animals start looking more healthy.”
The cake is best during a drought when there is little forage when the forage is overgrown or too young when there is no variety of forages to offer various nutrients, low knowledge of caretakers, and poor soils to produce good and enough forages among the many challenges that farmers are facing.
Caption: Mr. Samuel Kiriga showing a bar of nutri-cake at KALRO stand during the just concluded Nairobi International Trade Fair. Photo: Zablon Oyugi
Jangara Farming Services can be reached on +254 722 964 297/ +254 753 819 649 or kirighas@gmail.com