Feedback: Here’s how to break infertility in cows

REDUCED FERTILITY
I have been reading a lot about good farming practices in the Saturday Nation.

I have one question. Last year I bought a six month old calf and by now it’s 26 months old with no sign of being on heat or getting ready for mounting.

This is in Nandi county.

What’s is that am missing?

What kind of salt or feed can I give it to get ready for mounting?

Kenneth Mbulika 

Profitability of any dairy enterprise relies on two things; high milk production and sound reproduction performance of the herd.

Key management factors that influence reproductive performance include timely heat detection, cow nutrition and environmental conditions.

In this case, the heat signs might have been weak and therefore not observed; meaning most likely, something went a miss on proper feeding and mineral supplementation.

As part of ‘grooming’ the heifer to first service, add libitum mineral supplementation, adequate quantity and quality roughage should form part of basic feeding program.

With optimal management, a heifer should be ready for service at 18 months of age.

For the whole herd, a good step to help you minimise issues with reproduction is having a reproduction plan.

This keeps tabs on which cows are in-calf, those that can be bred, reproductive lifespan and history of each cow

Poor fertility is often associated with rapid losses in body condition during early lactation. At the same time, feeding management must ensure:

• body condition scores are adequate at calving

• losses in body condition are minimised during early lactation

• target live weights are achieved for growing heifers.

It is Important to note is that even the smallest deficiencies of trace minerals elements have proved costly in any dairy herd.

Deficiency results in sub-optimal dairy cow performance.

There would be increased chances of inefficient feed conversion ratio leading to low milk production, high lameness incidences, increased occurrences of clinical mastitis and milk fever, high somatic cell counts lowering milk quality, high cases of retained placenta and reduced fertility.

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FLECKVIEH COWS

I am interested in keeping Fleckvieh cows in the near future.

Please help me with information regarding this breed and where one can get AI (Artificial Insemination) for the breed in Kenya

Stanley Waitagei

Fleckvieh cattle breed is a high yielding dual purpose breed with very efficient food conversion rate that makes it consume less compared to other dairy breeds of cattle.

In addition, it is able to survive in wide range of climatic conditions.

These attributes have made this breed adopted in various parts of the country including Kisii, Kilifi, Eldoret, Kiambu.

Fleckvieh Genetics East Africa is responsible for breeding the cattle. Through them you can get in touch with approved inseminators and farmers keeping the breed.

The organisation is reachable on 254 712 095555 / 254 727 665885 or email [email protected].

Also avail the insemination services to farmer cooperative members.

Felix Akatch Opinya, Animal Science Department, Egerton University

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PLANTING IN NYERI
I live in Nairobi, but my family has a prime plot of land in Nyeri County.

The plants there are normally affected by wind and frost.

However, we have decent irrigation systems and we mostly use manure and compost instead of artificial fertilisers.

What are some of the crops that can grow here?

Godwin Mwaniki

Crops which can do well in Nyeri county include: tomatoes, pyrethrum, kales, cabbage, peas, irish potatoes, courgettes, sweet pepper, strawberry, cauliflower, broccoli, beans , indigenous vegetables like amaranthus, spider plant(saget), nightshade (managu)and slender leaf (mitoo).

Carol Mutua, Department of Crops, Horticulture and Soil, Egerton University

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BAT INFESTATION

My coconut farm has been infested with bats. How do I get rid of them?

Yusuf Khanbhai

Please get in touch with Joel M. Wambua of Chemdry Cleancraft Technologies through 0721380882/0731380882 or email [email protected]

Carol Mutua, Department of Crops, Horticulture and Soil, Egerton University

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GROWING GREENS
Hallo I would like to grow indigeneous( kienyeji) vegetables in my farm. My farm contains black cotton soil and an ample supply of water.

How can I to get the best out of it because I have tried and it didn’t go well. Kindly advice on how best to go about it.

Thanks.

Agnes from Karen. 

Indigenous vegetables do well in a wide range of soils as long as they are well drained, deep, fertile and contain large amounts of organic matter.

You can try using Farmyard or compost manure. These vegetables do not need a lot of water therefore avoid overwatering or water logging.

You can also try topping the vegetables. Topping refers to the removal of the tips of branches and it encourages lateral branching resulting in higher leaf yields.

Carol Mutua , Department of Crops, Horticulture and Soils, Egerton University

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STARTING FARMING

I am from Juja Farm and I have an acre and plenty of water. How do I start farming, please advice.
Eunice.

• Select a suitable site
• Decide on the crops to grow depending on the available market and climate.
• Decide on the system you are going to use (open field or greenhouse)
• Carry out land layout taking into consideration roads, irrigation pipelines or buildings because if wrong layout is done it will be difficult and costly to resite.
• Design a rotation programme which you are going to follow.
• Land preparation can now be done taking into account the cost of clearing and preparing the land.
• Consider labour requirements if manual labour is to be used.
• Erect a fence for security purposes
• Plant trees to act as windbreaks in case of strong wind.
• Decide on the location of the compost pit and the nursery area
• Decide on the irrigation method you are going to use.

Carol Mutua, Department of Crops, Horticulture and Soils, Egerton University