Vet on Call: Beware your livestock enterprise might soon be a beautiful nuisance

Dairy cattle in an urban farm in Kasarani. Cleaning and disinfection coupled with waste removal is the most effective way of keeping livestock farming odours to the minimum. PHOTO | FAUSTIN NGILA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Paul’s farm flourished and he became a well-known supplier of milk to the neighbourhood, breeding pigs and slaughtering them for individuals and companies.
  • Unfortunately, farming business and human settlement do not grow together – for long. Paul called me last September sounding very concerned.
  • As his farm expanded and the area became densely populated, the odour, noise, birds and pests such as rats and flies coming from the farm inconvenience the neighbours.
  • Cleaning and disinfection coupled with waste removal is the most effective way of keeping livestock farming odours to the minimum.

When I started my veterinary practice in Garden Estate, Nairobi, the northern outskirts of the city were scarcely populated.

I recall the area around Kasarani Police Station, on the then Thika Road, was a scary place to venture. Motorists would sometimes be hijacked and dragged into the thicket.

Kahawa Sukari was just getting built up and cattle roaming in the expansive grassland were a common feature. It was against this backdrop that Paul bought a piece of land in Kahawa Sukari.

I have known Paul since he was a young man assisting his father to serve customers in their small restaurant on a road reserve in Ngara, Nairobi.

We used to patronise the restaurant for low budget meals when I worked with the Nation as a business executive in the early 80s before I joined the University of Nairobi for veterinary medicine.

I lost contact with Paul after joining university until sometime in 2011 when he came to my office looking for a rare medicine for calming pigs.

He told me he was still in the restaurant business but had moved from Ngara to Pangani. He had also established a successful pig and dairy farm in Kahawa Sukari with income from the restaurant business.

The farm was his family residence too. He revealed that he had heard about my firm, Gardenvet Services, but he never knew the owner.

“If I did not have a reliable vet, I would most likely have come looking for Gardenvet earlier and our re-union would not have taken this long,” Paul said smiling. We agreed to keep in touch.

UNHAPPY NEIGHBOURS

Paul’s farm flourished and he became a well-known supplier of milk to the neighbourhood, breeding pigs and slaughtering them for individuals and companies.

Unfortunately, farming business and human settlement do not grow together – for long. Paul called me last September sounding very concerned.

“I have an environmental problem and my vet says you can give me a solution,” Paul volunteered over the phone. He said the neighbours were unhappy with his farm.

Upon arrival, Paul showed me the farm, which was on quarter acre. It was nicely planned and clean. The pigs and cows were separated and all the animals were quality large white breed of pigs and Friesian cows.

He called the cows by name and each responded by sniffing his extended hand.

I congratulated him for carrying out good, profitable farming as we proceeded to the farm office. “I’m really concerned because I am in the process of losing all my investment,” Paul started.

“My neighbours, after all the milk they have drunk from my cows, now want me to shut down the farm,” Paul continued as he opened a file and gave me a letter.

The letter, written by a group of 10 neighbours, said the farm was fouling the area with smell and noise.

“In the interest of good neighbourliness, we would appreciate you remove the farm from our midst,” the complaint concluded.

I empathised with Paul but then he was experiencing a reality that many urban farmers encounter.

As his farm expanded and the area became densely populated, the odour, noise, birds and pests such as rats and flies coming from the farm inconvenience the neighbours.

RELOCATE TO AGRICULTURAL ZONE

The Kenya Public Health Act Cap 242 envisages the kind of situation Paul found himself in. It outlaws the existence of “offensive” and “noxious” businesses in inhabited areas.

Cap 242 can be implemented by the Public Health Directorate or the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), where county by laws are deficient or ignored.

Penalty for violation is from Sh100,000 to Sh500,000, according to the new Nairobi City County Urban Agriculture Promotion and Regulatory Act.

I explained to Paul his neighbours were within their rights and the law to express their concerns. It was even good they had opted to engage him to try and arrive at an amicable solution instead of rushing to call in environmental regulators.

Paul had two options – to close the farm or to relocate to an agricultural zone. “Okay doctor, I’ll relocate my sweet nuisance to a farming area but that needs time,” Paul said, throwing his hands in the air in submission.

Last month, Paul called me sounding optimistic. He said the neighbours had agreed to give him nine months to relocate the farm.

Meanwhile, I advised him to increase his feeding efficiency, cleaning and disposal of manure to diminish the nuisance.

THOROUGH CLEANING

You see, the odour comes from the animal waste of urine and faeces that gets broken down by different microorganisms to produce noxious gases.

Through thorough cleaning which include disinfection with a product like sodium hypochlorite (Jik) or chlorhexidine (lysol), you kill microorganisms and deny the few which survive the opportunity to break down the waste and produce odour.

Cleaning and disinfection coupled with waste removal is the most effective way of keeping livestock farming odours to the minimum.

I asked him to clean the animal pens three times a day and remove manure as frequent as possible.

He has also doubled the number of his farm workers to make sure all the animals are fed and milked in a short time to reduce noise, especially from the pigs.

Paul is planning to relocate the farm between Ruiru and Kenol in Murang’a, hoping that urbanisation would not threaten his business again.

As you keep your animals in an urban area, where there is huge market, plan so that you are not

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The Clinic

Farmer: What causes a rabbit disease that attacks the mouth and legs making them white? How can it be prevented and treated?

What you have described requires diagnosis by a veterinary doctor who should physically examine the rabbits. Please contact a vet near you.

The disease may be caused by parasites,  fungi or a combination of both. The treatment for the two agents is different and, therefore, a doctor needs to examine the rabbits to know what medication is to be used.

Additionally, the doctor will need to inspect your environment and advise you on how to prevent the disease(s).

Edward: I read your article and would like to know, do you visit farms out of Nairobi? Do you castrate pigs and cut off their teeth?

I visit farms out of Nairobi on appointment. However, I prefer that out of town visits be for training farmers and their teams to keep diseases out of bay and to boost production of the animals’ rather than coming only to treat.

This approach  reduces the cost of my services to the farmer and promotes profitability of the farm. I also castrate pigs and cut the canine teeth.