Vet on Call: An eye-opening visit, chat with ambitious dairy farmer

It is not always that my case reports concern diseases. Sometimes callers request me to visit their farms and inspect the status of development, general health of the animals and the management of the farm.

This week, my attachment students and I had the opportunity of visiting a dairy farm in Naivasha purely to review the status of the farm.

“So, doctor, why do we have to carry the drug kit, if we are only going to advice on production and management?” one of the students asked. I explained to Omondi and the other students that a veterinary doctor must always be prepared to attend to a medical case if it arises on a farm she is visiting.

“Even when attending a social function on a farm, you must make sure your kit is fully packed,” I concluded.
Qualities of good cow

Kamau, the Naivasha farm owner, had been developing the farm over the last two years. He started off with the traditional wood, mortar and iron sheet zero-grazing farm structure, but since last year, he has been slowly transforming it into a modern dairy unit constructed mainly with metal and mortar.

I had participated in the process of design but, like the students, I was visiting the farm for the first time.

The students packed the drug kit to my satisfaction and I left with four of them.

On the way, we discussed the qualities of a good dairy cow and how to maintain those qualities in the herd. I listened and interjected with corrections or clarifications, as the student team leader moderated the discussion.

As we arrived in Naivasha town, I asked the students to summarise the traits they would advise a farmer to observe and maintain in her dairy herd for high productivity and profitability. Nicodemus, the student team leader for the group, led them in the exercise.

One student listed a long lactation period of at least 270 days, a long period of peak production of three to four months and good temperament. That is, the animal should be agreeable with other herd members and not aggressive to people, I lauded her. That trait is called docility.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

Edgar was next and he listed ease of milking where the milk flows without much pressure on the teats, good leg and body conformation showing straight legs that step well with the hooves and a straight backline, ease of calving with few calving difficulties and low occurrence of mastitis. I commended him for his good understanding of the desirable dairy cow traits.

It was finally Omondi’s turn and he also faired very well. He talked of low occurrence of metabolic diseases such as milk fever, well suspended udder with wide space between the legs, longevity of at least eight years of productive life and low occurrence of retained afterbirth.

When deficiencies are seen in some cows, they are corrected by breeding them with semen from bulls whose daughters were known to have the desired traits. I was satisfied with the students’ knowledge and understanding.

George, the farm manager, welcomed us to the farm and immediately we started the tour. “We plan to have a total of 300 dairy cows when fully established. At the moment we have about 140, including the calves,” he said as he walked us to the calf nursery.

This is where the calves are reared from birth to weaning. The unit has the capacity to hold about 80 calves but at the time, it was ready for 40, each with its own cubicle. All the calves had good body condition but a few had diarrhoea. George explained such calves were under treatment.

The manager explained that calves are the foundation of the herd and they have to be reared exemplary well to ensure they develop into good dairy cows within a specified framework.

They wean at 90 days with about double their weight at birth. The weight at birth should be 6 per cent of the mother’s weight. Calves below double their weight at the scheduled weaning time must be fed milk until they attain double their birth weight. Such an occurrence retards their breeding programme.

We then moved on to the weaners’ pen, which is divided into those calves below six months and those between six and nine months. Next were the yearlings’ that are between 9 and 12 months. Finally there was the pen for the bulling heifers. These are the heifers that are ready to breed.

On the farm they are served at between 14 and 16 months of age. The aim is to have a calf growing into a cow and giving its first birth at 24 months. This is highly commendable.

DONE MANUALLY

“Here, we have the bull’s pens,” George said as we left the bulling heifers’ section. He said the farm rears the bull calves up to 15 months and sells them for meat. At that age, the meat is very tender and highly desired by consumers.
Except for the calf nursery, all the other sections we had visited were still in the old dairy unit.

The floor was made of building stones and was unsuitable for the cattle. The students were able to identify that the stones sprayed the hooves of the cows and caused foot injuries. Foot injuries cause stress and pain to the animals thereby reducing productivity.

George assured the students the foot issue was temporary as the animals would all be moving to the modern dairy unit in the week. The modern dairy unit was impressive. It was a warehouse-like structure called a barn with open sides and a high roof. The floor was made of reinforced concrete.

The sides were made of shiny metal poles and horizontal runners. Cattle resting cubicles were all made of shiny metal tubes and designed for the cow to just fit in and void the dung and urine in the walking area.

The students were highly impressed as they had only seen such farms on YouTube.

The modern unit had a very good cattle flow design. The pens were divided into dry cows’ area where the pregnant heifers and dry cows were kept together.

The next pens were for maternity and milking cows. The milkers’ pen was next to a modern milking parlour able to simultaneously milk 12 cows using an automatic machine.

Feeding of the animals was done manually but there were plans for automation in future. Isolation pens for sick animals and the spray race were in the process of being constructed.

We finally visited the feed silos where hay, silage and concentrate were stored. The manager explained the feed storage could hold feed sufficient to sustain the cows for six months.

As we concluded the tour, Kamau, the farm owner, arrived. He explained that his goal was to create employment and contribute to national food security in addition to making some profit.

He intended to build an integrated dairy industry that produces milk, breeding stock, processes milk and distributes it to the market. That was quite a learning day for my students.