Goat Project

When Clive was presented with a young goat by the community, as a thank you for his donations to the school, it was intended that Billy go around the back of the classroom, meet his maker and end up in the pot. Clive was far too attached to Billy to see that happen and Billy was looked after by Joas until we were able to bring him to the farm, where he lives happily.

Goats are frequently thought of as the cause of environmental damage by over grazing. This is because the goats can survive on the few bushes and shrubs that are left after the cows have over grazed the land or man has ploughed the land or cut down the trees. The goats are the last on the scene of the crime and are assumed to be the villain.

The goat can be a saviour to local farmers by addressing their income, providing nutritious milk for the children and their manure adds fertility to the soil or can be sold.

So Billy planted an idea in our head. The local breed of goat do not produce significant amounts of milk and are sold for their meat. But what if we could get goats that make significant amounts of milk?

This Daddy goat needs a name.

The plan therefore would be to breed some Tottenburg goats and then to give them away to the local community. There would be conditions attached. The new owner would have to attend a series of seminars and pass a test on goat husbandry. They would have to provide us with the first two girl kids, which following the pyramid selling concept we would give to other members of the community. The milk can either be sold to generate an income or be used to help the nutritional development of the children.

For more information about the project and the cost of the project, please click HERE  

Yo, the first female Tottenburg Goat has had twins, both of which need naming. We have also bought a Daddy Tottenburg goat who also and needs a name. There will be a silent auction for this honour, with the closing date being the 16th May 2009. Any names will be considered, wives, husbands, mother in laws!

This cute Kid needs a name

Use of homemade rations to improve the productivity of dairy animals

By Dr. Innocent Kariuki, Research

Dairy cattle and goats need sufficient feed with adequate levels of nutrients in order to support animal body maintenance, growth, milk production and pregnancy. It is essential that the feed offered to animals should supply sufficient energy, digestible crude protein, vitamins, and minerals. In central region, farmers usually use Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), maize stovers and other types of grass for the basal diet. To improve the productivity of Napier grass, the farmer should apply manure and fertilizers and ensure timely weeding. It should be cut when re-growth is 1 to 1.5 metres to optimize its supply of energy and protein for the animals. Fodder shrubs such as calliandra, trichandra, diversifolia, tree lucerne, sesbania are widely grown by smallholder dairy farmers. During the rain season excess forage from fodder shrubs are available and can be used in processing the leaf meal that is a main ingredient for formulating the homemade rations. To boost milk production, other supplemental feeds are required for the animal. Usually, farmers purchase commercial feed such as dairy meal and bran but for smallholder farmers, these feeds are expensive and the quality is often poor. Therefore it is necessary for these farmers to use alternative sources of high quality supplements. One option is the use of homemade rations containing leaf meal from fodder shrubs.

Homemade rations are simple mixtures of several ingredients such as Most of the ingredients should be within the reach of smallholder farmers. Leaf meal, processed from the fodder shrubs can provide the protein needed in the ration. Formulation of homemade concentrates involves mixing the leaf meal with energy-rich materials such as bran from maize, wheat, or rice.

Why homemade rations?

• Reduce the cost of milk production
• Assure feed quality and availability
• Affordable
• Save time & effort needed to purchase
• Ensure sufficient supply of required nutrients by the animals because it is cheap
• Encourage planting fodder shrubs for environmental conservation & other benefits.