FOR THE LOVE OF FARMING🌾🥇💝🐄

UNDERSTANDING AN ADULT EQUVALENT (AE) & ITS APPLICATION.

An Adult Equivalent is a unit of measure or estimate used to calculate the feed intake of animals in different classes and sizes bu reducing them into a common unit for easy comparison , Lets say you have a herd of cattle, which are of mixed breeds and different sizes, calculating the feed intake base on each type of animals will be stressfull, time consuming and unrealistic so a common denominator is used to make work easier its like an average weight.

FOR THE LOVE OF FARMING.

Let's talk about sustainability in livestock production focusing on selection & breeding.

A sustainable breeding strategy target the environment & production

See the best breeding strategies ever that produced a useful and sustainable hybrid. Famers in arid North Australia tried to keep a high milk producing freshian cow because he wanted more, but freshian are not adapted to the heat stress environment they had problems with mastitis and tropical diseases. The solution was a cross between freshian & Sahilwa

FOR THE LOVE OF FARMING. PART VII
FORMULATING FEED RATION FOR BEEF CATTLES.

THE PEARSON SQUARE METHOD
I run out of room space to add tweet theifore I transferred the last portion of the calculation to this final PART VIII Lecture. see continuation Take the remaining Protein of 11.84% draw a square box with two diagnose lines, place the 11.84 in the box then place the CP of each food stuff on the upper & lower left side & subtract diagonally the middle value as below image show. Add the value on the right & convert to % .

FOR THE LOVE OF FARMING. PART VI
FORMULATING FEED RATION FOR BEEF CATTLES.

HOW TO CALCULATE RATIONS..
1. Decide on the type of feed stuffs to use - (alfalfa hay, desmodium, soya, maize, etc). Choise should be based on availability and consistency in supply when required. 2. Find out the nutrient content of the feed stuff. Estimates are available in the internet but always take a small sample to laboratory for confirmation that means if you prepared 500kg of feed send 1/2 a kg sample to a lab , check in net for accredited testing labs .

FOR THE LOVE OF FARMING. PART V
FEED RATION FORMULATION FOR BEEF CATTLE.

Crude Fiber - this is very important in ruminants animals to prevent stomach problem like acidosis (stomach gas/ bloating).

Crude fiber affects bulk and fill and as a result also digestibility. When talking of Crude fiber you must understand these two terms. ADF & NDF.

Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF ) - This is the least digestible part of an animal usually the cellulose. ADF is used to calculate total energy in feed stuff, and it is inversely proportion to energy.

THE LOVE OF FARMING. PART IV
FEED RATION FORMULATION FOR BEEF CATTLE.

Let talk about PROTEIN.
Protein in animals can be sourced from two sources:
1. Organic: legumes grasses and forages , oil seed cakes .

2. Inorganic sources - Non Protein Nitrogen (NPN) eg. Urea. Organic sources are the main protein sources and the inorganic NPN is a supplemental source if it is used in excess it causes poisoning.

During digestion of protein there are two terms that are commonly used: Rumen degradable protein & Rumen undegradable or bypass protein.

FOR THE LOVE OF FARMING. PART III
FEED RATION FORMULATION FOR BEEF CATTLE.

NUTRIENT REQUIREMENT IN CATTLES
1. Water
2. Energy
3. Protein
4. Nutrient and minerals. One step at a time.
before we get into calculations, let break down the nutrient and understand there role and importance and sources.

You must understand the principal of limiting factor . What is a limiting factor? it is anything that when lacking a process is compromised .

FOR THE LOVE OF FARMING. ( PART II)
FEED RATION FORMULATION FOR BEEF CATTLE.
Yesterday we learnt about the 4 chambers or ruminants and our focus was on RUMEN the biggest chamber where 70% of digestion take place and the rumen microbes that manufacture protein . lets go deeper The ruminant have 2 abilities that monogastric animals (PIG,MAN) don't have, that is Ability to:
1. Digest cellulose from fibrous Materials like grass and forages.
2. Synthesis protein from nitrogen / ammonia in the feed it eat and from NPN

All that is courtesy of Rumen microbes

FOR THE LOVE OF FARMING.
FEED RATION FORMULATION FOR BEEF CATTLE.

Our focus today is on finishing & fattening animals for slaughter .
Questions Commonly asked,
1. How to calculate feed rations.
2. How much does my animal require to consume per days to gain weight. Don't bother to calculate animal feed rations if you never bothered to understand the digestive system of the animal. Understanding the digestive system of a cow is crucial to understand why the rations are the way they are, so that you don't compromise on quality or kill you cow

FOR THE LOVE OF FARMING.
A Smiley face 😀, and Kudos for:
1. Kenya have started a live export of livestock after a decade 👍.
2. Kenya have removed duty on animal feed raw materials 👍.
3. Kenya have built a cow export bath at Mombasa 👍.

that's the way forward. 40,000 sheep & goats worth 2million USD in one shipment to Oman with a possibility of a market of 500,000 cattle not forgetting we have a deficit in Kenya that we still have to meet . i am happy because i have been studying austarlia live export business and they are the best .

FOR THE LOVE OF FARMING.
STARTING GOAT FARMING.

SELECTING OF GOATS

The biggest blunder you can ever make in livestock keeping is choosing the wrong genetics, whether you are in milk production or meat production. If you choose the wrong genetics you have failed before starting Its important to learn the Art of selecting the Right animal fit for your purpose. if it milk then goat breeds like Saanen, Toggenburg, nubian & Alpine are best, if its for slaughter then borana/somali goats & boer/savanna/Kalahari red are best. But start with native breeds.

Hi guys, FOR THE LOVE OF FARMING.
UPDATES ON BOER GOATS IMPORTING !! .
I have recieved an email from a Boer goat exporter company in South Africa. Interesting enough they are quite cheap the problem is, there is a minimum order of 50 goats, @SeruyaFarm @I_am_Gathoni @mkulimayoung See attached email below...

Hello Respected Brother,
Thanks very much for your interest in our goats.Our esteemed company is willing to establish a long business transaction with you and also we are willing to supply you with our best quality Boer 100 % goats. ......THREAD

@sharonjcheboi @olusegunyemi @SeruyaFarm True. Lets looks this matter from another angle . In USA contract famers (industrial scale milk producers, broilers, layers , ships and pigs) plant their own crops in thousand of hectares so as to have enough grain to last them entire season while manufacturering own feeds why?? @sharonjcheboi @olusegunyemi @SeruyaFarm The reason why they do this is to have a reserve throughout the season so that they may not be caught off guard if they were to rely on supply chain for distribution of raw materials for own feed Making production when the supply chain prices fluctuates with climate and demand

For the love of farming.
Focusing on hogs/ pigs. #fortheloveofbacon

Feeding you pigs. Two Simple feed rations that works .

1. Sillage making using sweet potato vine.
2. Using grains and seed cakes .

Click link below for step by step guidance.

pelletizermill.com/mxing-your-own… -Sweet potato vines for example are very nutritious pig feed if well prepared and preserved. To help reduce production costs of pigs and pig products here is a simple effective ration

For the love of farming.
Sustainable Animal feed manufacturering.

In this century with the rising Global warming and reduce farming
Land , it doesn't matter how Good your invention or solution is if it is not sustainable to the environment and humans......thread We are living in a time of history where there only way to survive is to make the most out of the list. These means proper land utilization, land rehabilitation and economical solutions.