Animal and management factors associated with weight gain in dairy calves and heifers on smallholder dairy farms in Kenya

Makau, Dennis N.; VanLeeuwen, John A.; Gitau, G.K.; Muraya, J.; McKenna, Shawn; Walton, Colleen; Wichtel, Jeffrey

doi:10.1016/j.prevetmed.2018.10.017

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…ese entries for each individual cow were averaged at the time of visit to give 1 entry per cow per visit. From anecdotal information obtained during the cross-sectional study in 2015 [16], the feeding regime for each cow was generally quite consistent, at least at the weekly level. Budget and logistical constraints did not allow for laboratory feed analyses; therefore, questions were asked at each visit to categorize the quality of the feed.…”

Section: Veterinary Medicine Internationalmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…e most commonly grown crops are food crops, such as maize, beans, and Irish potatoes. e study area was purposively selected because this research was part of a larger study involving dairy farmers in the area (Figure 1) [2,16,17]. Moreover, the project partners had a good rapport in the community, providing the necessary goodwill for successful project implementation.…”

Section: Description Of Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Principal farmers in the intervention and control groups consenting to participate in the study were visited approximately monthly and every two months, respectively, from May 2016 to October 2017. During these visits, they responded to a questionnaire adapted and modified from a 2015 baseline study [16]. e questionnaire had sections related to farmer training and demographic information, farm and nutritional management, and cow health and milk productivity.…”

Section: Veterinary Medicine Internationalmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of Calliandra and Sesbania on Daily Milk Production in Dairy Cows on Commercial Smallholder Farms in Kenya

Makau

VanLeeuwen

Gitau

et al. 2020

Veterinary Medicine International

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ere is a growing interest in protein supplementation of dairy-cow diets using leguminous shrubs. e study objective was to ascertain the association between diet supplementation with Calliandra calothyrsus and Sesbania sesban and milk production in dairy cattle on commercial smallholder farms. is trial involved 235 cows from 80 smallholder dairy farms in Kenya randomly allocated to 4 intervention groups: (1) receiving Calliandra and Sesbania and nutritional advice; (2) receiving reproductive medicines and advice; (3) receiving both group 1 and 2 interventions; and (4) receiving neither intervention. Farm nutritional practices and management data were collected in a questionnaire, and subsequent physical examinations, mastitis tests, and milk production of cows on the farm were monitored approximately monthly for 16 months. Descriptive and univariable statistical analyses were conducted, and multivariable mixed-model regression was used for identification of factors associated (P < 0.05) with daily milk production. e mean milk production was 6.39 liters/cow/day (SD � 3.5). Feeding Calliandra/Sesbania to cows was associated (P < 0.0005) with an increase in milk produced by at least 1 liter/cow/day with each kg fed. Other variables positively associated with ln daily milk production in the final model included feeding of Napier grass, amount of silage and dairy meal fed, body condition score, and appetite of the cow. Other variables negatively associated with ln daily milk production in the final model included amount of maize germ fed, days in milk, sudden feed changes, pregnancy, and subclinical mastitis. In conclusion, our field trial data suggest that use of Calliandra/Sesbania through agroforestry can improve milk production in commercial smallholder dairy farms in Kenya. Agroforestry land use systems can be adopted as a way for dairy farmers to cope with feed shortages and low crude protein in farm-available feeds for their cows.

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Section: Veterinary Medicine Internationalmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Description Of Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Veterinary Medicine Internationalmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of Calliandra and Sesbania on Daily Milk Production in Dairy Cows on Commercial Smallholder Farms in Kenya

Makau

VanLeeuwen

Gitau

et al. 2020

Veterinary Medicine International

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“…Farms with more than 4 milking cows would be considered medium-sized. Selected farms were part of a larger study that included observational studies Makau et al, 2018) and randomized controlled trials (Kathambi et al, 2018;Makau, 2019;Muraya, 2019). The 80 farms were randomly block-allocated into four different groups in the randomized controlled field trial, with average days in milk (DIM) as a blocking variable.…”

Section: Sample Population and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Livelihood impacts of Calliandra calothyrsus and Sesbania sesban: Supplementary feed in smallholder dairy farms in Kenya

Makau¹,

VanLeeuwen²,

Gitau³

et al. 2019

J. Dev. Agric. Econ.

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An agroforestry land use system aimed at improving the productivity of smallholder dairy farms using Calliandra calothyrsus and Sesbania sesban shrubs as feed supplements was introduced to semicommercial SDFs in Meru, Kenya, as part of a field trial. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of using the C. calothyrsus and S. sesban on family income and livelihoods during the 16-month trial period. Eighty farmers randomly allocated to four groups (nutrition, reproduction, combined nutrition and reproduction, and a comparison group) were enrolled in this study. The nutrition intervention included nutritional management advice and provision of 150 C. calothyrsus seedlings and 150 S. sesban seedlings to each farm. Farms were visited every 1-2 months during the trial to collect data on milk production and feeding practices during the previous day. Seventy of these farms completed the trial and were interviewed post-intervention. Partial budget analysis of their farms was done by comparing changes in average monthly profits (from milk) and feeding costs/cow for the first 6 months and last 6 months of the intervention. Focus group discussions were used to collect qualitative information on livelihood effects from the trial. There was a KES 2,380.3 (USD 23.5) increase in average monthly profit/cow in the nutrition group comparing the first and last 6 months of the trial, representing a 68.8% improvement (p = 0.02). Average feeding costs significantly decreased across all groups over the trial period. Knowledge on dairy cow nutrition, level of confidence on calf management, and feeling of empowerment to raise calves/heifers to achieve first calving by 27 months were higher among farmers in the nutrition and combined groups than farmers in the other groups. There were positive direct and indirect impacts on the income and livelihoods of farmers in the two groups receiving nutritional interventions. Agroforestry, using C. calothyrsus and S. sesban shrubs can improve household livelihoods if adopted by SDFs in Kenya.

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“…Immunoglobulins supplied with colostrum remain the only source of passive immunity, so the constant monitoring of its quality will allow reliable transmission of passive immunity to calves (Chernenko et al, 2017). Scientists believe that controlling of colostrum feeding and improving nutrition before heifers weaning will have a positive effect on the mammary gland formation (Vailati-Riboni et al, 2018) and further cow productivity (Makau et al, 2018;Milostiviy et al, 2018b), as immunobiological indicators of blood are closely linked with the productive qualities of livestock (Milostiviy et al, 2018a;Elsohaby et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of herbal feed additives on the quality of colostrum, immunological indicators of newborn calves blood and growth energy of young animals

Kozyr

Antonenko

Mylostyvyi

et al. 2019

TAVM

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Studies have shown that the use of herbal feed additives «Fitopank» by Grey Ukrainian cows 30 days before calving had a positive effect not only on the body of cows-mothers and the quality of their colostrum, but also on the physiological state of the born calves and the growth energy of young animals. Adding of «Fitopank» to the cows diet helped to improve the quality of colostrum and its immunological value. It showed a probable increase of total protein by 10-14 % (P < 0.05) and immunoglobulin level by 23-25 % (P < 0.01). The titratable acidity of both the first and second milk yields was 16 % lower (P < 0.01) than in the control group. The use of this feed additive improved the immunological status of newborn calves. In their blood there was an increase of total protein content by 17 % (P < 0.05), the level of gamma globulins by 18% (p < 0.05), IgG concentrations by 14 % (p < 0.05), Ig M by 13 % and Ig A by 17 % (p<0.05), as well as the growth of T-lymphocytes by 46% and B-lymphocytes by 24 % (p < 0.01), compared with control group. Detected increased growth of the 8-12 months bulls (by 2.3%, p < 0.05) of the experimental group may indicate their tendency for better development of meat qualities. Experiment showed that the absolute live weight increase of young animals up to 18 months was higher than the control by 10.9 kg (p < 0.05). The study of the herbal supplements efficacy for the prevention and treatment of animals immunodeficiency, as well as their impact on the metabolic processes and productive qualities of farm animals will be the focus of our further research.

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Animal and management factors associated with weight gain in dairy calves and heifers on smallholder dairy farms in Kenya

Cited by 9 publications

References 9 publications

Effects of Calliandra and Sesbania on Daily Milk Production in Dairy Cows on Commercial Smallholder Farms in Kenya

Effects of Calliandra and Sesbania on Daily Milk Production in Dairy Cows on Commercial Smallholder Farms in Kenya

Livelihood impacts of Calliandra calothyrsus and Sesbania sesban: Supplementary feed in smallholder dairy farms in Kenya

Effect of herbal feed additives on the quality of colostrum, immunological indicators of newborn calves blood and growth energy of young animals

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