VetKing Veterinary Services

20/06/2019

What is sexed semen?

Sexed semen can help dairy farmers make sure more female calves are born. However, the conception rate is slightly lower with sexed semen, particularly for cows already being milked, so that it is mainly recommended for heifers who will be having their first calf. For this reason sexed semen is not used as widely as unsexed semen at present.

27/02/2019

Human population is expected to increase from 7.2 to 9.6 billion by 2050 (UN, 2013). This represents a population increase of 33%, but as the global standard of living increases, demand for agricultural products will increase by about 70% in the same period (FAO, 2009a). Meanwhile, total global cultivated land area has not changed since 1991 (O'Mara, 2012), reflecting increased productivity and intensification efforts.

Livestock products are an important agricultural commodity for global food security because they provide 17% of global kilocalorie consumption and 33% of global protein consumption (Rosegrant et al., 2009). The livestock sector contributes to the livelihoods of one billion of the poorest population in the world and employs close to 1.1 billion people (Hurst et al., 2005). There is a growing demand for livestock products, and its rapid growth in developing countries has been deemed the “livestock revolution” (Thornton, 2010, Wright et al., 2012).

Worldwide milk production is expected to increase from 664 million tonnes (in 2006) to 1077 million tonnes (by 2050), and meat production will double from 258 to 455 million tonnes (Alexandratos and Bruinsma, 2012). Livestock production is likely to be adversely affected by climate change, competition for land and water, and food security at a time when it is most needed (Thornton, 2010).

Climate change will affect livestock production through competition for natural resources, quantity and quality of feeds, livestock diseases, heat stress and biodiversity loss while the demand for livestock products is expected to increase by 100% by mid of the 21st century (Garnett, 2009). Therefore, the challenge is to maintain a balance between productivity, household food security, and environmental preservation (Wright et al., 2012).

20/02/2019

Milking
A cow is milked for 306 days and leave it to rest for about two months within which it builds its body potential in order to give it more milk. The cattle are milked using hands and caution is exercised. Before milking, all workers have to wash their hands clean with soap. The cows’ t**s are then applied with salves in order to smoothen them to avoid cracking.

Caution
When cows are milked without smoothening, they may develop mastitis, a condition that leads to inflammation of the cows’ udder. Ninety per cent of diseases are caused by ticks. Farmers are advised to spray their cattle to kill and keep ticks away. Use Acaracides which contains protecid and sapona, which costs Shs120, 000 and Shs140, 000 respectively, per litre. Mix 40 millilitres per 20 litres of waters. Also vaccinate annually, against foot and mouth disease at Shs460, 000, lumpy skin at Shs180, 000, East Coast Fever (ECS) at Shs1.2m and rabies at Shs220, 000.

Deworming
Deworm the cattle every three months, alternating oral and injectable dewormers. For oral, use Puse Albafas which costs Shs17, 000 a litre. For injectable dewormers, use Ivermectin at Shs15, 000 per 40 millilitres. Buy the vaccines from trusted shops like, Eram Vets and Global Vets and Bassar, both at Container Village, downtown Kampala.

Feeding cattle
The pastures on which the cattle feed are called brachiaria, mixed with legume to achieve green leaf desmodium. It is a type from Kenya. It is not easily affected by drought. It can withstand heat so during the dry spells, the cattle still have what to feed. To supplement their diet, the cattle are fed on a combination of maize bran, wheat bran, cotton seed cakes, salt, dairy premix and yeast.

Tips
Those doing dairy farming or those planning to do it should always be keen on book-keeping so as to straighten out the running of their business.

29/01/2019

24/01/2019

The demand for pork is increasing in Uganda, thanks to the increasing population and townships. A kilogram of pork ranges between Shs8,000 and Shs10,000 depending on location. This has made pig rearing lucrative. The pig structure/ house of pigs should be well spacious with a firm ground-preferably made of concrete. It should be easy to clean, leak proof, not slippery to cause injury to pigs and the disposal of waste should be far away from the pig unit to avoid spreading of diseases.

It must be well-fenced to avoid unwanted visits and must have footbath at the entrance containing water mixed with disinfectant. The structure should be 10ft*8ft on the ground and 6 1/2 ft height. The number of pigs it can accommodate depends on age of the animals. A mother can nurse all the piglets in this unit up to one month. It can accommodate 7 pigs of four months, 2 of 5 month and one sow/pregnant one, a bore also needs its own space.

One needs a fast growing breed, but it must be from the right and trusted source. A good breed should be between 5-10kgs at one month. Camborough is one of the fast growing breeds. It’s costly but worth it. Other good breeds are Large White, Land Race & Duloc. A good breed should be large in size, longer and taller,” he says. A good breed should make 90-120kgs of live weight in six months. Prices for piglets range between Shs150, 000 to Shs300, 000 depending on the breed. It is advisable to buy females at 2 months & a male at 4 months.

18/10/2018

18/10/2018

yes

Pig farming is widely practised in all regions of Uganda with high concentrations around the central region.
Unlike other key agricultural enterprises, over the last three decades, pig farming has experienced fundamental improvement in the number of pigs reared and households that rear at least one pig.
The marketing channels available in the pig industry depend on available pig production types adopted by farmers. These dictate the type of product sold and who they sell to.

Farrow to Wean
This is where piglets are born and reared up to weaning, then sold to growers and fatteners. It involves marketing of piglets or growers for breeding only.
Breeds kept must be on demand in farmer’s locality and farmer must follow the basics of scientific breeding in order to meet market requirements.

Products from this system include piglets, gilts, pregnant sows and boars.
The products attract both formal and informal markets.
Informal markets include farmers who are stocking for the first time and those replacing their worn out/sold stock or poorly performing pigs at their farms.
Formal markets include non-government and government organisations.

Farrow to Finish
This is where piglets are born, weaned, grown, and fattened in one unit. Contrast with piglets moving to other operators at each major stage of their development.
It involves marketing of pork or live pigs for slaughter to abattoirs (slaughtering houses).
It is a better type to adopt in areas where market for piglets is limited however it is capital intensive.
For pigs being fattened for slaughter, the market options include abattoirs and live pig traders, also a farmer can decide to operate a pork joint alongside the operation in order to sell their pork directly to consumers.

Fattening
This is a pig raising type in which piglets grown on the farm for pork are continuously bought from breeders after sale.
It does not involve keeping of sows or boars for reproduction, after sale of the current stock a farmer orders piglets from breeders to continue with his/her farming activities.
Like farrow to finish type of pig production, fatteners also target abattoirs and live pig traders.

Challenges
It is easy to stock poor quality pigs hence finding challenges in meeting market quantity and quality demands.
Some pig farmers may decide to combine farrow to wean and finishing as a system type of choice, others may be forced into the system type due to the lack of market for their piglets. To avoid such challenge, a marketing plan must guide production.

Pig farming in Uganda

This has been possible despite limited government support to the sub-sector and the fact that pigs are not considered among the 20 priority sub-programmes of the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy and Investment Plan (DSIP).
This notwithstanding, about 17.8 per cent (that is, 1.1 million) of all households own at least one pig in Uganda. The number of pigs increased from 0.19 million in 1980 to 3.2 million in 2008.

The current daily consumption of pigs (pigs slaughtered per day) in Kampala city alone is estimated to be between 300 and 500. These include about 75-80 pigs that are slaughtered at the main pig abattoir of Wambizi cooperative society in Nalukolongo in Kampala city.

The per capita consumption of pork is 3.4 kg/person/year, the highest in the region. This level of consumption is reported to have increased 10 times more than it used to be 30 years ago. The market for pig products along the pig value chain is however disorganized, has many value chain actors, and many service providers, whose activities are not well coordinated .

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has documented both constraints and opportunities on Uganda’s pig value chain.

The International Potato Center has done research on feed conservation technologies and Makerere University on breeding and other relevant topics.
Altogether have increased trust in sector viability as business as well as availing necessary information required for planning and running successful pig business operations.

NOTE
The recent census puts Uganda’s population at 34.6 million, representing an increase of 10.4 million since the 2002 census.
Uganda has the highest per capita annual consumption of pork in East Africa at 3.4kg. An increase in population leads to increased demand for pork.
The growing income level of people in Uganda makes them afford buying pork products leading to increased demand, mostly of processed pork products.

18/10/2018

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