Zambia Agribusiness Society

Chicken diseases are a common occurrence in poultry farming. These illnesses can be fatal if not treated immediately. Thankfully, most chicken diseases are preventable with careful biosecurity practices . Chicken diseases are caused by viruses, bacteria and parasites. Viral diseases are the most common and are easy to prevent with injection vaccination. Bacterial infections are also common, but your poultry can be vaccinated against that as well. Parasitic diseases are rarer but treatable with medications. The main external parasites that are problematic for poultry are  mites and lice . Mite parasites feed on the blood of chickens and can cause anaemia and possible death, while lice feed on dander and feathers. Also, infection is another common cause of chicken diseases. Most chicken diseases occur due to poor sanitation; this allows infections to spread rapidly. These are some of the common poultry diseases and their treatment that farmers should know about to avoid the spread out

This is just a guide for farmers who want to get the full yield potential of maize seed varieties. Seed companies will always say their varieties have a potential yield of 8 – 12ton/ha but this tonnage is mostly achieved by commercial farmers while small-scale farmers only achieve 2 – 3ton/ha which is just peanuts for a variety that has a yielding capacity of 8 – 12ton/ha. In order to achieve this yield potential farmers need to make sure that in their production they don’t exclude the aspect of crop protection (Agro chemicals) and nutrition (i.e. fertilizer). Below is a guide on good maize management. Take note that this write up is based on 1 hectare and the prices attached are subject to change depending on the time of purchase. 1. Seed              Maize seed has a lot of varieties on the market, contact Seed Companies for the best variety to plant in your area. Few recommended medium varieties which are usually more stable (yield wise) to plant, e.g. Seedco 637, DK 777 and

1. The choice of land preparation matters. Ploughing does more harm than good (ok this one I learnt from Sebastian Scott a few years back). 2. There are other basal fertilisers other than compound D which perform much better than compound D in maize production. 3. Plant spacing matters when it comes to attaining high yields. 4. Organic matter in the soil plays a big part in providing nutrients to your plants and protecting your soil.  Manure ,  compost   etc. use it (the Agronomists re-iterated the knowledge passed down to me from my ancestors). 5. Soil testing  and  liming   your yields is an often ignored activity which is basically the difference between high yield and poor yield. 6. There is an element called Boron which is essential for the growth or should I say fruiting/cobbing of your plants. 7. You can achieve better yields on small fields with good management practices than on large fields with limited knowledge and trying to stretch resources. The question

In farming as a business you need to learn how to crawl before you can walk, it is key that you master one type of crop before you heavily invest in diversification. Before you decide to introduce many crops to the mix, be known for one thing! And try by all means to be the person known for it. I’m sure when we name a few farmers we know, crops are associated to their business and what they grow mostly and that’s their core strength, despite them growing other things. I am able to grow a number of vegetables, but one crop you will see all year round is green beans , and it so happens to be the crop I chose for my thesis. When you start, it’s important to establish what type of produce you would like to specialize in and that you will be known for. This way, you are the go to person because you are good at it. Key takeaways: 1. Learn to focus on your core strength to ensure long term growth. 2. Keep in mind that a farm can only produce according to what is invested in. 3

Since there seems to be a widespread Newcastle disease outbreak all over, let’s talk about Newcastle disease vaccines. First, cost of 100 doses of Newcastle disease vaccine in Livingstone is K19. How much is one death of a chicken worth to you? Second, how do we do it right? 1.     Buy the vaccine from a reputable supplier (vet or chemist with a fridge and hopefully with a power backup in case of power cuts). Buy the next one up from your number of birds. E.g. for 50 birds - 100 doses, 100 birds - 100 doses, 120 birds - 200 doses, 300 birds - 500 doses and so on. Never less. 2.     Transport it cold, but not frozen. The two ice cubes it’s usually supplied with is fine if you are near and go straight home. If not, carry a flask or coldbag or cold packs or all of the above. I’ve carried vaccine by bus from Lusaka to Livingstone without “ losing my cool ” by putting a small cold box inside two cold bags with plenty ice. 3.     If you are not using it immediately keep it cold, bu

Why do cattle chew their cud? What is cud? Are they born knowing how to do it? What triggers this response? For us humans with our simple stomachs, it can be a little hard to understand what goes on in the digestive system of a ruminant animal. You may have thought about these questions – and others – before, but it may have been hard to find clear answers. Let us spend some time talking about cattle and their cud! First of all, we know that cattle are ruminant animals. This is commonly described as having four stomachs, but that is not entirely accurate. It is more like they have a four-compartment stomach. Each compartment has a different job, looks different, and is a slightly different size. This impacts what kinds of foods they can eat, and the amount of nutrients they can get from that food. The four compartments of a ruminant stomach are the reticulum, rumen, omasum, and abomasum. Food will first be chewed, then sent down the oesophagus (like in monogastric animals like us

Newcastle disease is generally the most common and most serious disease of chickens in Zambia. It has a mortality rate in unvaccinated birds of around 90%. Meaning 9 out of 10 birds will die. Vaccinated birds can still get the disease, but less seriously and with fewer deaths. The symptoms are many and varied. They include squeaky voices, sneezing, coughing, running nose, gasping, eye infections, paralysis, twisted neck, diarrhoea and shivering. The birds usually die on their stomach with legs stretched behind and neck bent round in a hook shape. Confirmation is done by post-mortem of dead birds which usually shows bleeding in the walls of the intestine and the joints. The only medication that helps at all is antiviral like virukill or similar. It’s not obvious, but the virukill instructions are behind the label. And they are in a form beyond most people’s maths skills. For drinking water, Antibiotics do not work at all. This disease can spread easily. The best prevention