Zambia Agribusiness Society

The domestic guinea fowl (Numida meliagris) is a poultry bird that derives its name from the guinea coast of West Africa where it originated. Many poultry farmers in Africa are doing Guinea Fowl farming business successfully, mainly for profit. The Guineas are also sometimes called Guineas , Pintades or Gleanies . The commonest variety of guinea fowl is the Peal helmeted guinea fowl. On the contrary, guinea fowl production has proven to be commercially viable and is raised in large numbers in Europe and the United States of America where it has been successfully commercialized. In India, these birds are raised as free range scavenging birds in rural areas. Guinea fowls are easier to manage by resource poor farmers with hardly any access to formal veterinary services because they are resistant to most poultry diseases at the adult stage. Housing is rudimentary and health management practices depend, largely, on ethno-veterinary medicine . Guinea fowl , often referred to as guineas,...

Today I want to share my experience in poultry on disease control and biosecurity on farms. Most diseases are brought onto the farm. Very rarely do disease emerge on the farm. This is why biosecurity is very important. Disease can be defined as lack of ease; any abnormality in the state of normal health is in effect disease. Sometimes in our excitement to show off our progress, we have allowed visitors into or near our chicken runs without carrying out proper biosecurity safety measures: 1.     Do not allow visitors or anyone not working at the poultry house have access to your chickens. 2.     All poultry workers should have uniforms, two pairs. One for working inside the poultry houses; only take it home for washing and another for outside the poultry house. Same with boots. 3.     Encourage poultry workers to bath before they start a new day. If possible provide bath facilities and soap at the farm. 4.     Put ...

The livestock industry generates huge amounts of manures which contain significant nutrients, organics, heavy metals and pathogens. Applications of livestock manures to soil can recycle nutrients, increase soil organic matter, and improve soil physical conditions. On the other hand, hazardous materials such as heavy metals and pathogens potentially lead to environmental contamination. China is one of the largest producers of animal manures in the world, with an annual output of more than 1.9 billion tons. Among all the manures from livestock and poultry in China, swine, cattle, and chicken are the greatest outputs, and thus the main sources of animal wastes. What is Manure? Most farmers think animal dung is manure. Animal dung is not manure, it is just dung. And it is not advisable to apply it directly into your crops. Why? The dung will start decomposing, and the process will produce heat, which can damage the roots and kill your crops. The crops cannot acce...

The common ingredients are whole maize, maize bran, cotton seed cake, soya beans, sunflower and fishmeal (omena). In addition, farmers need to add several feed additives (micronutrients, minerals and vitamins) to ensure their birds have a balanced feed that meets their daily nutrient requirements. Ingredients are cheaply available, especially after the harvesting season. Depending on the cost of ingredients, farmers who make their own feeds at home save between 30 to 50% for every 70kg bag of chicken feed, depending on the source of their raw materials. Due to government regulation, major feed companies have reduced the standard quantity of feed from 70kg to 50kg per bag, but the price of feed still remains almost the same. This means that farmers who are able to make their own feeds make great savings on feeds which take up to 80% of the production costs. To formulate feed, farmers have to use the Pearson Square Method . In this method, the Digestible Crude Protein (DCP) is ...

There are over 250, 000 plant species in the world. About 30, 000 of them occur as weeds in various agro-ecosystems and about 18, 000 of these cause serious damage to crops throughout the world. Weeds today are considered to be the most important pest group which interferes with utilization of land and water resources. The losses caused by them to horticulture are greater than any other pest category. Definition Some of the several definitions given to the term “weed” are listed below. A weed is a plant: 1.     Growing where it is not desired; 2.     Out of place; 3.     Growing where something else should grow or nothing should grow; 4.     Whose potential for harm is greater than for good; 5.     Extremely noxious, useless or poisonous; 6.     Whose economic value has not been discovered. Careful examination and analysis of these definitions indicate that the term “weed” is ...