Zambia Agribusiness Society

In order to be a successful goat farmer, there are basics you must consider or know before you start a goat farm. These include but not limited to the following: 1. Location : The most important consideration you must first make is location. Common goats generally survive in warm areas that are well drained. Apart from temperature, space is necessary. Goats live in groups, so individual pens are not effective. A large field is needed if you want your animals to roam freely. Freely roaming goats usually have better resistance to sickness and infection. The best locations for a goat farm are those that are far from towns because urban pollution is dangerous to animal health. Goats are known to eat a lot of grass on a daily basis. So make sure their food source is highly accessible and not too far from the rearing area. 2. Land Requirement : Goats can be reared intensively on small acreage by using supplemental feed. If using an extensive system, 2 to 10 goats per acre is a rough guide de...

1. Land Preparation Site Selection : Choose a place that has fertile soil. Loam soil is the most favourable. Your field should be able to receive full sunlight (do not plant under a shade); okra doesn't tolerate too much water, therefore avoid waterlogged places. Prepare your soil by ploughing and harrowing. Ensure you clear the boundaries of your field to avoid weeds from growing into the cleared field. Depending on the season you can plant your seed on ridges or basins. Ridges: This is most favourable during rainy season to avoid excessive moisture from the ground. Too much water is a breeding ground for most of the fungal infections that affect the plants. Too much water will wash away nutrients in your soil hence starve the plant causing it to underperform. Basins: (20cm deep x 30cm wide) This is most favourable during dry/hot season. The basin can be filled with decomposed manure (2 - 3kg) and watered regularly to mix with the soil before planting. The basi...

Once again I am posting this article to help farmers who are into free-range/ indigenous/ village chicken farming . Misuse of antibiotics among poultry farmers is rampant and this is dangerous to both animals and human beings. Misuse of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance. The residues of antibiotics are left in animal products like eggs, poultry meat and milk. Fasten your seat belt and travel with me to the school of poultry studies. This lesson is for free; you won't find such a simplified article for free. We normally use food and spices in our day to day lives, but have you ever known that these foods are a cure to various ailments in your poultry flock? Ginger, pepper, garlic, aloe vera and yoghurt are just among the various foods and spices that are medicinal in nature. Farmers practising organic farming will understand this better. These natural remedies should be used alongside conventional drugs and vaccines, but try as much as possible to include biosecurity me...

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...