Livestock production and health
Generic animal/ livestock work
Research reports for "animal nutrition"
Generic animal/ livestock work
Research reports for "animal nutrition"
- Double the benefits: using legumes to boost both milk and rice production
Growing forage legumes with rice, either together or in succession, has been shown to be one answer to the feed shortages that face dairy cattle keepers in Bangladesh - where intensive rice production leaves little land available for forage production. Plus, as an added bonus, growing legumes also increases soil fertility - which in turn boosts rice production. Since feed is the major outlay for dairy producers, making cheaper, higher quality fodder available in this way would have a real and long-lasting impact on the lives of the poor. Cheap, easy-to-make urea molasses blocks are another way of boosting milk production, as animals gain essential nutrients as they lick them. (Ref: LPP08) - Fussy eaters: improving the benefits of dry-season feed
A newly developed self-selection technique can boost the amount that stall-fed animals will eat. Sorghum stover is a traditional and important dry-season forage in countries like Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya. However, it isn’t particularly nutritious or palatable - so animals often don’t each as much as they should. Research has found, however, that giving animals much more stover than they need allows them to select the tastiest bits of feed. This means that they eat much more. Plus, the feed that they reject isn’t wasted, because it can be treated with urea to make it more palatable and then fed to them again. Promoting this simple technique could make a real difference to the lives of smallholders who struggle to keep their animals healthy. (Ref: LPP06) - Talking pictures: new tools to boost smallholders’ milk production
New tools have been developed and tested in Bolivia, Tanzania, Kenya and India to help smallholder dairy farmers manage their animals better and greatly boost the amount of milk they produce. The improved breeds of cattle now available can produce up to 25 litres of milk per day, but many are producing similar amounts to local breeds simply because of poor management. To overcome this, researchers have produced software like the dairy rationing system for the tropics (DRASTIC), which trained users can use to predict what effect a particular mix of feeds will have on milk production. Another tool is Talking Pictures–Dairy (TP-D) which can be used to generate pictorial guides that local producers can easily understand and relate to. (Ref: LPP02) - There for the picking: cheap feed options and worm treatments
Research in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda, India and Kenya has identified tree fruits as a promising option for improving the diets of goats. Poor goat keepers can’t afford to buy commercial feeds to supplement diets in the dry season. This causes slow growth and high death rates among kids - which are mainly born either at the end or at the beginning of the dry season. Tree fruits are a good cheap option to feed pregnant or suckling goats, because they can easily be collected and stored for use when needed. Related research in Tanzania has also shown that tannin-rich tree forages could help to reduce the amount of worms in the stomachs of sheep, improving productivity and the animals’ health. (Ref: LPP16) - Improved livestock practices for highland communities
In Bolivia, work has been underway to find better ways of managing draught animals in the Andes. As part of this, the project has addressed the need to treat animals well and keep them healthy so that they can work for longer. But, importantly, it has also tackled the fact that inappropriate tillage practices are causing the delicate soils of the area to degrade, reducing productivity and forcing people to leave land on which they can no longer make a living. The project’s outputs include the development of better ways of allocating feed, housing animals and caring for their health. It has also developed new equipment specifically for working the delicate soils found in hillside environments, and identified better ways to manage soil and conserve water. (Ref: LPP12) - Too many mouths to feed: a new tool to allocate feed efficiently
The OXFEED decision-support tool is now available to help farmers get the most from the feed they have available. The tool takes into account the fact that draft animals have to be given a minimum amount of food to allow them to do the work required of them as efficiently as possible. But, overfeeding them wastes resources that could be used to feed other livestock or for mulching and green manuring. OXFEED can base its ‘conclusions’ for feed allocation on local data - which means that recommendations will be relevant to specific farmers in a specific area. And, it’s simple to use. However, the tool is not widely known, and its current usage is mainly limited to Bolivia. (Ref: LPP10)
Generic animal/ livestock work
