Getting started in beekeeping

Bees are not only a source of nourishing honey for personal use but can also be a source of income from the sale of the honey and its many other byproducts.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 5 months ago

Animals' role in the spread of botulism cases

According to recent media reports, several people were hospitalised in Western Kenya after consuming alates (termites), or kumbekumbe, as they are known in Kiswahili.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 6 months ago

Why record keeping is key in farming

I am a retired teacher, keeping diary crosses and growing assorted crops on my farm. I am unable to tell whether I am making a profit from my enterprise of selling milk and crops or not.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 6 months ago

Why Jersey cows are a good pick for local farmers

Thank you for your informative articles on livestock keeping. I am a dairy farmer who mainly keeps Friesian cows, but I have been thinking of switching to Jerseys.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 7 months ago

What it will take to produce 'clean milk'

I'm a dairy farmer from Bomet County. I would wish you to enlighten us on what it takes to produce clean milk.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 7 months ago

Azolla: The super protein in animal feeds

There have been a lot of efforts to find alternative or cheaper sources of proteins for animals, with soybeans being promoted as an affordable plant protein source.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 8 months ago

PPR: Why vaccination is only way out

Vaccination is a very important intervention in animal health, especially in disease prevention. There are many diseases against which vaccines have been developed.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 9 months ago

Students get grades they deserve, they don’t fail examinations

Use the results to re-examine yourself and as a strategy for the next phase in life, not as an end by itself.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 6 years ago

How to get more milk from your dairy cow

By Dr. Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

Why matumbo is good for fertility, pregnancy

Why matumbo is good for fertility, pregnancy

By Dr Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

Thought pigs are filthy? You should think again

For pigs kept indoors, at least there should be provisions for them to express normal behaviour.

By Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

Why Rift Valley Fever strikes in rainy season

Rift Valley Fever is a viral disease that affects both domestic animals (cows, camels, goats and sheep) and man.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

Dos and don’ts when your heifer is pregnant

Pick from a heavier milking mother – she is likely to be as good as the mother.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

Pig feeds is eating into my profits

Pig-rearing systems can be broadly classified into two — intensive or semi-intensive.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

Beware! That fake vet can kill your dear cow

Quacks make farmers incur lots of unnecessary expense; worst they can literary kill your animal.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

Myths about milking you need to discard

Yes, Friesian ranks first in quantitative milk production terms, but there are other critical factors at play.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

That lush green grass can poison your cow

It can be acute and an animal that appeared healthy can die overnight. The simple form of the disease is caused by lack of magnesium in...

By Dr Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

Buying a dairy cow? There’s more to look for than ‘udder’ there

Most farmers make the mistake of only looking at the udder when selecting a dairy animal.

By Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

Taking care of cattle during rainy season

Farmers must be aware of the good and the bad to tap into the opportunity presented by the rains or mitigate against negative effects.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

You can turn that filthy waste to gas

Waste when well managed can be a form of value addition that you can get a farmer a marketable product...

By Dr Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

How to make more cash from beef business

Before you get into beef production, identify a steady market

By Dr Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

Raw milk? That’s a raw deal, do yoghurt

From raw milk, you can make cheese, yoghurt, butter, ice cream, milk shakes, flavoured milk or maziwa lala and it fetches more than raw milk.

By Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

Busaa for cows, is it drunk or sober idea?

Can traditional brew – busaa to treat Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)?

By Dr Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

Protect your cattle from deadly anthrax

The festive season is here with us and it comes with an appetite for nyama choma feasts. During such festive seasons when meat is on demand, illegal home slaughter of animals is common.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 7 years ago

Why you need to cut tail of young sheep

D’amour Ntirenganya is an ardent Smart Harvest reader from Rwanda. I met him during a recent visit to Netherlands for an agricultural forum and we interacted briefly.

By Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

How to control foot and mouth disease

The last time I visited my mother in Lunga’anyiro village she was worried. Her cause of concern was that her cattle may be hit by Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) commonly known as malenje in western.

By Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

Why your sick cow 'refuses' to get well

Next week is the World Antimicrobial Resistance Week, a period set aside to create awareness on antimicrobial resistance.

By Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

My goats have funny growth inside mouth

James and his neighbours from Siaya County have lost goats in the recent past to a funny disease characterised by wart-like growths around their mouths, ears, teat, scrotum and vulva.

By Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

You can be arrested for transporting that animal illegally!

Chicken carried upside down on racks of speeding buses, matatus and motorcycles are common but disgusting scenes on our roads.

By Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

How dairy support programmes have liberated Kenyans

The public sometimes views veterinary doctors as a people in their own world defined by animals, diseases and accompanying drugs nexus.

By Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

Counties stand the best chance in fighting nagana

Most counties, especially those not known for commercial dairy production have put a lot of effort in promoting dairy farming.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

Crossbreeding can work magic on your low-milk Zebu cow

Robin Aswani has a “good” Zebu cow; good in the sense that it produces relatively high quantity of milk compared to other cows in its league.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

Goats will do better on your idle plot

Livestock farming in this modern day shouldn’t be viewed in a narrow way.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

AI is way safer, cheaper than keeping a bull for breeding

Last week, I explored the topic on nutritional causes of infertility in cows. The article elicited a lot of feedback from readers. Today’s article is based on feedback from one of the readers, Mr Chemigin, a farmer from Nandi County.

By Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

Is your cow struggling to conceive?

There are many causes of infertility in cows; ranging from poor handling of semen by the inseminators, anatomical deformities, diseases of reproduction tract, nutritional imbalances or bull infertility (where bulls are used) and a farmer not being observant of the heat signs where A.I is used.

By Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

So you want to start rearing pigs?

A few weeks ago an ardent reader of Smart Harvest magazine Mr Kihara wrote to inquire about pig rearing. He intends to set up a huge farm of up to 100 pigs and he wanted to know how to go about it.

By Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

Beware! Cows also have dental issues

In old age, athletes are likely to experience joint and muscle problems due to extreme usage of their joints and muscles in their heyday. Ruminants too in old age are likely to have “teething problems”.

By Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

Hey, this is why no butcher wants to buy your goat and sheep meat

Mr Igolo is a sad shoats (goats and sheep) farmer. He had a flock of about 150 shoats on his ten acre farm in Isinya in the outskirts of Nairobi.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

My cow is producing red urine yet it’s not even pregnant, is that normal?

Last month, I visited my mother-in-law Aureriah Mndaka in Marima village, Tharaka Nithi County.

By Othieno Joseph 8 years ago

Help! My cow has been bewitched

I had just finished my Fourth Form and wasn’t sure I would secure a place at vet school when Lazaro’s only cow suffered a “funny disease”.

By Dr Othieno Joseph 8 years ago