Dairy Farming- The Do’s and Don’ts

M-Urimi is a show that airs on Muuga FM every Monday at 7:00 pm. It targets farmers, The word means farmer in Kimeru. You can listen in on 94.2 FM in Nairobi or 88.9 FM in Meru every Monday at 7:00pm. You can also get listen in on the app.

M-Urimi is hosted by the very fabulous Mbaka Muriuki. This has been an ongoing show so we will now document the articles for you in case you miss the show you can check in here or better still read to your parents and neighbors who love the show but might miss it once in a while when they get caught up in life or Kenya Power decides to act up.

On the show this week he will be reminding dairy farmers on the do’s and don’ts in dairy farming.

We all know what dairy farming is right? For those who don’t, I highly doubt there is anyone but here is how Google describes it. Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product.

If you grew up in Meru you remember waking up at the crack of dawn to take milk to the dairy. Today’s show will be focusing on how to make your trip to the dairy station harder as you deliver more milk.

Dos:

• Ensure you do a health check of your cow every morning before doing anything.
• Make sure cow dung is not staying in the cow den for days without cleaning this will help to avoid diseases like Mastitis.
• During this rainy season deworm your cows.
• Keep all your livestock warm and away from rainfall. Build a shed if you do not have one. The shed will shield your cows from rainfall and excessive cold weather since they may get pneumonia infection
• It’s recommended that you provide hay or straw mixture.

Don’ts:

• Don’t warm water for your cows. Just feed them well n they will drink water automatically.
• Don’t give your cows’ rough pasture and fodder because of the water content during this rainy season.
• Avoid giving cows large quantities of young grass/pasture since it contains excessive nitrogen which causes diarrhoea to the cows.

Keep it here for more farming tid-bits.