If you want to keep chickens warm when it’s cold, give them corn. As they digest the corn the heat generated (heat of digestion) will help keep them warm.

Deworming a pregnant goat is important before she gives birth so that the kids will not contact worms. And worms can retard growth of kids. If you have a pregnant goat, do not worm her with Valbezen wormer because it will cause abortion, especially during the first 45 days of pregnancy. Oxfendazole is also bad for pregnant does.

It is better to do fecal test before you worm. The test will tell you which wormer to use because there are different types of worms and one wormer cannot kill all types of worms. Some worms are also resistant to some wormers. If you can’t do test, you’ll need to worm every 2 months or so. Worm and quarantine new goats before they come into your farm.

Always worm the doe the day after she give birth because the stress of kidding makes her susceptible to worms and hormones she release can awake dormant parasites in her. Tape worm usually appear like “rice” in the feces. If a goat looks thinner, you should worm.

A safe wormer for pregnant goat are any wormer that contains Ivermectin, fenbendazole, Lavamisole. Overdose of moxidectin is dangerous to pregnant animals.

I'll like to share this tip for those that will like to go into goat farming where feed high in energy will be used. If you feed grains to your goats, it is important to keep a small can of baking soda in their pen. This is because excess grain can make their stomach acidic and they can correct it by licking the baking soda. This is important if by mistake the goat consume excess grain. A goat can die as a result if nothing is done.

Goats waste a lot of grass or hay. To minimize this, chop the grass/hay into small pieces with a cutlass or by using a grass chopper. You'll save a lot of grass from wasting away.

Leucaenas: This is a fast growing tree. It can produce 3-30 tons of leaves per hectare per year (in dry matter, DM) depending on soil, temperature and moisture conditions. For the best yield, they should be harvested at 6-8 weeks intervals in highly productive sites and 12 weeks in less productive sites. In the first year of growth, it should be lightly harvested. Heavy harvesting should start from the third year.
Farmers can use this tree to increase growth of crops like maize because it fixes nitrogen in the soil. It can also be used as a shade tree and as a wind break for crops/trees like plantain, cocoa, climbing crops etc. The leaves can also be use as green manure as it decomposes quickly.

Dangers to be aware of: The leaves contains high level of mimosine (up to 12% in young shoots). Mimosine is a toxic amino acid toxic to non-ruminants (horses, donkeys, pigs and poultry). But in ruminants, the toxic amino acid is broken down in the rumen to DHP, a goitrogen substance that is detoxify by rumen bacteria. When fed at for a long time at a high level to cattle (>30%), the leaves will be toxic. This toxicity can be prevented by supplementing it with zinc sulphate or iron salt. The mimosine content can also be reduced by soaking the leaves in water and then drying. Adding iodine to Leucaenas can prevent the detrimental effects of mimosine in goats.

Leucaenas is a rich protein source for ruminants and they find it highly palatable. Its nutritional value is comparable to that of alfalfa. It can increase milk production in dairy cattle by 14%! However, it is not very good for pregnant cows, breeders and young cattle.

Get More Info Here (http://feedipedia.org/node/282).

Glyricidia sepium: This is a fast growing leguminous tree. Its leaves are high in protein. The tree yield 9-16t/ha of DM. Glyricidia is more hardy than Leucaenas (in terms of tolerance to pest and growing condition). It can also be harvested earlier at 7 months if grown from cuttings and 14 months if grown from seed. Harvesting intervals should be 2-3 months during the rainy season and 3-4 months during the dry season, provided that regrowth reaches 1-2m high before harvest.
Glyricidia can be use as a wind break and shade tree. Glyricidia is less palatable than Leucaenas.

Get More Info Here (http://feedipedia.org/node/552).

Calliandra: Yield can be 7-10 tons per hectare in dry matter. Both its leaves and pods are high in protein. The good part is that unlike the two legume trees discussed above, this one contains no toxic substances.

When is the right time to give gumboro vaccine to chicks?
Ans:

Gumboro Vaccine for broilers:
1. Intermediate plus (Nobilis Gumboro 228E): From 12 days
2. Intermediate vaccine (Nobilis Gumboro D78): From 18 days.

For layers:
1. Intermediate plus (Nobilis Gumboro 228E): From 18 days
2. Intermediate vaccine (Nobilis Gumboro D78): From 28 days.

A chicken is protected within 5-7 days of successful vaccination. 2 vaccination is required with a 5-7 days interval. Give the vaccine 5-7 days before the expected time of Gumboro break out. Eg:
My broilers had a spike in mortality due to Gumboro at 21 days of age. At what age should I vaccinate the next flock?

Ans: 21 day old – (5 or 7 days) = 14 or 16 day old, so vaccinate at this age with intermediate plus vaccine. Give first vaccination at 12 days of age, second at 17.

Que: My layers had a spike in mortality due to Gumboro at 35 days of age. At what age should I vaccinate the next flock?

Ans: 35-(5 or 7) = 28-30 days. Intermediate vaccines are effective in layer. First vaccination at 21, second at 28.

Never give gumboro intermediate plus before 10 days of age in broilers and 15 in layers and breeder pullets so as to avoid damage to the bursa of fabricius.

Source: Gumboro.com/questions

If you intent to grow cassava for starch, the following varieties are good. You can see their root and starch yield per hectare in the table below. I hope you know how to interpret the table. Let’s take the first one, TMS 90257. Root yield per ha is 43 tons and it contains 23% starch. So the starch yield per ha is 23/100 x 43 = 9.89 tons/ha.



However, you have to make research to know if there are better varieties because things change everyday.

Which one will give more biogas? Animal manure or plant materials? Here is what I got somewhere:

The Nigerian government have mandated bakeries to start including cassava flour in their recipes.
Some reservations against the use of cassava flour in bakery industry:

1. Impurities such as sand
2. Odor
3. (Unfounded) concerns regarding the possible presence of cyanogenic glucosides
4. Shortening of shelf life of the product (e.g. biscuit)
5. Gradual change of color (biscuits turning pale)
6. Fluctuating prices

Nigerians bakers and flour millers think that substituting 10% wheat with cassava flour is achievable, but beyond that level cassava would introduce odour and aftertaste, reduce shelf life from 7 to 4 days and badly change the baking characteristics. At 40% cassava in wheat flour, higher doses of bread improvers, especially protein and preservatives will be needed. This means that the price of bread will go up since one 40% cassava flour bread recipe calls for the use of 12 eggs per loaf. Small scale bakers will have to invest in spiral mixer since hand mixing will not be possible with cassava flour inclusion.

The table below shows the recommended maximum level of cassava flour that can substitute wheat flour for bakery products. This was recommended by Abass et al, 1997.


   

This is NASA idea. They want to use a satellite with an array of mirrors to collect energy from the Sun and send it back to Earth via a Microwave beam. The array will feature a modular, tulip shaped satellite equipped with thin-film mirrors to reflect sunlight into photovoltaic cells. The collected solar energy will be converted into microwaves that will then be transmitted back to a receiving station on Earth at a low frequency and intensity.

Power plants on Earth will be able to convert the Microwave energy into electricity and add it to the power grid. NASA says that each array system could create anywhere from tens to thousands of megawatts of energy.

Since the satellite array will use so many small, lightweight parts, it will also be simpler and cheaper to build than previous solar-power satellite methods. Instead of building a gigantic array on Earth and launching into space, scientists could send parts up into space on current cargo spacecraft so they could be assembled in orbit (much like a space station).

I just wish science will overcome this challenge very soon!

Hello all, I’ll like to know what you think about factory farming. With some people, that words brings to mind animal cruelty, antibiotic misuse, pollution and so on. On the other hand, they’ve really help in feeding the booming population of the world. Now to you personally, what is your view about factory farms? What better ways can the world be fed without harming the environment?

Yes, moringa seed can be use to make water safe for drinking. The seed is crushed and added to water at a rate of 30mg per liter of water. However, the seeds obtained during the rainy season are not effective at all. So you have to use seeds obtained during the dry season.

1. Agrafural: N700-740
2. Keproceryl: N550-N600
3. Amin’Total (Multivit): N550
4. Tylodox: N950-N1100
5. Polidine (Iodine disinfectant): N1600
6. SuperLiv: N450 (from Animal Care)
7. Zodex Dewormer: N500
8. Albiovit (Multivitamin):N350
9. Kepromec (Dewormer): N850

I know they may differ base on location. My location is Onitsha Anambra state. You can add how much drugs cost in your own location let's compare.

The price below applies to AnimalCare Asaba. Other animal labs may have similar charges.

1. Serological test for day old chicks: N7000.
2. Routine Serological Monitoring: NCD (N2500/batch), CRD (N300/blood sample), IB (N300/blood sample)
3. Test for MG: N300/bird and minimum of 5 birds.
4. Necropsy: N2300/ dead bird
5. Feed Test for Microbials: N2500
6. Testing Nutrient Content of Feed Ingredients: N5000
7. Aflatoxin: N2500

1. Baking Soda and powdered sugar in a ratio of 1:1.
2. Boil orange peels, put the water in a sprayer with a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of molasses.
3. Mix dish soap and water in a ratio of 1:2. Put in a bottle and shake. This mixture will suffocate the ants.
4. Mix water and vinegar in a ratio of 1:1. Ants hate vinegar. You can use this mixture to clean floors, windows etc.

You’ll need 1 cup of flour + 1 cup of sugar + 1 cup of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda). Mix and place in small bowls and keep it for the rats. When they eat it, the soda will react with stomach acid to produce CO2 which will result in stomach swelling. The swelling stomach will squash the lungs and suffocate the rat. Cats and dogs don’t normally eat the baking soda.

Another alternative is flour and plaster of paris/cement. Mix them together and keep for the rats. Once they eat it, they’ll feel like drinking and if that happens, the cement will set in their stomach and kill them almost instantly.

Mix the leaves of the legume, Glyricidia sepium with cooked maize. People in Central America use this to kill rodents.

Neem cake is what is left after oil have been extracted from neem seed. It is a very good fertilizer and it helps to repel some soil-borne diseases. In tomato farm, neem cake can reduce root knot nematode index to zero and improve growth.

Neem seeds contains up to 45% of a brown and bitter oil (neem oil or oil of Margosa). It has many medicinal uses and can also be used in lamps and for soap making.

Neem oil can control blackspot, powdery mildew, anthracnose and rust fungi.

How to Produce Neem Oil in Your Kitchen: Extract the kernels from the seeds by pounding the seed in a mortar and winnowing out the shells (use a special mortar because neem seed is very bitter).

To spray neem oil on crops, you need to dilute it with water but neem oil will not mix with water. You need a surfactant to make it mix with water. A good home surfactant is liquid dish washing soap or soap. Don’t use detergent because they’re toxic to soil organisms. To make neem oil solution stick well to leaves, you can add saponins like aloe vera juice.

As an insecticide, use 4 teaspoons neem oil + 1 tablepsoon dish washing soap + 1 gallon water. Spray on plant or use as soil drench at 1l for 1m2 of soil. The best time to spray is during the cooler parts of the day – morning, late afternoon or evening. Doing so will prevent neem from harming beneficial insects like butterfly. For heavy infestation, apply weekly and for prevention, apply biweekly.

A solution of crushed need seed can prevent insects from eating your crop. It repels insects and prevent them from laying eggs on crops. To make the solution, crush neem seed and soak in water over night. Filter the solution through a fine gauze, sieve etc to remove the bigger particles. Then using a knapsack or hand-pump sprayer, spray it on your crops. To be effective, spray every 10 days. 20-30kg kernels can treat 1 ha.

Biochar can be used to improve soil condition. It loosens the soil, improving aeration, water retention, and making it conducive for beneficial soil micro organisms. Has anyone seen where bio-char have been used? Has anyone tried using it? If so what results did you get?