Geese eat grass and weeds as fast as they grow, but do not touch certain cultivated plants. They also add manure to the soil. Geese seem to be more resistant to diseases than other avian species. Uses: They can be use for weed control and as guard animals. They can be use to control heavy infestation by water hyacinth. They have exceptional eyesight and wide field of vision. Outsiders cannot calm them to silence. They are also used by the military and in some cases, they replace guard dogs.
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Breeds: White Chinese geese are the favorites for weeding purposes, or Africans where a larger bird is desired for marketing at the end of the weeding season. These geese are more energetic and active than Toulouse and Emden, although those breeds are also used. The White chinese geese will do less damage to the crop they step on, because of their lighter weight. They lay more eggs and a better guards. Disadvantage in Developing Areas: They take 2 years to fully mature and they are not prolific layers, except for the Chinese geese. Therefore, their overall reproductive rate is low. Also, the processing of geese is more complicated than the processing of chickens, especially if downs and feathers are involve. Technical skills are needed to pluck the birds efficiently and some equipment may be necessary in order to handle the down and feathers properly. Stocking: 2-4 geese per acre in row planting. More may be needed in bed and when grass and weed infestation is heavy. It is better to place them in the field when the first grass/weeds starts growing. Field Management: Day old should be brooded for 6-8 weeks before releasing to the field permanently without shelter.Younger birds can be used if they’ll be sheltered. Goslings can be turned out on grass within a few days and supplemental feeding of grain started the second week. Water Trough: Place them in the far end of rows so that the geese will work the full length of rows on their way to drink. Water troughs may be moved occasionally to make birds concentrate their efforts where they are most needed. If there are no trees, provide temporary structures for shade. Supplemental Feed: Small amount must be provided. 5-20lb a day per 100 birds. Don’t give them too much though. Grower-mash pellets should be used as supplemental feed until at least 1 weeks of age. After which grain may be used, but it is better to supplement grain with chicken or turkey grower pellets (non-medicated). Feed them once per day in the evening by scaterring the feed on the ground. This gives all birds the opportunity to feed. Fencing: High fences are not required as geese seldom fly. A 4-30 inch fence is ok. Poultry netting supported by stakes often is used where temporary fencing is desired. At night, you can prevent animal attack by using light where the geese congregate. Insecticides: Some insecticidesand are dangerous to them. Fertilizers are also dangerous. Remove them from the field when spraying and do not return them for several days. If there is rain, do not return them until puddles where insecticides have collect disappear into the ground. Herbicides apparently, are not harmful. Marketing: You can fatten them in a cage before sale. Feed them all the grain they’ll consume 3-4 times a day. Continue for 3-4 weeks until they weigh 10-12lb or more. Growing mash or fattening pellets must be fed with grain for efficient feed conversion. Next Batch: Carrying geese over from one season to the next is not recommended. Older geese are less active in hot weather than young birds. Adult geese will eat more Johnsongrass roots turned up during tillage than goslings, but are more difficult to restrain from crossing fences. It is usually less expensive to buy goslings in the spring than to carry old birds through the winter. Crops: Geese can be used for cotton, strawberries, in nurseries, corn, beans, asparagus, mint, beets, hops, onions, potatoes, orchards, groves and vineyard etc. They seems to perform well in crops such as coffee, banana and plantain, as well as kiwi plantation and cotton fields, where chemical control is not practiced or is not possible. Goose production fit in well with corn production. They will eat young corn plants, so they should be placedin the field sometime after the last cultivation when the corn has been “laid by” (Cultivate for the last time). After corn is harvested, the geese are allowed to remain in the field to pick up shattered grain to fatten for market. Training: You can train your geese to eat grasses and weeds they don’t normally eat by feeding them the grasses/weeds when they are still young. Alternatively, feed them all the weeds/grasses at a tender age. Company: As geese are herbivores, you can add a small number of ducks to help control insects, snails and slugs. You should have a temporary holding pen where they will be kept when there is no grass.
1. Biogas usually contains about 55-65% methane, 30-35% carbon dioxide, and some hydrogen, nitrogen and other impurities. Its heating value is around 600 BTU per cubic foot (21 BTU per litre).
2. Natural gas contains about 80% methane, with a heating value of around 1000 BTU per cubic foot (35 BTU per litre).
3. Filtering biogas, or "scrubbing" it, can remove the carbon dioxide and the other impurities, raising the BTU.
4. There are two basic types of digester, batch digesters and continuous digesters. Batch digesters are filled with a mixture of organic wastes and water (slurry) and sealed, and emptied again when they stop producing gas. Continuous-load digesters are fed a daily load of slurry, with gas and digestion wastes produced continuously.
5. Biogas digestion works best at 25 to 35 deg C, 77-95 deg F.
6. One pound (0.45 kg) of cow manure can produce about one cubic foot of gas (28 litres) at around 28 deg C (82 deg F) — enough to cook a day's meals for 4-6 people in India.
7. About 1.7 cubic metres of biogas (60 cubic feet) equals one litre of gasoline (1/4 gallon). The manure produced by one cow in one year can produce enough methane to replace more than 200 litres of gasoline (53 gallons).
Since ozone contains more oxygen than oxygen itself, and it is 10 times more soluble in water than oxygen. From my research, I see that ozone is easy to produce from oxygen. So I'm thinking of the possibility of oxygenating high density fish ponds with ozone rather than the costly practice of agitating or bubbling air into the water. What do you think?
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I've read an interesting article about feeding sprouted grains to goats. They said it increase milk yield and digestibility. How do you guys see it? Here is the article http://www.permies.com/t/9274/goats/Sprouting-Goat-Feed.
If you want to use your biogas digester to power an engine, it should be producing at least10 meter cube of biogas per day. To generate 1 kWh (kilowatt hour) of electricity with a generator, about 1m[sup]3[/sup] biogas is required. So the 10m[sup]3[/sup] biogas will generate 10kwh of electricity.
If the crop is sown directly after preparing the sowing bed by loosening the top few centimetres of soil, the weeds will start to grow before or at the same time as the crop. An alternative is to make a false seedbed, by preparing the soil but not sowing the crop right away. Most of the weed seeds located in the upper layer of soil will germinate and can then be removed with a hoe. If enough time is available, this process can be repeated before the crop is actually sown.
Hello poultry farmers . Am new in the business and also into layers .i need as much lectures and advice how to becomes the best in this field .also looking for a farm marketing manager.ur help would be appreciated contact me an email to jude_idehen@yahoo.com thank you
Coccidiosis is parasitic disease that affects bird's intestines. There are different species of this parasite. When they infect chickens, they multiple quickly in the intestines and damage the intestinal lining, preventing the birds from absorbing nutrients from their feed. Chicks are mostly affected. Most older birds have already develop immunity against it. However if the environment is full of coccidiosis eggs, even adult birds can succumb to it.
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Among the many species of coccidiosis, the 3 that cause the most damage to chcikens are Eimeria (E) acervulina, E. Maxima, E. tenella. Immunity is species specific, that is, birds that are immune to E. tenella may not be immune to other species. So for complete immunity, the birds have to be expose to all the species (e.g. through vaccination).
.. Symptoms includes:
1. Diarrhea and/or blood in feces and/or mucuos in feces.
2. Lethargy (weak)
3. Weight lossand watery, whitish diarrhea in older birds and hens at point of lay.
4. Poor growth.
5. Drooping and huddling together.
.. Control/Prevention 1. Give chicks probiotics. The good bacteria in it will kill most of the bad bugs in the chicken's intestine, keeping the gut healthy and making it difficult for coccidiosis to cause damage.
. 2. Vaccinate day old chicks with any coccidiosis vaccine. Non-attenuated coccidiosis vaccines like Cocciva, immucox and Advent can cause lesions and occurence of coccidiosis in birds because they are not attenuated (i.e. not weakened). So you may have to treat for secondary gut diseases (like necrotic enteritis) at 16-17 days using antibiotics or probiotics (fishmeal in feed predispose birds to necrotic enteritis). On the other hand, Paracox, Livacox and Viracox are attenuated (weakened) coccidiosis vaccines but they're more costly. To avoid vaccine failure, make sure that you strictly read and follow the manufacturer's instructions. Note that for coccidiosis vaccines to work, the chicks need access to their feces. So they won't be effective if the chicks are on wire floor. To prevent failure, place boards on the wire floor and leave it their for up to 16 days. . 3. Use medicated feed for chicks until they build immunity against it. Only do this if you did not vaccinate the chicks against cocci. Giving medicated feed to vaccinated chicks will render the chicks unprotected from cocci. Vaccination is more effective and preferable.
. 4. Keep the brooder and pen clean and dry. Wetness and warmth enourage cocci multiplication. Prevent wet litter.
. 5. Keep water and feed free from droppings.
. 6. Avoid overcrowding
. 7. Practice good biosecurity . 8. Place drinkers on wire frames so that chicks will not have access to wet spots where cocci easily multiply.
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Treatment of Coccidiosis
First you have to make sure it is cocci that your birds are suffering from. You need a lab test to confirm this. The test can be done on dead chicks or abnormal chick droppings. Once you've confirm it is cocci, don't waste time. Start treatment immediately. There are many drugs for coccidiosis. Your vet will recommend one after the lab test. It is important to know that coccidiosis can develop resistance against drugs. This is another reason why a lab test is important.
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For coccidiosis that causes blood in dropping, some farmers who can't afford paying vets treat with amprolium. Blood usually disappear from the dropping within 24 hours. After 2wks the treatment is repeated to kill newly hatched eggs that escaped the first treatment. This second round must be given after 2wks and not within. There are many brands of amprolium drugs, so follow the manufacturer's instruction. After second treatment (esp. when using amprolium), give the birds multivitamin to replace the vitamin B1 lost during treatment. Vitamins must not be given when treating with amprolium because it work by depriving the parasites of vitamin B1 which they can't do without.
One day I'll try converting cassava to ethanol. What do you guys think? The ethanol can be use as complete fuel for single cylinder engines like irrigation pump. If you dry it to 99 percent you can mix it with petrol and use in car engine without modification.
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With the excessive supply of cassava, there is usually glut in different parts of the country. So you can get the cassava at a reasonable price. Another alternative is that you can cultivate your own cassava.
