Constraints to production, disease perceptions and ticks and helminths control practices on dairy cattle farms in Nyandarua District, Kenya.
Abstract
A cross-sectional survey was undertaken on 240 dairy cattle farms in Nyandarua District in central Kenya
to determine farm characteristics, farmer’s perception of production constraints and diseases and the
prevalence and control practices for ticks and helminths. Farmers were interviewed using questionnaires
and 708 cattle examined.
The mean farm size was 3.2 hectares and average number of cattle per farm 20, with 66% of the farms
having 3-16 animals. This indicated that dairy-cattle farming is a smallholder concern in the district. The
cattle were crossbreeds mainly of Hostein-Friesian and Ayrshire kept as a source of milk for domestic
consumption and sale. High proportions of the farmers considered diseases (75%), high cost of drugs
(70%), high cost of supplementary feeds (70%) and inadequate pastures (60%) as the main production
constraints. East Coast Fever (ECF) was ranked as the most important disease.
The majority (62%) of farmers used acaricides, which were applied at intervals of 2 to 4 weeks on 75% of
the farms mostly through hand spraying. Forty percent of cattle were infested with ticks, indicating that tick
borne diseases (TBDs) are a risk to cattle production. Rhipicephalus appendiculatus was the most abundant
(81%) followed by Boophilus decoloratus (15%) and Amblyomma variagatum (4%).
Gastrointestinal tract (GIT) nematodes infections were sub-clinical but common, with Haemonchus being
the predominant parasite, and a number of cattle were shedding Fasciola eggs. These data indicate that GIT
nematodes and liver flukes infections are a risk to cattle production in the district. A large proportion (75%)
of the farmers dewormed their cattle, but 60% used the same type of drug for more than three years and the
dosage was estimated using eye measure on all the farms. These practices are considered as risk factors for
the development of anthelmintic resistance.
There is a need to improve access to quality extension and veterinary services and seek solutions to
constraints facing the farmers in the district in order to improve dairy cattle productivity.
URI
, http://www.irrd22/8/2010main22138.htmhttp://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/14255
Citation
Livestock Research for Rural Development Volume 22, Article #138Publisher
Department of Veterinary Pathology, Microbiology & Parasitology Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Nairobi
Subject
tickssmallholder dairy
helminths
farm characteristics
control practices
constraints
cattle production
assessment of prevalence