| dc.description.abstract | he objective of this study was to determine the
average daily gain (ADG) of pigs on rural and peri-urban
smallholder farms in two districts of Western Kenya, in
order to establish a baseline to measure the impact of future
management interventions. Average daily gain (kilograms
per day) for 664 pigs weighed one, two or three times and
the proportion of local and crossbreed pigs was determined.
Assuming a uniform birth weight of 1 kg, ADG did not
differ between pigs weighed once or twice. Overall, ADG
was higher in peri-urban pigs (0.15±0.058 kg/day) than
rural pigs (0.11±0.047 kg/day). Pigs at 1 to 2 months had
a higher ADG than those at 3 months or 10 to 12 months
and ADG was higher in crossbreed than local pigs. Over the
two districts, the ADG was low (0.13±0.002 kg/day). Most
(87.2 %) pigs were of local breed. Low ADG may be due to
malnourishment, high maintenance energy expenditure,
high parasite prevalence, disease, and/or low genetic poten-
tial. This low ADG of pigs raised on smallholder farms in
Western Kenya indicates a high potential for improvement.
The growth rate of pigs in Western Kenya must be improved
using locally available feedstuffs to make efficient use of resources, promote sustainable smallholder pig production,
and improve the livelihood of smallholder farmers. | en_US |
