Plantains (Musa spp., AAB genome) are plants producing fruits that remain starchy at maturity (Marriot and Lancaster, 1983; Robinson, 1996) and need processing before consumption. Plantain production in Africa is estimated at more than 50% of worldwide production (FAO, 1990). The majority (82%) of plantains in Africa are produced in the area stretching from the lowlands of Guinea and Liberia to the central basin of the Democratic Republic of Congo. West and Central Africa contribute 61 and 21%, respectively (FAO, 1986). It is estimatedthat about 70 million people in West…
Washing poultry feeding troughs and drinkers is the first duty of every poultry farmer/attendant every morning. They must be washed every day before fresh feed and water is served. This should be done with detergents and rinsed thoroughly. There are diseases birds can get through water of which the list of the diseases will be endless if we choose to name them. Therefore, good water hygiene must be maintained to ensure the water given to the birds does not become the source of their diseases. Go for water testing to…
From whatever source you are getting your water, the basic fact is that the water must be cool, free of germs and without any chemical. Well water, Tap water and borehole water sources are not bad for your birds provided they are cool, free of germs and untreated. Avoid giving hard water to your poultry birds and in order to know if your source of water is free of germs and without any dangerous chemical, the best way is by doing water testing which is also applicable to feed testing.…
The diseases that poultry birds can get through feeds are uncountable. This is the main reason why you must ensure good quality of feeds before they are given to the birds. as earlier said, feed testing will go a long way in ascertaining the quality of the feed. And you can also know if some set of birds in your poultry house are being denied of feed through close observation of the birds when they are being fed. Note those that are not rushing for food also they are likely…
It is essential that poultry birds are given enough poultry feeding troughs so that all of them can have access to the feeds and also to prevent rushing for feeds which will make the press on one other and eventually death. A feeding trough for 50 birds is highly recommended which means that you need to calculate that to the number of feeding troughs you will need for 500 birds and so on. Ideal feeding troughs are determined by the age of the birds. This is to prevent the birds…
It is advisable to ensure that poultry feeds do not finish completely in the feeding troughs at all times, therefore give them enough feeds at least two times in a day. Example: early in the morning and later in the afternoon. Also make sure that the quantity of feed served to them is such that will give all of them access to the feed. Sometimes most poultry farmers always want to know if it is good to serve birds feed at night. Well as in the case of layers, the…
Often times poultry farmers always want to know how they can know if a particular poultry feed is good or not for their poultry birds. Well things that are not good in a feed ranges from bad quality ingredients, contaminated ingredients and bad milling environment. The best way to know the quality of your feed is to go for feed analysis and test for the contents of the feeds and for the possible microbes which may be present in the feeds. As for where you can do your feed testing,…
Generally, feeding your poultry birds take about 60%-70% of the total cost of raising a bird. For instance, to raise pullets from Day Old to the point of lay, you are likely to have spent around #750 in Naira using Nigeria as a case study or its equivalence in your own currency per bird. So be prepared to 60%-70% of #750 Naira or its equivalence on the feeds. You can then multiply this by the number of birds you like to raise. Also note that starving birds for just an…
Generally it is not advisable that poultry feeds are stored for long before they are given to the poultry birds to avoid some challenges that occurs from poultry birds consuming contaminated or spoiled poultry feeds which in return causes a huge lose to the poultry farmer as a result. A maximum of 2weeks is ideal for any poultry farmer to store his or her poultry feeds in bulk and anything higher than that means that the farmer is operating at his or her own risk. First, buy poultry feeds and…
Taking oral vitamin D supplements in addition to standard asthma medication could halve the risk of asthma attacks requiring hospital attendance, according to research led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). Asthma affects more than 300 million people worldwide and is estimated to cause almost 400,000 deaths annually. Asthma deaths arise primarily during episodes of acute worsening of symptoms, known as attacks or ‘exacerbations’, which are commonly triggered by viral upper respiratory infections. Vitamin D is thought to protect against such attacks by boosting immune responses to respiratory viruses…
