Improving Quality of Dairy Housing in Kenya
MICHAEL MUKUMBU NGUGI
AB243-2423/2009
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER TWO
2.1. INTRODUCTION
Good dairy housing design requires knowledge of the various dairying concepts and applying this knowledge to building construction to create a facility that provides quality performance in its suitability for the cows’ accommodation and efficiency in the facility operations. This chapter covers existing literature related to the topic of research that will help in informing the research. This chapter will further outline key design factors to be considered in dairy housing.
2.2. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
An efficient management of cattle will be incomplete without a well-planned and adequate housing of cattle. Improper planning in the arrangement of animal housing may result in additional labour charges and that curtail the profit of the owner. During erection of a house for dairy cattle, care should be taken to provide comfortable accommodation for an individual cow. No less important is the proper sanitation, durability, and efficient arrangement plan for the stalls and production of clean milk under convenient and economic conditions, etc. (TNAU, 2009)
There are a number of statements within the ‘Code of Recommendations for the Welfare of Livestock: Cattle’ published by Defra (2003) regulations that relate to the accommodation for animals outlining the minimum requirements for dairy cattle welfare extracted from The Welfare of
There has been a fair amount of hoof root in a couple of the herds. As I look at the environments and management styles, the herds that value health over product primarily has fewer problems with hoof root due to them cleaning out pens religiously and always keeping up on vacations. Another difference I see is that places that do not overcrowd have healthier cows compared to places that overcrowd the cows. Another disease that I see is scouring in calves. Farms that decide to keep their calves inside usually have a higher tendency for scouring due to infection and disease being much for prompt in the air of inside facilities compared to outside. Dr. Carpenter told me that calves first 56 days of life is the most critical stage of its life. The first 56 days reflects the most heavily of the cow’s first lactation. Dr. Carpenters claim results correlate with herds under his supervision. One herd we are at almost everyday keeps their calves inside and the calves are regularly sick. While a different herd keeps their calves outside and seem to have good luck with their calves and are relatively healthy. The other correlation is during there first lactation. Looking at data between the two herds during the cows first lactation also agree that the cows in the herd that have calves that are healthy and kept outside have higher milk production than that
When it comes to feeding show cattle many raisers have certain feeding strategies that they follow, ensuring they can maintain their goal on winning. Along with feeding it takes exercise so that one’s show calf will not become stout nor stubborn. Certain aspects are necessary to show an animal
Although the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) was established by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to protect consumers, a number of unintended consequences have arisen that negatively impact producers. These include increased costs of feed, negative impacts of small and rural producers, limitations to meeting new demands and the voluntary nature of the VFD. This letter explores the VFD and identifies challenges with its current implementation that impact our rural and remote producers.
In the US today cattle are part of everyday culture. With more than 93 million cattle in the dairy and beef industry, and tens of thousands in the rodeo business, cattle are definitely a huge part. Lately, there has been many concerns with the bovine friends along with multiple misconceptions. Rodeos may look tough on animals, and todays society is not educated well enough on the beef and dairy industry. People don’t realize that these animals are happy, healthy, and very well cared for.
Preventive medical care in the form of vaccines, vitamins, minerals and any approved supplements is strongly relied on to keep the animals as healthy as possible. The process used to bottle and pasteurize the milk produced from these cows must also be certified and the organic milk has to be kept separate from nonorganic milk to uphold its integrity as an organic commodity. Other ingredients used in this process all have to be organic unless there is no organic equivalent. Organic chemicals like volatile synthetic solvents and other synthetic processing aids are also prohibited during the bottling process further upholding the integrity of the milk.
In the past century there has been a substantial change in the way human beings raise and keep animals meant for food. While in the past there were great numbers of widely spaced small individual farms, now there are relatively few, but extremely large industrialized farms. And as the numbers of animals kept and slaughtered for human consumption increases, these industrialized farms, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFO's, are having more and more of an impact on the environment and people around them. The concentration of animals causes a major problem with the waste products they produce, as well as the gases, chemicals, and other types of byproducts. And the increased use of antibiotics in the animals is beginning to have a profound effect on the health of not only the environment but the communities that exist around these industrialized farms. CAFO's, and their secondary industries, are also a large consumer of oil, gasoline, and other fuels which can have an indirect, but devastating effect on the environment. Luckily there are some who have come to recognize the problems, and potential future problems, involved in this type of animal farming and have begun to inform the public to the dangers these farms pose. And in response to this information, the public is beginning to force changes in the way these CAFO's operate and the impact they have on the environment and
To minimize the N.E.B the cow should be in the correct body condition before calving down, a score of 3.0 is appropriate. If the cow is too fat the she will not have the appetite to eat in early lactation which will affect the peak milk yield. It is key that the food intake is maximized post calving therefore the cow should have ad libitum access to forage at all time, the forage should also be of a high quality in early lactation, this is not as important when you move down the cycle. To overcome any limitations of forage concentrates like Molasses and Maize should also be used. A good concentrate mix for a dairy cow should contain starch sources of varying degradabilites, Molasses is rapidly degradable source while maize is a slowly degradable source of starch. There are two methods for feeding concentrates, in parlour and out of parlour. In parlour feeding systems the parlours are fitted with concentrate dispensing hoppers which dispense into the feed manger. A cow will receive 5kg per milking while a heifer will receive 4kg per milking. Out of parlour feeding is where feed is given out by transponders, in small amounts very often. Picture 1 shows an in parlour feeder system.
The poor housing of farm animals in factory farms is an issue because the stress factors and living conditions can cause the animals immune systems to weaken. According to an article about the practices of factory farming, “Common practices include packing pregnant pigs into gestation crates so small they cannot turn around, placing egg-laying hens in cages stacked on top of one another in massive enclosed buildings and raising cows on feedlots rather than the grass pastures many of us associate with ruminants” (Anomaly 1). This quote explains that the living space of animals in a factory farm is different from what consumers expect. When consumers go to the grocery store, they may see a picture of an old country farm with animals freely wondering, but in reality animals are stored as items and not free creatures. According to an article written by Bradley S. Miller, “As reported by a veterinarian, Dr. Bruce Feldman, When animals are intensively confined and under stress, as they are in factory farms, their auto-immune systems are weakened and they are prone to infectious diseases” (Miller 2). This quote speaks of how much the risk factors of sickness increase when animals are confined and under great amounts of stress. Overpopulated animal storage is an ethical and moral concern because it brings an unnecessary stress and a burden to animals. Not only is the storage of animals, both ethically and morally wrong, consequently, it is also a reason that disease outbreaks occur in many factory farms.
Farmed animals, such as pigs and cattle, should be kept in clean and relaxed conditions. The acceptance of a culture that allows for the suffering of animals from birth to death is not a culture of ethical morals. Certain accommodations must be made to the livestock trade in order to prevent physical pain and negative mental situations.
Abd El-Shaffy and G. A. Abd El-Rahman. El-Nor, Khalif and El-Shaffy are from the Dairy Science Department, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt. Khattab and El-Sayed are from the Animal Production Department Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Shoubra Al-Kheimah, Cairo, Egypt. The last author El-Rahman is from the Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University. All that was just listed was the source of authority that these authors have in their country. These authors or professors are well-prepared to write about this topic because they talk about the whole experiment. They inform the reader about what was done in the experiment and what came out of the experiment. This article came from Revista Veterinaria. The intended readers are possibly Buffalo breeders to see what is the best way to feed the calf and what milk is the most nutritious. Also people that are interested in this topic can read this article as well. There
The legislative framework, which encompasses factory farming, is lacking when it comes to production livestock (legally known as ‘stock animals’) (REF), as the legislation fails to provide any meaningful protection of these creatures. The treatment of farmed animals is exempted from the overarching cruelty and duty of care standards included in animal welfare legislation. Simply put, what is considered cruel in a domestic animal situation is not deemed cruel to stock animals. To resolve this inequity, it is essential to implement new legislation, which unambiguously defines all animals as equal, and which regulates the suffering for stock animals through workable practices and procedures and enforceable punishments for those who fail to treat stock animals humanely. The aim of this paper is to explore the current situation surrounding factory farming legislation in Queensland, investigate the fairness of this legislation to all stakeholders and recommend justified changes to the present laws, regulations and
I am writing you in response to your concerns about the market test on the new cups and carriers
Overcrowding – when the stables are overcrowding the cows do not get enough rest, time to eat and time to
Dairy Farmers was established in 1900 (Dairy Farmers, 2006a). It is one of Australia’s oldest food and beverage companies. It is presently headquartered in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It is also the owner of the popular and award winning OAK brand name. According to company reports, it was originally assigned the responsibility of ensuring the freshness and quality of farmers’ produce when they reached city markets and consumers (Dairy Farmers, 2006a). However, it has grown over the years to become a major and dominant player in Australia, with a turnover of over 1.3 Australian dollars. The company obtains its milk from its own cooperative, made up of thousands of dairy farmers. These farmers are shareholders of the company. Dairy farmers also supplies both fresh and processed products the local as well as export markets. The company is reputed for its product excellence, having won a tall list of awards during its existence. In the words of the company it is “committed to using only the best and freshest ingredients, and to providing our customers with
Livestock production is used in nearly every country worldwide. Among those countries, the United States ranks near the top, but when compare the Livestock system in the US to a less wealthy country such as Haiti many differences exist. Among these differences between the two countries livestock nutrition, livestock housing, and livestock health reign the most contrasting between the two.