"You have helped me by instructing me on things, and providing me with milk which I have never done before. To get money and feed the calf? Whey."


The mango tree at this farm was unreal. Honestly, it was one of the biggest trees we've ever seen, let alone being a fruit bearing tree. Unfortunately, the cow on this farm passed on but the calf managed to maintain its health and grew a good deal over the course of the study. The first time we visited this farm the cows were on pasture, meaning they were randomly dispersed around his property and his neighbours land. He had to literally chase them for quite a few minutes down the hill, through a small gate, around the giant mango tree and finally into the pen. Morgan regrets never having the opportunity to climb this tree and we will certainly miss visiting this farmer every week.

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"I have more knowledge on how to feed the cow not only the study cow but all my cows. I loved your present. I now know that you need to feed depending on the milk production and also things about how to control mastitis, to trim the hooves, how important protein is for the cow's diet and how I need to feed the calf well for it to grow well."


This woman was memorable in herself. She was very aged and had quite a limp, making it difficult for her to make it out to the pen every week. She was also the the only farmer we accidently woke up from a nap with our visit. Her grandson was a great help to us and the cow barely required any of the other shouting or encouragments used by other farmers, she knew exactly where to go and did it upon request. The calf was in great shape from the start and only continued to grow. This was one of Jen's favourite houses. It had a beautiful pathway leading to the farm and the flowers on this farm were insanely beautiful. The whole front of the house was completely covered with vines, flowers, bushes and other lovely decorative plants and every week we marvelled at what had blossomed over the last week. The flowers matched this farmer as she was always head to toe in as many colours as was possible. We'll miss the jungle feel of this farm, as you never see flowers like this in Canada.

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"The cow was at first weak but has improved over the course of your visits. I have also gathered knowledge on feeding from you. The cow also had a lameness before you taught me how to treat and prevent and manage these kind of things. The calf has grown very well and is now fed sufficiently. I have gotten a lot of support from Farmers Helping Farmers, from you, so very much. The feed and your learning has assisted me greatly. Please take care, be safe, go happily."


We had a soft spot for this farm. This farm was well worth the time, sweat, pain and sliding it took to get to it. It was on the side of a massive hill, and the roads to the farm were brutal at best. When it was raining, we would often hear Godfrey or Frederick saying they were "fearing the road" and this resulted in quite a few miles of walking. Regardless of when we showed up (as the difficult route made our timing unpredictable) the farmer was always there, with a smile, an inquiry about how we were and when one of us was absent that week, a "where is the other one??" On the last visit he was wearing the Cow's t-shirt we had given him the preceding week, which was quite wonderful to see as we were unsure whether the farmers would understand the t-shirts, let alone wear them. This farm had a massive problem with flies on the first few visits, both on the cow's legs, in open sores on the cows back and multiplying in the many standing water sources in the pen. Amazingly, this farmer managed to conquer the flies and the cow looked quite good on our last few visits. He immediately took our advice about cleanliness in sores and he was one of the only farmers to openly ask if we needed a hand with handling the calf (which we often did, this calf was over 101 cm in circumference on the last visit!). In short, it was a true pleasure to battle the hill to this farm every week when we knew this kind, thoughfull and dedicated farmer was there to greet us.

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"I now have the knowledge of how to feed dairy meal to the cow, before I was giving 2 kg and thought this was good, but now to increase it at certain times is much better for the milk profits. I have learned a lot every week about cleanliness, how important this is to the cow, to me, to my money. I also learned to have the hooves trimmed every 6 months or 1 year, I don't think I ever did before. Lastly, I cannot believe I need to give the calf water! Before I thought the one cup I gave was more than most people, now I see it should be all the time. Thank you, thank you. God bless you always."


This farm was under construction the first week we were there and Morgan gave the farmer many things to consider on our first visit. When we returned after his cow calved most of the structures met the recomendations and any tha di not were soon adjusted to come into accordance with proper pen regulations. The first time we visited this farm we had to walk a solid half an hour in the muck to get here only to find out upon arrival that he was literally just off the main road. From there on out we made sure to take the farmers suggested route to his farm. This farm also had a very impressive water reservoir on his property with many systems leading the water all over the place, a bit chaotic looking but no doubt very effective. His cow was one of the many suffering from the rather rough milking techniques commonly used here (of stripping the teats manually) but the farmer took our advice about a new milking strategy very seriously. As a result we saw the amount of blood in the milk at the end of miling decrease every week we returned. We had a difficult time getting a good photo at this farm. In our first attempts the farmer would not smile and due to the angle and lighting in the pitcure rather than looking lik the kind and gentle an he is the farmer instead looked angry. We insisted upon re-doing the photo, we could not let it stand! Luckily the second attempts came out much more true to life.

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"The study has been very helpful I now know how to feed the cow. Before I didn't know to trim the hooves, or have a healthy calf, or how to change the feed based on the milk my cow was giving. These kind of helpful things had given me much more profit. Also how to cut the hooves, you have taught me this. Or the napier grass! Who knew it was more healthy for the cow based on the height at which it was cut, not me. I also now know how to store the forages for longer, like the napier grass, and keep it in the house, I would not have thought of this and ended up with no green forages for parts of the year during which the cow is suffering. Cutting the grass at a shorter height means it comes out of the ground faster and is growing quicker."


This was a farm where we were spoiled every time we visited. Often some of our farmers had one major food crop that they would give us from their harvests when wevisited. Sometimes it would be avocados, sometimes bananas, sometimes eggs, but at this farm, we got something different all the time. One week it was arrowroot, the next week sweet bananas (something we will both sorely miss in Canada) and the next week sugarcane. They were always were coming up with creative and new ways to show us their appreciation. All this even though we would have been more than happy to visit this farm on a weekly basis just given the warmth and kindness we received. This farm also had one of our larger milk producing cows and it was clear that both the farmer and his wife were dedicated to their animals and the overall prosperity of their farm and family.

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"I am now working at a profit and my cow is giving more milk and I know how to feed the cow and calf. I like to meet you and greet you each week and from this I am also benefitting. My beautiful ladies are here today and this makes me happy."

The first time we were there we already knew this farmer would be a close friend. Women came through her gate to visit her (or maybe to see what we were doing on her farm) while we were doing the physical exams and when they asked her who we were she replied that we were her daughters. From then on we looked forward to going to her farm, if only for the friendliness and a chance to see her again. This was another of those farms which had an unbelievable amount of different angles, positions and scenery changes in order to get the right photo. During the initial survey Jen noted that she shared her name with the cow. Whether this was because the cow had already gotten her name during the survey or it was actually named this, it is hard to say. It wouldn't be the first cow/calf to be named this in Kenya.

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" Our cow is healthier and producing more milk. Also this project has taught us how to feed the cow to make more milk and money and we will always be remembering this in the future."

This farm was one of those farms that you only needed to describe to tell which farm it was. It has the most bizarrely intricate system of cow stalls, you had to walk through about three to get to our study cow, hence the awkward photo. Well, that in addition to the fact that the cow was trying desperately to devour napier grass while we were trying to take the photo, and that Priscilla was holding the camera sideways most of the time. Jen really had to wrestle with the cow's head to get the right shot, as did the farmer, and even then, it was a questionable one, more of a 'in-action' shot than a posed photo. Unfortunately we lost another calf at this farm, it lived for only a short period and by the time we got there it had passed. Despite their loss these farmers persevered and accomplished a great deal throughout the course of the study.

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"Our cow is now producing more milk. The calf is also growing healthier and we have gotten a good experience from having you with us for this time. We will end with more knowledge about many things to do with the cow and calf, especially in terms of feeding and this is knowledge I shall be keeping forever."

This farmer was never caught out of his green lab coat or his hat. Which raised the question, why does everyone here have these lab coats and where do they come from?? He would often meet us at the road and walk back with us to his farm, as the roads were frequently washed out. They seemed to have an endless supply of puppies at this farm as well, three or four over the course of our visits, and just about as many small children. There was always a small crowd of observers during our visits, usually different each time. They liked to sit on the bench (on which we took the photo) and watch with curiosity at what we were doing, often laughing amongst themselves for reasons we will never be fully sure of while we were doing various things.

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