Dairy feeding research

Hello Farmers Helping Farmers Blog readers, 

My name is Shauna Richards and I am a veterinarian who has returned to the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) to pursue a graduate degree in veterinary epidemiology (study of disease in populations).   My project at the AVC is supervised by Dr. John Vanleeuwen and funded/ partnered with Farmers Helping Farmers, The Canadian International Development Agency, Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, AVC, Vets Without Borders (VWB) and the University of Nairobi. 

The project aim is to determine the cost benefit of feeding additional purchased feeds to dairy cows and calves owned by smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya. Specifically we are working with farmers who are members of the Wakulima Dairy Ltd. in Mukurweini, Nyeri County.  While it may seem obvious that more feed will allow a cow to produce more milk, and allow a calf to grow faster, the concern is if buying these additional feeds will make the farmer money in the short and long term.  

The study plans to purchase grain and mineral for milking cows and feed them in varying amounts to locally owned cows to determine their milk production and farmer’s subsequent income over the first 2 months of a cows lactation.  At the same time the calf of the cow will be fed varying amounts of purchased grain and milk to determine if they will grow faster.  In the long term calves which grow faster will become productive herd members earlier, and therefore make the farmer more money.  

In addition to the feeding part of the study we will be evaluating and sampling milk from the study cows to determine the rate of mastitis in smallholder dairy farms in Kenya. We will also evaluate the pathogens causing mastitis.  Finally we will be evaluating the rate of gastrointestinal pathogens in the study calves. 

This study is unique in that we have 111 farms enrolled and we will make repeated visits to the farms over a 2 month period.  This will provide us with better data in order to determine the cost-benefit of additional feed, the rate of mastitis in cows, and the rate of gastrointestinal disease in calves. 

Aside from providing better data, the repeated farm visits allow us to develop a relationship with the farmers and allows us to make helpful recommendations on how they can improve their dairy farm.  This is important because aside from the additional feed that the farmer is receiving, they are also gaining knowledge.  And while we aren’t allowing them to share feed with other farmers, they certainly can share what they are learning! Following completion of the study we plan to publish the results, and to also disseminate them to farmers who are members of the WDL so they can make sound financial decisions  on their dairy farms. 

I would also like to briefly describe the team members whom are working here in Kenya for future reference in additional blog entries:

Genevieve: second year veterinary student at University of Montreal whom is funded by VWB

Jessie: second year veterinary student at University of Calgary whom is also funded by VWB.

Shepelo: Veterinarian from the University of Nairobi, who is also pursuing a graduate degree in veterinary epidemiology and is running the study with me here in Kenya.

Priscilla: Our local and very talented, very friendly translator, whom I could not do any of this project without!

Ephraim: One of our drivers, who also commonly stands in as veterinary technician on all of our farm visits.

Godfrey: Our other driver, who often provides his milking skills to collect milk samples, as well as provides excellent comic relief.

Gerald: Coordinator at the Wakulima Dairy and for this project.

I hope this blog entry provides some context to the wonderful entries by the 2 veterinary students whom I am working with this summer.