QUESTION
I’m very new in Kenya dairy farming and looking forward to do it better. i wish you could provide with information on how to use urea to increase protein content in my fodder, as well as where i can get it. Still if possible kindly let me have a formula of how make home made dairy meal.
ANSWER
Urea can be used to improve the digestibility and nitrogen level of cop residues of cereals such as maize, rice, wheat and sorghum. The
recommended ratio for treating the residue is using about 60 grams of urea for every 1 kg of maize stover. The water should be in the same ratio as the stover being treated. For example, if you have 400kg of stover, use 400 liters of water and 24kg urea.
Urea can be bought from most Agrovet (animal feeds’ shops).
Please note: There is risk of poisoning the cow if too much urea used. Kindly be very cautious.
Instead of using urea to improve forage quality of crop residues, you may also consider doing the following;
- Supplement with concentrates like cottonseed or sunflower seed cakes
- Chop into small pieces and sprinkle with salt to increase acceptability
- Soak in molasses overnight to increase palatability and provide energy
HOME MADE DAIRY MEAL
Advantages of homemade supplement in Kenyan Dairy Farming
- Same quality as commercial dairy meal
- Inexpensive compared to commercial dairy meal
- Acceptable to the cow
- Easy to handle and process.
High yielder dairy supplement
To make 100 kg of the supplement use:
- 68 kg energy feeds
- 30 kg protein feed
- 2 kg minerals.
For example:
- 50 kg maize germ
- 16 kg wheat pollard
- 2 kg molasses
- 14 kg cotton seed cake
- 12 kg lucerne hay
- 4 kg fish meal.
Hope the above information is of help to you. Kindly let me hear from you soon.