ABSTRACT Grevy’s zebra (Equus grevyi), the world’s largest wild equine, is endemic to the arid Horn of Africa. Originally, its range extended throughout the Horn of Africa but currently it is found only in Kenya and Ethiopia. The population has declined from 15,000 in the late 1970s to between 1,964 and 2,445 animals by the year 2008. The population declines as report by William and Low (2004) is probably as a result of being killed for meat, medicinal purposes, loss of access to critical...
ABSTRACT A lot of effort is put on 'proximate' threats to conservation, overlooking the 'ultimate' conservation goals in the process. Ultimately, attempts need to be made to conserve not just individuals or populations, but processes that have been on-going over vast geographical space and long evolutionary time, such as gene flow and natural selection. So far, little is known about these historical processes that decisions affecting the management of species in fragmented landscapes are alw...
ABSTRACT Mayfly order (Ephemeroptera) is a widely distributed taxon that is used commonly in the biological assessment of water quality due to its sensitivity to changes in water quality. Despite its values in water quality assessment, studies on the taxa are still very scanty in most tropical countries, including Kenya. Water quality deterioration remains a vital threat in most rivers. The primary objective of this study, was therefore to investigate the spatial and temporal changes in commu...
ABSTRACT The main objective of this study was to establish reference protein composition values for selected local feedstuffs such as dry brewers spent grain (DBSG), cassava meal (CAM), palm kernel cake (PKC) and groundnut cake (GNC) for the Nigerian feed industry by determining amino acids profiles and amino acids compositional quality scores. The selected local feedstuffs were each sourced from five locations from northern and southern parts of Nigeria such that there were five samples for...
ABSTRACT This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary selenium (se) supplementation on the reproductive performance of sows, preweaning growth performance of their piglets, haematological and antioxidant status of pigs. Twelve (12) crossbred sows (Landrace × Large White) aged 1-2 years with an average body weight (BW) of 56.1 ± 5kg were randomly allotted to four treatment groups of three sows per treatment in a completely randomised design (CRD). The treatment groups compr...
ABSTRACT A 35-day experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design to determine the efficacy of two phytogenic feed additives as veritable alternatives to antibiotics using 320 dayold unsexed commercial Ross 308 broiler chicks. The chicks were randomly divided into four groups of 80 birds each and assigned to four isocaloric (12.60, 13.2 and 13.4 MJ/Kg AMEn) and isonitrogenous (25.0, 22.5 and 20.07 % CP levels) diets designated as follows: diet 1- maizesoybean based diet without ...
ABSTRACT This study which lasted for 52 weeks investigated the effects of dietary Vitamin C (Lascorbic acid) and Vitamin E (dl- alpha tocopheryl acetate) on the performance of laying hens in the humid tropics. A total of 240 twenty-four week old Golden Neslink pullets were randomly selected from a flock of 550 birds and randomly divided into sixteen treatments of 15 pullets. The birds were initially vent examined to ensure that they were at point of lay before commencing the study. Each...
ABSTRACT There is potential in Kenya to utilize forage sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam) cultivars as livestock feed. There are many cultivars of forage sweet potato in Kenya whose feeding values have not been evaluated. The objectives of the current study were: 1) evaluate forage sweet potato cultivars for crude protein (CP) yield and digestibility at different harvesting ages, 2) evaluate their conservation potential as silage or hay and 3) determine sheep growth performance and goat ...
ABSTRACT Mastitis in dairy goats was investigated with the objective of establishing the effect of management and the identification of the key causative agents through common diagnostic procedures of somatic cell counts, bacteriological identification and, for the first time in goat mastitis, by use of Polymerase Chain Reaction. A cross-sectional survey, using a structured questionnaire was conducted in three agro-climatic regions of Coast, Nyanza and Rift Valley, with goat keeping clusters...
ABSTRACT Farm level post harvest milk losses (PHL) in smallholder and pastoral milking herds that occur at milking, pooling, evening storage or at the farm gate delivery may be associated with many farm practices. This study tested the hypotheses that PHL results from milk hygiene practices, that feeding practices influence production and quality of milk, and that milk market outlets influence milk hygiene and PHL. Data was obtained in cross sectional survey, on-farm milk and feed sampling fo...
ABSTRACT Nutrition influences postpartum ovarian activity but the effects of pre and postpartum feeding on metabolte and hormonal changes and their subsequent influence on reproductive performance remains unclear. This study attempted to explain effects of nutrition on these changes and their ultimate impact on reproductive performance of lactating cows. Forty in-calf cows comprising 20 Friesians and 20 Sahiwals were randomly assigned to 5 dietary groups of 4 cows per breed. Upon calving, cow...
ABSTRACT Dairy ration formulation in Kenya is currently based on the singular objective of least cost (LCF) that only considers cost to the economic advantage of feed millers. The interest of dairy producers is milk profit above feed costs while regulatory authorities are interested in feed quality standards and environmental health. Industry stakeholder interests on feed processing and utilisation and critical feed formulation goals present challenges to sustainable dairy production. To bet...
ABSTRACT Pastoral camel management strategies in northern Kenya, characterised by free herd mobility that enables efficient utilisation of rangeland resources, is slowly but progressively adopting restricted camel foraging within the vicinity of urban milk market outlets as seen in Isiolo town. The emerging peri-urban camel production system (PUCPS) has potential livelihood benefits to households but there are emerging pressures that can impede its sustained development and benefits. Key eme...
ABSTRACT Parasites are universal and are associated with many living organisms making them a vital component of any ecosystem. Fish parasites lead to a decline in market value of infected fish and may lead to mortalities in high intensities. Some parasites are zoonotic. Anthropogenic activities within the riparian and catchment areas of aquatic systems that lead to deterioration of water quality possibly increase the incidences of parasitic infections. Although fish parasites have been studie...
ABSTRACT Indigenous chicken (IC) are the most common poultry in developing world, found in almost every homestead and constitute over 89% of total chicken populations in Kenya. Contributions of IC to economy include source of income, food security and nutrition. The IC productivity is compromised by diseases that contribute to over 50% of economic losses. This study was undertaken to contribute to improved productivity of indigenous chicken (IC) of Kenya through sustainable breeding for di...