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Selling Fresh Milk
Rank: Elder Joined: 12/9/2009 Posts: 1,491 Location: Nairobi
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I hear Murungaru is doing well in his dairy farm. Maybe arrange a visit and get some knowledge Kenya ni yetu sisi sote
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Rank: Member Joined: 6/26/2008 Posts: 190
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Ric Dees,
I’m planning to get back “neck deep” in the dairy farming. My 1st challenge is now trying to re-stock. I’ve even contemplated seeking advice from turkanas on restocking through cattle rustling but i realised I got no balls to handle a njuguma (club) let alone a gun!
im thinking in the line of procuring jerseys coz they are quite versatile and low maintenance, but will also throw in some holstein and ayshires.i find the later better breeders. Getting good dairy animals is also quite tricky, considering farmers usually dispose of their poor performing cows.
My ultimate goal is milk processing; processing and packaging yoghurt, cheese and other stuff – need to go for classes on this
On the supplements, i learnt that just feeding your cows with dairy meal is not enough as most of the time the dairy meal has insufficient mineral/ supplements. What i used to do was buy bags of sunflower seeds, fishmeal and other protein /supplement. These i would mix kidogo kidogo with wheat bran and maize germ which was much cheaper than dairy meal and violla! You have your dairy meal. A fellow farmer once told me that the food manufacturers would limit the supplements in the dairy meal to check on the overall cost of production. That’s the reason you will hear of "mimi nimebadilisha chakula ya ngombe na maziwa sasa imeanza kupungua!
I also added vitamins which are crucial to the development of the cow. Where you find a cow suddenly collapsing after especially giving birth , then this is as a result of vitamin deficiency- this actually kills animals.
For the minerals/salt, try giving the animals salt from different companies each for a week and compare milk production. That is how i got to know which company's salt was best for the cows. Same explanation as above
Ticks the secret is never use one dawa for too long. always change the dawa after say 3 or 4 uses. Assuming u spray once a week. This way ticks shall not have time to develop any immunity ( pardon my direct translation)
I have resolved to re-stock in the next two months!
Got to look for my worn out gumboots and kafuti now.
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Rank: Member Joined: 3/10/2008 Posts: 301 Location: Abu Dhabi
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@Rick dees,
I believe you are in UK or somewhere. How do you manage? and what kind of returns do you get per cow p.m. % on monthly costs?
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Rank: Member Joined: 11/6/2006 Posts: 276
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really love this thread...
immediately after the brookside show.. i went to tafuta some land. i want to get into this.. mostly i am just pissed at the level of low expectations that farmers from my village have for their cattle..
it used to be a celebration at my home if the cow made 10 liters a day..
i was surprised.. very surprised to learn the jersey eats 15 kilograms of food and delivers 25 liters of milk
according the 26 year old IT guru and farmer born in kibera and now with a farm in kimende... he has cows that even give him 46 liters!!!
i think this is the guy to visit ASAP..
once we get the milk flowing... we can look at part 2.. the marketing bit... and value addition
@ nyangao kindly let me know where you plan to get the jerseys from
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Rank: Member Joined: 6/26/2008 Posts: 190
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there is a reknown farm in karen called olendeti farm owned by some jungus.there is even a jesey club of kenya run by a gramaticos - her name. I have a small schedule that can roughly show income from dairy farming-dont know how to post it,once i jua will do it. I used some data that i had collected from the biz.a cow giving you over 25litres is quite delicate and has to be milked by hand-to avoid any bout of mastitis.
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Rank: Member Joined: 11/6/2006 Posts: 276
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Hey many thanks.. i can work with that.. gramaticos/jersey club
Kindly send me schedule on anthony (at) noahmgt (dot) com
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Rank: Veteran Joined: 11/21/2006 Posts: 1,590
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Ric dees wrote: @Nyangao,
Well said, i echo your sentiments and like you i started with 3 cows sometime in 09 now i have 10 so far so good, and as Njunge pointed out KCC has made things so much easier nowadays in terms of selling milk,trasparency et al.
My difference comes is from listening to some old men in nyeri and following almost to the letter their advice: i have always bought calves who are always about 6 months to sire (usually in 2's), in that period i have tried to learn as much as i could bout the calves without incurring expensive lessons (read from when its starts producing milk). Avoid buying from large farms, as a rule of thumb i never buy from farms with more than a herd of 10 and so far it's been working for me. Like you said on-hand management is required and you need some-one reliable/trustworthy for me this is not an issue and if you can get back to it coz it is hugely lucrative, it's times like this i wish i can get back home.
@Wendz i strongly suggest get in now, buy a calf and start there!! (tafadhali usingoje retire) There is a farm in Muranga, where i went severally when i was starting out, they usually deal with feeds and doing large scale farming i don't have the business card with me but can look up the name and they will teach you a lot bout dairy farming.
@Dexco, tell us more sounds like something i could try my hand on!!
PS: Njunge & Nyangao, could you please suggest what dawa (ticks) you would recommend for the cows, this has been my current challenge as well as the salt lick? i seem to have gone round the market in terms of these 2 products, the cows are in gatitu - nyeri.
ricdees-are you able to converse offline? mainat at hotmail dot com Sehemu ndio nyumba
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Rank: Member Joined: 3/6/2008 Posts: 632
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@Toniescart, Yes i am in the UK, what i did i knew some-one who was being paid peanuts as a court clerk in Nairobi from my shaggs, employed him doubled his salary and also give him a bonus and most importantly grew up in the village and the rest as they say is history (He actaully oversees whatever little i have in that country)On top of that i usually "adopt" his son whenever am home, hangs out with us wherever we go and it works amicably. I will send you the returns per cow and % monthly costs over the weekend. @Mainat, sure will hit you up!
The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday's logic.
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Rank: New-farer Joined: 6/18/2011 Posts: 13 Location: pwani
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nice idea just to add on. yu can add moringa olifera a wonder leafmeal to your dairy meal it has vitamins proteins. minerals et al its a wonder tree .Statitists from a research study shows it can increase milk yieald significantly Just google it and see its benefits.thanks
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Rank: New-farer Joined: 6/18/2011 Posts: 13 Location: pwani
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@nyagao does it mean for big farms like brookside or delamare who have cows that give more than 50 litres per day are hand milked i beg to differ with u the machines used for milking have soft rubber in them its gentle than even human hands thus no mastitis
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Rank: Member Joined: 6/26/2008 Posts: 190
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@mzee, i meant to say that cows that give quite a large amount of milk like the ones that win at the trade fair - mainly from adc they can produce over 40litres per day!. The guys that take care of such are solely dedicated to a number of cows per individual . while the rest of the herd are machine milked, these specials ones are hand milked, reason being that they are more susceptible to mastitis
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Rank: Member Joined: 6/26/2008 Posts: 190
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From following up at the trade fair, the highest amount of milk a cow can give is 46. Litres. The cow that produced that had been champ in the ayshire category for a period of 3yrs. It was later replaced by its daughter which produces slighlty less cant remember the quantity.
For the 50 litres, id like to see such a cow
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Rank: New-farer Joined: 6/18/2011 Posts: 13 Location: pwani
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wel in israel a group of women from gitunguri farmers went there where cows that produced upto 70ltrs of milk using machine are milked. u can ask the factory itself to confirm
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Rank: Veteran Joined: 11/21/2006 Posts: 1,590
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Ric dees wrote:
@Toniescart,
Yes i am in the UK, what i did i knew some-one who was being paid peanuts as a court clerk in Nairobi from my shaggs, employed him doubled his salary and also give him a bonus and most importantly grew up in the village and the rest as they say is history (He actaully oversees whatever little i have in that country)On top of that i usually "adopt" his son whenever am home, hangs out with us wherever we go and it works amicably. I will send you the returns per cow and % monthly costs over the weekend.
@Mainat, sure will hit you up!
Ricdees-commendable. Give me ur email, I'll contact u Sehemu ndio nyumba
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Rank: Member Joined: 3/10/2008 Posts: 301 Location: Abu Dhabi
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Ric dees wrote:
@Toniescart,
Yes i am in the UK, what i did i knew some-one who was being paid peanuts as a court clerk in Nairobi from my shaggs, employed him doubled his salary and also give him a bonus and most importantly grew up in the village and the rest as they say is history (He actaully oversees whatever little i have in that country)On top of that i usually "adopt" his son whenever am home, hangs out with us wherever we go and it works amicably. I will send you the returns per cow and % monthly costs over the weekend.
@Mainat, sure will hit you up!
Thats a good challenge. You can post on the forum or send tonicasert at yahoo dot com.
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Rank: Elder Joined: 8/4/2008 Posts: 2,849 Location: Rupi
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Ric dees wrote:
@Toniescart,
Yes i am in the UK, what i did i knew some-one who was being paid peanuts as a court clerk in Nairobi from my shaggs, employed him doubled his salary and also give him a bonus and most importantly grew up in the village and the rest as they say is history (He actaully oversees whatever little i have in that country)On top of that i usually "adopt" his son whenever am home, hangs out with us wherever we go and it works amicably. I will send you the returns per cow and % monthly costs over the weekend.
@Mainat, sure will hit you up!
@ $ic thats an angel of a guy you got right there. Some of these people when treated well take you for a fool. Continue appreciating him Lord, thank you!
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