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The study was undertaken to explore the nutritive potential of cassava leaves and Azolla as supplementary source of crude protein to cattle fed on either mixed range grass hay or Bracharia Mulato II. Two experiments were carried out, the first was the determination of the biomass yield of Azolla, its relative growth rate and doubling time while the second was a feeding trial to determine the performance of small East African Shorthorned Zebu heifers of similar age and weight. The heifers (four each) were randomly assigned to six treatments in the feeding trial that ran for 16 weeks. The doubling time for Azolla was 5 days while the relative growth rate was 0.15 g/g/day. The chemical analysis indicated that Azolla is rich in crude protein (18.8%) and minerals (3.29% calcium, 2.66% potassium and 0.15% phosphorus and other minerals in trace levels). All the supplemented groups showed more weekly weight gains ranging from 0.75 to 1.11 kg per day more than the control. Overall, the treatment with Azolla or cassava showed slightly higher but insignificant increases in weight gains. Azolla and cassava leaves can therefore be considered as potential feed for livestock. Key words: Arid and range lands, cattle, doubling time, relative growth rate.

To document current rabbit management practices in Kiambu County, a survey using structured questionnaire was undertaken in 45 farms identified using snow ball sampling technique. Data collected were subjected to descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that the majority of the respondents (57.8%) kept more than 10 does while the most prevalent breed was New Zealand White (82.2%). The main purpose of keeping rabbits for the majority (54%) of the farmers was income generation. Rabbit keepers depended on locally available feed resources with the majority (82.2%) feeding a mixture of forages and concentrate. The majority of respondents (71.1%) weaned the kits at 8 weeks of age while does were rebred at 9 weeks after kindling on 68.9% of the farms. Treatment of sick rabbits was done majorly by the farmers themselves (60.5%). Constraints identified included high cost of feeds (88.9%), diseases (84.4%) and lack of markets for rabbits and rabbit products (71.1%). This study concluded that rabbit farming in Kiambu County is practiced on small scale characterized by limited resource allocation and small flock sizes which may not support a sustainable off-take rate to meet the intended purpose of income generation. Key words: Rabbits, feed resources, health, Kenya.

Dairy cattle production contributes approximately 4.5% of the Kenyan National Gross Domestic Product, creates jobs along the value chain and plays a key role in food security. However, average milk yield per cow is still low under smallholder dairy production system despite concerted efforts to improve productivity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the productivity of smallholder dairy farms in 2 sub-counties of Nyeri County. A semi structured questionnaire was administered to collect data on feed resources and feeding systems, breeds and breeding systems, calf management, age at first service (AFS), age at first calving (AFC), calving interval (CI), milk yield (MY) and lactation length (LL) in smallholder dairy farms. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The dominant feed resources and feeding system were roughages (mostly Napier grass), concentrates and mineral supplements (87.2%) and stall feeding (74.2%). Majority of the farmers kept Friesians (82.2%) with (94.5%) using artificial insemination. Most of the farmers (83.5%) fed 2-4 litres of colostrum to the calves and the method of feeding was majorly bucket feeding (93.0%). High proportion of farmers (97.7%) fed the colostrum from 0-6 hours after calving and (59.6%) weaned calves at 3 months. The AFS was mainly 18-20 months and above, while the mean AFC, CI, and LL were 28.7±2.84, 15.2±5.11 and 10.0±4.90 months, respectively. The mean milk yield was 10.7±5.85 litres/cow/day. The main challenges to dairy cattle production were feed shortages (30.6%), low farmgate milk prices (28.3%) and high cost of concentrate feeds (17.8%). It was concluded that performance of dairy cattle in the study area was poor attributed mostly to feed shortages and low milk prices. To improve productivity, feed availability and cost together with farmgate price of milk should be addressed.

The effects of brisket fat, soy protein isolate, and cornstarch on chemical and textural properties of rabbit sausages were studied using surface response methodology. Sausage samples were prepared using a five-level three-variable Central Composite Rotatable Design with 16 combinations, including two replicates of the center point, carried out in random order. The level of brisket fat (BF), soy protein isolate (SPI), and cornstarch (CS) in the sausage formulation ranged within 8.3–16.7%, 0.7–2.3%, and 1.3–4.7%, respectively. Increasing BF decreased moisture and ash contents but increased protein and fat contents of the sausages (p<0.05). Increasing SPI increased moisture content but decreased ash and carbohydrate contents of the sausages (p<0.05). Increasing CS increased carbohydrate content (p<0.05). Increasing BF increased hardness, adhesiveness, cohesiveness, and chewiness but decreased springiness (p<0.05). SPI addition increased springiness but decreased adhesiveness, cohesiveness, and chewiness (p<0.05). In conclusion, varying the levels of BF and SPI had a more significant effect on chemical and textural properties of rabbit sausages than CS.

The nutritive, textural, and sensory properties of commercial fresh rabbit sausages and their interactions were evaluated. The mean contents of moisture, protein, fat, ash, and carbohydrate were 43.89 ± 1.66%, 9.82 ± 2.71%, 22.37 ± 1.7%, 2.99 ± 0.10%, and 20.94 ± 3.05%, respectively. Conversely, the mean values of hardness, adhesiveness, springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess, and chewiness were 103.36 ± 3.48 N, −4.54 ± 1.58 N s, 3.38 ± 0.67 mm, 0.15 ± 0.03, 16.07 ± 3.20 N, and 55.73 ± 20.44 N mm, respectively. The moisture and protein contents showed significant negative correlation while three remaining nutritive properties showed significant positive correlation with textural properties (P<0.05 for all parameters). The score for nonparametric ranking of sensory properties like appearance/colour, flavour, juiciness, and tenderness ranged from 28.28 to 38.78, 29.41 to 35.91, 30.06 to 37.38, 26.75 to 40.69, and 29.03 to 36.75, respectively. In conclusion, rabbit sausages formulated with low quantities of moisture and protein result in hard sausages with low acceptability by sensory panellist. To improve the sausages, it is recommended that processors develop an optimal formulation.

The arid and semi-arid lands are the major camel keeping areas in Kenya. However, these areas are largely constrained by year-long shortage of feeds leading to poor performance of grazing camels, particularly during the dry season. Therefore, there is need to determine the nutritive value of the available forage during different seasons in order to conserve the nutritious ones for sustainable peri-urban camel production system. The objective of this study was to assess the chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of the most preferred forages by grazing lactating camels in the peri-urban area of Marsabit town. Twenty multiparous (parities 2 and 3) lactating Somali camels in early stage of lactation (1-4 weeks post-partum) and were recruited from large local herds for the study and were grouped into 4 groups comprising of 5 camels each based on initial live weight. The camels were allowed to browse in the communal field for 8 hours daily. The most selected forage species were identified through direct observation of 2 browsing camels for 30 minutes each in the morning between 09.00 a.m to 10.00 a.m at an interval of 7 days for a total period of 90 days. Using the tallying list of most selected browse species, 20 forage species were sampled in short rains and dry seasons and analysed for proximate composition, detergent fibre and in-vitro dry matter digestibility. The crude protein content of preferred forages during the short rains and dry season ranged from 9.64 to 17.71 % dry matter and 6.87 to 16.81 % dry matter for tree species and 9.73 to 12.19 % dry matter and 8.92 to 10.66 % dry matter for shrubs, respectively. The neutral detergent fibre content during the short rains and dry season was in the range of 24.5 to 48.2% and 21.7 to 42.5% for tree species and, 40.4 to 41.4% and 35.4 to 39.8% for shrubs, respectively. The in-vitro dry matter digestibility during the short rains and dry season was in the range of 35.3 to 74.4% and 33.5 to 66.4% for tree species and, 51.1 to 59.2% and 45.5 to 58.3% for shrubs, respectively. It was concluded that there were species and seasonal differences in preferences and that the selected species were high in crude protein content and in-vitro dry matter digestibility.

Rabbit production systems in Kenya were studied; challenges to production were identified and recommendations to boost rabbit productivity were suggested in this research. Four regions of Kenya with significant rabbit farming were selected: Rift valley (Nakuru county), Central (Kiambu and Nyeri counties), Eastern (Meru county) and Coastal (Taita Taveta county) regions. Data were obtained through a field survey, questionnaires and personal observations between August and September 2011. The study covered the key areas of rabbit production including: general farm details, number of rabbits, breeds and breeding practices, housing, feeds and feeding practices, Constraints to production and recommendations appertaining to the key production challenges. Results showed that rabbit production in Kenya were mainly small scale (84.8%) principally for income generation and home consumption (89.6%). The majority (75%) of the rabbit farms were owned by either the household heads or by the spouses. Farmers of higher education levels kept more rabbits compared to those of lower education. The main breeds kept were New Zealand white (29%), Crossbreeds (24%), Californian white (12%), Chinchilla (11.5%), Dutch (8%), Flemish Giant (5.5%) and French Lop (4%). The main breeding stocks were selected from own stocks or from the neighboring farms (90%). Exchange of males (bucks) for breeding was observed among some rabbit farmers, either for free or at an agreed fee. The four most important challenges to rabbit farming were rabbit diseases (71%), lack of market for rabbits (51%), inadequate husbandry (28%) and lack of quality breeding stock (15.5%), insufficient funds (11%) and lack of rabbit feeds (8.7%). To address these challenges, sensitization of the Kenyan population on the benefits of rabbit meat consumption should be promoted, farmers should be trained on proper husbandry practices, better breeding stocks must be introduced to the farmers to avoid inbreeding, research on rabbit feeding and disease management must be improved to provide information on proper husbandry practices so as to boost rabbit productivity.

The potential for rabbit production in Kenya is high. However, high morbidity and mortality of domestic rabbits were reported.The aim of the study was to determine the pathology, prevalence and the predisposing factors to coccidiosis in domestic rabbits in selected regions in Kenya.A total of 61 farms keeping rabbits in six different counties were visited in the survey. A total of 2680 live rabbits were examined and 61 rabbits and 302 fecal samples were randomly collected from the farms and examined for coccidian oocysts by ante-mortem and post-mortem methods. The predisposing factors to coccidiosis were assessed through questionnaires and direct observation. Chi square (χ(2)) statistics was used with P values0.05 considered statistically significant.Of the 302 fecal samples, 85% (P0.001) contained coccidian oocysts and 2% harbored nematode eggs (Passalurus ambiguous). The overall prevalence of Eimeria spp. infestation was 85.1% in the study area and 90.2% in the individual rabbits, while prevalence of intestinal coccidiosis and hepatic coccidiosis was 29.5% and 11.5%, respectively. Higher counts of coccidian oocysts per gram of feces were recovered in weaners than in growers and adults rabbits (P0.001), rabbits that were kept in high density group housing (P0.05) and housing with more than two tiers.This study identified group housing of rabbits of different ages and inadequate control of concurrent infections as the major risk factors associated with coccidiosis in domestic rabbits in Kenya.

Sixty-seven male goats were used to determine the effects of Toggenburg (T) and Anglo-Nubian (N) sire breeds, East African (E) and Galla (G) dam breeds, and castration on carcass characteristics. Breed crosses were T×E, E×G, N×E and N×G. Animals were in three age groups averaging 7.2, 14.7 and 23.9 months at slaughter. Intact males slaughtered at 7.2 months had a chilled dressing percentage 3.8% and 10.1% lower than animals slaughtered at 14.7 and 23.9 months, respectively. Differences between T and N sire breeds were small for slaughter weight, dressing percentage, and carcass lean, fat and bone composition. Large differences between E and G dam breeds were observed for slaughter weight, dressing percentage, total bone and internal fat percent. Generally, T×E crossbreds ranked lowest and T×G ranked highest for slaughter weight and dressing percent, and vice versa for total bone percent, reflecting breed of dam differences. Castration influenced accretion of fat. Castrated males averaged higher total fat, carcass fat, internal fat and kidney fat, and less lean than intact males. Despite differences in carcass fat and lean proportions between intact and castrated males, the dressing percentage difference was small (0.1%). This has implications when carcass quality is a major goal to utilize the differences in carcass fat and lean composition of castrated and intact males.

1. 1. The body growth, food uptake and gastro-intestinal passage time were studied in juvenile Nile crocodiles kept at different temperature regimes. Group A was kept at 30°C, group B at 30 and 25°C for 12 hr each and group C at 25°C. 2. 2. After 14 weeks, the weight of group A increased by 18%, while both group B and C lost weight (13 and 66%, respectively). During the same period, group A and B increased their body length (6.5 and 6.6%, respectively), while group C decreased in length (5.4%). 3. 3. Group A fed at the same interval as group B, but group A ate more than the other groups. 4. 4. The gastro-intestinal passage time was shorter in group A (35 hr) than in group B (42 hr) and C (44 hr).

Comparative investigations were made between wild and domestic ruminants from arid and semi-arid regions and those species from non-arid areas in an attempt to evaluate the adaptations of these ruminants in terms of the effects of heat stress and dehydration on food intake and digestibility. The effect of (a) an intermittent heat load (a daily light cycle of 12 h at 22 degrees C and 12 h at 40 degrees C) compared to 22 degrees C throughout the day and (b) dehydration level of 15% weight loss, with and without the heat load, on the intake and digestibility of a poor quality hay was investigated in the Grant's gazelle, Oryx, the domestic Turkana goats, fat-tailed sheep, zebu cattle, Thomson's gazelle and wildebeest. The intermittent heat load with water available ad libitum depressed the food intake of zebu cattle and Turkana goats by more than 40%. It had no significant effect on the food intake of the other species. The Thomson's and Grants gazelle, oryx, wildebeest and fat-tailed sheep appear well adapted to withstanding a periodic heat load. Dehydration at 22 degrees C caused a marked depression on food intake of all the species investigated. Dehydration together with a heat load caused no further reduction in the food intake by the Grants's gazelle, oryx, and goats but it did cause a further reduction in the intake in the other species. The small non-domestic ruminants (i.e. Grant's and Thomson's gazelle) appear much more digestive efficient than any of their domestic counterpart.

SUMMARYThirty-six Friesian and Friesian cross-bred cattle about 11 months old were fed to grow at the rates of 0·50 (low) and 1·08 (high) kg/day in a 12-week winter feeding period and then turned out on high quality pasture. For 12 weeks after turning out the ‘low’ and ‘high’ animals gained weight at 1·17 and 0·90 kg/day respectively. There was a negative correlation (– 0·57, P < 0·01) between winter and grazing live-weight gain.On two occasions herbage intake was estimated. Average intake of ‘low’ animals was 12% higher than of ‘high’ animals although herbage digestibility, estimated from faecal N, was similar for the two treatments. Differences in live-weight gain on pasture between treatments were largely accounted for by differences in intake.The low rate of winter growth did not have any significant effects on age at slaughter, carcass weights or grades attained by the restricted animals.