Animal Agriculture

Lactating sow (Watch video of lactating sow https://youtu.be/yOQ4J3FFdP0 ) Farrowing is a term specific to swine that refers to the action of giving birth.  Farrowing management begins months before piglets are born. The breeding date will determine farrowing date. While  Lactation describes the secretion of milk from the mammary glands and the period of time that a mother lactates to feed her young. In healthy pigs, the process occur in post-pregnancy. It is the responsibility of the farmer to adhere to the following: 1. FARROWING MANAGEMENT • Deworm all pregnant animals two weeks prior to farrowing • Wash down the animals especially the udder a week to farrowing to prevent any possible worm or other pathogenic organisms on to the baby pig when they are born. • Half of the daily ration must consist of bran as from two weeks prior to farrowing and should continue one week after farrowing. Alternatively, feed a ration containing 10-12% wheat bran or 6.7-9.0kg of magnesi

ASFv infected pig ASFv vectors Destruction of ASFv infected animals African swine fever (ASF ) is a highly contagious haemorrhagic viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, which causes serious economic and production losses. CAUSATIVE ORGANISM It is caused by a large DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family, which also infects ticks of the genus Ornithodoros. Although signs of ASF and classical swine fever (CSF) may be similar, the ASF virus is unrelated to the CSF virus. MODE OF TRANSMISSION The spread of ASF is complex and varies depending on the environment, types of pig production systems(indoor or outdoor), the presence/absence of competent tick vectors, human behaviour, and the presence/absence of wild pigs. Mode of transmission may include: • Direct contact with infected domestic or wild pigs; • Indirect contact, through ingestion of contaminated material (e.g. food waste, feed, or garbage); • Contaminated fomites, or biological vectors (soft ticks of the g

(Left-Right)Ekere,Uchenna,Valentine, Ugonna and Ozuluonye June 2013 I still remember in the year 2012 when my farming journey began, with me was  Udeh Valentine Chidozie.  We both were students of University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Many of our classmates wondered how we cope with studies and farming thinking we might fail. I remember  Uchenna Faith  linking me up with clients, that was a big encouragement to my quest,  Ugonna virtue  was always there to spice our day with smiles.  Ekere Mathew  always desired to farm but never had the will power to push. But within me, I was determined to see success in farming and that was my hope. Of course, lot's of mistakes were made which almost led to our failure in farming. With my years of experience in the sector, I can tell some of the reasons why most farmers fail ...Read more