Researchers have introduced a technology that farmers in Narok county can use to fatten Dorper sheep and improve on quality.
The Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organisation has developed a fattening feedlot technology that livestock keepers can use for the Dorper sheep.
Feedlot is a system or area where animals are fed or fattened up.
Jackson Naikuni from Nturumenti village in Narok county has been a livestock farmer for more than 40 years.
But in the recent past, rearing livestock using traditional systems has become challenging due to climate change, urbanisation and insecurity.
He said due to these challenges, being able to fatten sheep under the feedlot system will be a game changer for many pastoralists.
“The system will help to save time, space and other resources required under conventional systems,” he said.
Naikuni is planning to set up a farm with a capacity of 100 sheep.
He projects the cost of production will be about Sh9,000 per sheep. This will total to Sh900,000 for the targeted sheep.
“There is a ready market for Dorper sheep,” Naikuni said.
“I expect that within three months, I will generate about Sh1.5 million revenue from the sale of the Dorper sheep, making a profit of close to Sh60,000.”
Kalro director general Dr Eliud Kireger said this is against the norm of selling mature sheep after two to three years.
“Thanks to the feedlot system, Naikuni will be able to support his children to acquire a high level of education and create employment for the youth,” he said.
"At the same time, his farm will act as a training hub to other farmers in Kenya and Africa."
He spoke during a Dorper sheep trade fair and farmers field day on farm validation and adoption of the new technology by end users at Nturumeti sub location in Narok county.
Dorper is a sheep that has been developed in South Africa and is well adopted in Kenya.
It is a high breed of the Dorset Horn sheep and the local black head Persian.
Kireger said the feedlot system will help increase productivity and sustain production in the livestock sector.
He said the technology will be a game changer especially to the pastoralist community as it will not only save time and space but also to bring in good money.
“The rearing period from birth to marketing of Dorper sheep will now be shortened from three years to 6.5 months," Kireger said.
"This will automatically increase the rate of returns and farm enterprise profitability.”
The director general said farmers have been grappling with challenges to the quality and availability of feed, especially for those doing extensive livestock farming.
“The secret is the high quality of these forage-legume based finisher rations,” Kireger said.
"They have been formulated to meet the nutrient requirements of the young growing animals and enhanced management systems."
Kenya is currently a net importer of meat and meat products and the situation is projected to get worse as income and urbanisation grows.
Under the existing production systems, the slaughter weight of sheep in the country is low.
Dr George Keya said, “There has been a need to develop finishing ration that can finish small ruminants of sheep and goat in a short period of time. This ensures they reach the market weight and be sold.”
Keya is the national coordinator of the AgriFi Kenya Climate Smart Agricultural Productivity Project
The project, which supported the development of the sheep ration technology, is funded by the European Union and the Government of Kenya.
Keya said land is also becoming marginal, thus requiring use of new technology systems to utilise small land.
In addition, using shortened production period is cost-effective and ensures commercialisation of the production system.
“Through this technology, we have seen that for it to be profitable, one needs a minimum of around 40 sheep,” he said.
“We can estimate that within three months, if you have between 40 and even 100 Dorper sheep, you can make Sh1 million.”
Dr Margaret Syomiti, principal investigator of the project, said the Dorper sheep are usually fed 1.5kg of the feeds every day for three months.
This ensures they acquire the 45kg weight recommended.
She said the high nutrition given to the early maturing Dorper sheep has a fast growth rate and has been tested scientifically and with various treatments.
This includes crude protein and energy levels in comparison to the farmer’s traditional methods.
Researchers have found out that those that feed on traditional systems weigh around 32kg, while the ones fed on rations weighed 55kg.
Syomiti said the benefits of using the rations is to shorten the rearing period and increase rates of return on investment for the farmer.
It also creates employment for the youths.
She called on more partnerships to further upscale the technology, which she said can be commercialised.