By Chipfuwo Agriscientist |09 May 2023 | 09:00 am

Is dry season a time for smallholder farmers to relax on routine management practises? Are farmers aware of the implications? Are goats and sheep of less value compared to cattle?
Mid- May marks the advent of dry season in most farming regions of Zimbabwe. In most cases, smallholder farmers release cattle, sheep and goats to roam freely in rangelands/ pastures and fields. Animals are released soon after harvesting of field crops and herding resumes after germination of the first crop in mid- November.

Small ruminants like goats and sheep tend to suffer from the relaxed management period. Goats are the dry season inhabitants of mountains and kopjes. Cattle are safe due to the mandatory dipping sessions at communal dip-tanks.

These neglected animals become heavily infested with ticks leading to tickborne disease cases like heartwater. For those that are lucky, they are taken to homesteads for intensive care. Unfortunately, practical knowledge plays an important role in disease diagnosis and treatment.

Practical Knowledge
Knowledgeable teams are key to successful farm enterprises. Team leaders should understand the importance of routine check- ups and or inspections on animals. There is no such a thing called relaxed routine management. Stockman must make an effort to round up animals on a daily basis. This gives everyone an opportunity to identify the sick ones and respond accordingly. Goat farmers encounter avoidable loses through lack of physical examination, wrong treatment plans and failure to comprehend laid down procedures.

Chipfuwo Nutrition – Chipfuwo Group

In recent years, Zimbabweans in the diaspora have taken the challenge to turn rural homes into goat business centres. This is a wise move. However, most of the goats coming in as pure breeds of Boer or Kalahari red have succumbed to heartwater and mange mite related infections. This speaks to capacity building at property level with specific reference to knowledge. Every farmer, be it entrant or established should always review his/ her ability to cope with technical challenges as required from time to time.

Dipping
Small ruminants (goats and sheep) deserve the same treatment as cattle. The only difference at management level is nutritional quantities and a few diseases that are exclusive to each species. Whenever a farmer decides to dip a cow, he/ she should remember the goat.

Dipping schedules should be designed to suit environmental conditions at the production site or farming area. In most cases, intervals should be determined by tick prevalence. This whole idea of using the one size fits all model has led to loses in most set-ups. What works for farmer A in region 5 might not apply to farmer B in region 2.

It should be a production policy at a farm/ plot / rural home to train responsible stockman on how to follow laid down procedures for a specific dipping method. For those with no access to dipping vats, make an effort to improvise. Old bathtubs or any other container with the capacity to immerse the goat can be useful.

…Chipfuwo Agriscientist…

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Chipfuwo focus is a weekly agriscience article extracted from Chipfuwo Agriscience®️ field files. It focuses on critical analysis of challenges faced by farmers based on the company’s consultancy work.

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