FD Wesonga¹*, JMPM Kitala² and MJ Njenga³

¹Principal Research Scientist (Retired) Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Institute (KALRO), Muguga South, Kenya
²Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
³Vice Chancellor Zetech University, Nairobi Kenya

*Corresponding Author: FD Wesonga, Principal Research Scientist (Retired) K

Received: August 13, 2025; Published: September 10, 2025

Abstract

The study to obtain morbidity and productivity estimates was undertaken using a longitudinal observational data collection method. A total of 14 farms were selected randomly from 7 administrative divisions for monthly data collection for a period of 12 months. The main constraints identified in order of importance were livestock diseases, poor access to livestock and livestock product markets, inadequate veterinary infrastructure and inadequate feed.

Tick infestations and non- specific diarrhoea were the most common causes of morbidity in cattle. ECF and anaplasma were the most important tick-borne diseases of cattle while. helminthosis and pneumonia were the most commonly diagnosed disease conditions in sheep and goats.

Livestock productivity in the study area was found to be sub-optimal. At a mean daily production of 1.98 litres, milk production in cattle was less than a third of the average daily milk production recorded in the high potential areas of the country while the breeding intervals for goats and sheep was once every 12 months instead of the optimal interval of once every 6 months

The overall mean birth weight for the calves was 27.45kg (range 18-43) while the overall mean birth weight for sheep and goats was 3.73 kg (range 2- 6).

The overall mean weaning age for calves in the study sites was 101.24 days while the mean weaning weight for sheep and goats was 143 days.

It can be concluded from the study that cultural beliefs in keeping livestock as a status symbol played a bigger role in determining offtake than previously thought for both cattle and small ruminants in the study site.

Keywords: Morbidity; Mortality; Offtake; Weaning; Productivity

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Citation

Citation: FD Wesonga.,et al. “Morbidity and Productivity Estimates in Smallholder Livestock Farms in Machakos County, KenyaActa Scientific Nutritional Health 9.10 (2025): 33-48.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2025 FD Wesonga., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.