Grow-out culture of mud crabs Scylla serrata in East Africa is at an earlier development phase and is dependent on wild seed crabs. We assessed three different culture systems (net cages, ponds and pens) in three treatments (shelter, size and density) to evaluate survival and growth in small-scale...

Background and Aim: The welfare of animals kept in livestock production systems has raised concerns around the world. Adult dairy cattle require adequate rest and spend approximately 12 h/day lying down. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the stall factors and management practices...

Dairy cow cleanliness provides information about animal welfare, along with risk of diseases and quality of housing environments. This study determined animal- and farm-level factors associated with upper hind leg cleanliness in smallholder dairy cows. All lactating cows (n=234) on 118 randomly...

Aquaponics is a fish-plant recirculating system where nutrients received from the fish culture are absorbed by the plants for growth. The technology is relatively new for fish culture in Kenya, and the principles and operations remain largely untested for many fish species. This study determined...

A controlled trial on zero-grazed smallholder dairy farms was conducted to determine the effect of environmental and comfort improvements on sucking and lying behaviours in heifer calves on Kenyan smallholder dairy farms. The study involved 187 heifer calves from 150 farms in two Kenyan counties,...

Effects of high stocking densities (HSDs) were evaluated for Nile tilapia fish (Oreochromis niloticus) under culture to determine its influence on plasma cortisol and whole blood glucose concentration. Plasma cortisol levels (ng/ml) were assayed by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Whole...

Aim: This study was aimed at describing calf comfort and determining the individual and pen level factors that affect comfort status (in particular, calf leg hygiene scores) of smallholder dairy farms in Meru County, Kenya. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 52 calves ...

In Kenya, commercial broiler production is growing rapidly due to increasing demand for poultry meat resulting in higher incomes for farmers. Due to this increase in demand, broiler chicken production is increasingly becoming intensive where chickens are overstocked in deep litter systems...

A number of environmental and contagious factors have been associated with subclinical mastitis (SCM), which is a common and costly problem for smallholder dairy farmers (SDF). We conducted a cross-sectional study on 118 cows in their first two months post-calving on 109 SDF in Kenya. The study...

This study estimated the changes in economics and farmer perceptions towards calf welfare as a result of implementing low-cost calf housing enhancements and changes in calf management on Kenyan smallholder dairy farms. The trial involved 187 heifer calves from 150 farms allocated to either an...