UNIVERSITY OF GONDAR

COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE AND ANIMAL SCIENCES

FARM EXPERIENCE

BY:

DIRES MENGISTIE

Submitted to department of animal production and extension (VETM 6265)

FEBRUARY, 2023
GONDAR, ETHIOPIA
AKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to thank my God first for his unreserved support, guidance and encouragement
during my whole academic life.

Then, I want to express my thanks to Gondar University College of Veterinary Medicine and
Animal Sciences for its various support and guidance to have good laboratory practical
ground.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude or heartfelt thanks to my family for their
financial, motivational and enthusiastic support during my 6 year academic journey.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLE
LIST OF FIGURE
LIST OF ABBREVIATION

ADLI Agricultural Development Led Industrialization

AI Artificial Insemination

DIF Development and innovative fund

GDP Gross Domestic Product

UoG University of Gondar

E.C Ethiopian Calendar

SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION

There are four major experiences during my extern ship session. From them farm experience
is one of the major extern ship activities done from June 2022 to January 2023 to gather
adequate knowledge, skill and experience related to our department (Veterinary Medicine).

Ethiopia is believed to have the largest stock of livestock in the world, although the
contribution of the livestock sector to the rapid economic growth recorded in the last decade
has been insignificant. Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa, with 65 million
cattle, 40 million sheep, 51 million goats, 8 million camels and 49 million chickens in 2020
(Central Statistics Agency, CSA, 2020a).

Ethiopia is perusing ADLI strategy as agriculture is the major economic sector of the country
owing to over 80% of the population engaging in agriculture one way or the other. Hence the
economic development growth direction that the govt of Ethiopia chooses is more useful
addition on agricultural products through industrial processing. Within agriculture, the
livestock sub sector provides an opportunity for further development. The sheer size of the
national livestock herd, one of the largest in Africa, makes it a resource with potential to
contribute significantly to national development, including poverty reduction. With a rapidly
growing population, increasing urbanization, and rising incomes, domestic demand for meat,
milk and eggs is expected to increase significantly in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, the
country’s geographic location offers substantial opportunities for exportation, thus earning
foreign exchange from livestock products, especially of red meat to the Gulf and within
Africa, as well as leather, honey and other livestock products to Europe.

The livestock sector can also be a major contributor to poverty reduction by improving the
livelihoods of rural people. The sector contributed up to 40% of agricultural GDP, nearly
20% of total GDP, and 20% of national foreign exchange earnings in 2017 (World Bank,
2017). Approximately 85% of Ethiopia’s population is rural based, and livestock supports the
livelihoods of about 80% of rural people. However, the income of 30% of the rural
population is below the poverty line (Mo Fed, 2013).

This livestock sector has therefore been contributing considerable portion and still promising
to rally round the economic development of the country. Despite high livestock population
and existing favorable environmental conditions, the current livestock output of the country is
still very low. This is associated with a number of complex and inter-related factors such as
inadequate feed and nutrition, widespread diseases, poor genetic potential, market problem,
inefficiency of livestock development services with respect to credit, extension, marketing,
and infrastructure and feed shortage in quantity and quality have been a critical problem in
Ethiopian livestock production system (Gebremedhin et al., 2009)

Therefore, to undergo effective and timely exploitation of existing animal resource of our
country the above mentioned and other constraints of livestock production should be avoided.
This can be achieved through collaborative effort of veterinarians, animal production and
extension professionals and animal health practitioners as the main actors to maintain animal
welfare and increase the output from them. As part of the solution for the above constraints,
University of Gondar, College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences has established
and incorporated farm experience program to be implemented by 6th year externship
veterinary students so as to full fill the degree of doctor of veterinary medicine. Farm
experience is the one in which the DVM extern ship students should accomplish through
observations of daily farm activity with scientific intervention in farm activities to modify
any incorrect activities, general farm management including health, housing and other farm
infrastructures, feeding and nutrition, breeding and genetics, record keeping as well as
marketing of certain farm. Therefore, the main objectives of this farm experience are:

 To gain practical knowledge, skill and experience about management of various farms
 To solve different challenges related to productivity of animals in certain farm
 To examine site, facilities, lay out and various operational processes of the farms
 To assess routine activities of the farms and intervene scientifically if things done
wrong
 To know the types of breeds, mating system, heat detection and etc. of certain farm
 To assess the major problems in the farms and to put the possible recommendation on
them
 To evaluate the profitability of the farm by evaluating the general situation of the farm
PART 1: UNIVERSITY OF GONDAR POULTRY FARM

1. INTRODUCTION

In Ethiopia chickens are the most widespread and almost every rural family owns chickens,
which provide a valuable source of family protein and income (Tadelle et al., 2003). All
domestic birds, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, ostriches, guinea fowls, and pigeons,
are considered poultry. Because other forms of poultry are essentially unknown as sources of
egg and meat, the term poultry is identical to domestic chicken (Gallus domesticus). The total
chicken population in the country is estimated to be 56.5 million with native chicken
representing 96.9%, hybrid chicken 0.54% and exotic breeds 2.56% (CSA, 2014).

Poultry farming offers considerable economic, social, and cultural benefits in developing
nations, and it plays an important part in family nutrition. In Ethiopia, chicken is primarily a
backyard operation with a few low-productivity scavenging birds. Poor input, low output, and
the recurring destruction of a major proportion of the flock due to disease outbreaks
characterize the backyard poultry production system (Tadelle et al., 2003). The eggs and
meat produced in this way are insufficient to supply the increased demand for eggs and
poultry meat in metropolitan areas. The price of eggs and meat has been steadily rising,
indicating rising local demand (Kumsa et al., 2008). Conferring to (Mengesha et al., 2008), in
Ethiopia, price fluctuations in village hens and chicken products were primarily linked to
customer purchasing power, fasting, and product availability.

As Wiebe (Wiebe, 2007) stated, chicken meat and egg production is the most
environmentally friendly animal protein production method. As stated by Pawel (Pawel,
2005), eating poultry and fish does not raise the risk of cancer, and FAO (FAO, 2010)
indicated that chicken meat is healthier than other meats since it contains less total fat and
more good monounsaturated fats. This made poultry unique than the other animal products.

Despite the large population and the great role of chicken both to the livelihood of resource
poor farmers and to the national economy at large, the current level of on-farm productivity
in the smallholder production system is low due to various factors such as biological, social,
economic and institutional factors. On the other hand, the modern poultry production system
is very small in size and confined to urban and peri-urban areas and contributes less than 2%
of eggs and meat production in the country.

One and the major suggested solution to increase the production and productivity of chicken
is utilization of chicken production system which is modern, market oriented and compatible
with the existing situation of the farming system. Therefore, by minimizing the production
constraints through use of selected and productive poultry breed as well as improvement of
the production system (feeds and feeding, housing, health, etc.), it is possible to supply
chicken products for the market demand over the household consumption.

My Poultry farm experience was conducted in UOG poultry farm, which is located in Atse-
Tewodros campus. Gondar city, the capital of north Gondar zone in Amhara regional state, is
located at 747 km North-West of Addis Ababa at an elevation of 2133 meter above sea level.
It has a latitude and longitude of 12°36'N 37°28'E / 12.6°N 37.467°E; the maximum and
minimum temperatures of 30.7°C and 12.3°C; and annual precipitation rate of 1000 mm. The
area is characterized by two seasons, the wet season from June-September and dry season
from October-May. UOG poultry farm is found in Kebele 18 within UOG Western portion of
Tewodros campus bordered by Shinta River (West and South), University of Gondar
Veterinary clinic (Northwest), Fasil campus (East and South) and the newly constructed
veterinary faculty building (Northeast). This farm was established in 2000 E.C. with four
major aims (for research purpose, for educational activities, for community service and for
generation of income. The main objective of this farm was keeping layers submitted from
different sources at day old and increasing egg production and distributing day old chickens
for society at certain price.
2. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

2.1. General Management of Poultry House

In Ethiopia, poultry production is largely undertaken in the poultry sector is dominated by

smallholder producers. However, chicken production varies in accordance with the local
socio-economic and physical environment. Using criteria such as breed, size of the flock,
management conditions, purpose of production, degree of commercialization and location,
Ethiopian chicken production systems can be classified as village (sometimes also called
traditional or backyard), folding unit system, semi-intensive, and modern (or intensive)
production systems. Under the backyard and semi-intensive production systems, poultry are
usually enclosed at night to discourage thieves and predators, and under intensive production,
are totally confined day and night. Some village households keep their few chickens inside
the house or even under their bed at night, to discourage theft. Therefore, the basic
requirements for poultry housing are space, ventilation, light good feed and water sources and
protection (from weather and predators).
PART TWO: UNIVERSITY OF GONDAR DAIRY FARM

1. INTRODUCTION

Dairy production is one of the major sustenance factors for the rural economy of Ethiopia.
Ethiopia holds large potential for dairy development due to its large livestock population,
which comprises 59.5 million cattle, 30.70 million sheep, and 30.20 million goat populations
(CSA, 2017). Although there is a large milcher population and favorable climate, self-
sufficiency in milk production is low. Dairy production, among the arena of livestock
production, is also a critical issue in Ethiopia where livestock and its products are important
sources of food and income, but dairying has not been fully exploited and promoted within
the country. Dairy production is traditional in most parts of Ethiopia. Given considerable
potential for smallholder income and employment generation from high-value dairy products,
development of the dairy sector in Ethiopia can contribute significantly to poverty alleviation
and nutrition in the country. 

In Ethiopia, the poor genetic potential for productive traits, substandard feeding, poor health
care, and management practices, are the foremost contributors to low productivity (Zegeye,
2003). Dairy production in Ethiopia is facing many difficulties like less and fluctuated
products price, high and increasing prices of inputs like feed, and lack of land are among the
foremost ones which discourage the dairy producers. Though there are constraints that hinder
the arena there are plenty of opportunities for its improvement and continuous research is
required to tackle problems and sustain dairy development (Kiros et al., 2018). Additionally,
the farming system contains a serious problem with regards to feeding source, feed supply,
and also the quantity given per animal below the minimum standard, which entails a
reduction in production and reproduction within the farm (Mekuria, 2016). So, to enhance the
low productivity of local cattle, the selection also as cross-breeding of the indigenous breed
with high producing exotic cattle has been considered a practical solution (Tadesse, 2002). 

University of Gondar dairy farm found in UOG Atse-Tewodros campus, Gondar city the
capital of North Gondar zone in Amhara regional state, which is located at 745 km Northwest
of Addis Ababa at an elevation of 2133 meter above sea level. It has a latitude and longitude
of 12°36'N 37°28'E / 12.6°N 37.467°E; the maximum and minimum temperatures of 30.7and
12.3; and annual precipitation rate of 1000 mm. The area is characterized by two seasons, the
wet season from June to September and dry season from October to May. The farming
system in the area is mixed type. University of Gondar college of veterinary medicine and
animal science livestock (dairy) farm is found around Kebele 18 within UOG Western
portion of Tewodros campus bordered by Shinta River (West and South), University of
Gondar veterinary clinic (Northwest), Fasil campus (east and south) and the newly
constructed veterinary faculty building (Northeast). UOG livestock farms have emerged as
new farms in 2009 G.C. by financial aid of DIF with 40 cattle, 1000 poultry and 10 lab
animals. In 2009 G.C. College of Veterinary Medicine of Gondar University has established a
new poultry, dairy and laboratory farms by DIF project support, which had a mission of
supporting the effort of improving the quality of education of Veterinary Medicine by
providing practical ground to research and demonstration thereby providing community
service and generating income and with the teaching , learning and research process serving
as laboratories for practical works , providing community service and generating income.
2. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

2.1. Feed and Nutrition

Ethiopia is known for cereal crop production and the resulting crop-residues could be used as
potential feed source for feeding dairy cattle to improve milk production. Though, the
country is estimated to have huge supply of crop-residues, there may be mishandling and lack
of awareness about crop-residue improvement. As a result, utilization efficiency of the
residues may be low. In Ethiopia, the human and animal populations are very much affected
by nutritional problems, primarily due to lack of food of high nutritional value. Therefore, to
solve this problem and to ameliorate the nutritional status of the population, measures should
be taken to improve animal production so as to ensure better supply of animal protein of high
nutritive value. In Ethiopia livestock obtain feed from grazing and browsing on natural
pastures, crop residues and agro-industry by-products and cultivated pasture and forage crop

species.

The presence and consumption of feeds of different origin doesn’t necessarily mean the
animals have been getting enough nutrition, but knowing good feeding management to
provide the animals with adequate energy is very crucial. The aim of better feeding
management is to enable each animal with a ration that will encourage maximum
economical production. So, it is important to provide each animal with a ration that is
palatable and meets the animal’s nutritional requirement within the economic level. The
ration also able to favor the production of milk of normal composition by conduciving
the health of the animal.

2.1.1. Major feed resources

Livestock feed resources are classified as a natural pasture, crop, residue, improved pasture
and forage, agro-industrial by product ,other by product like food and vegetable refusal, of
which the first two contribute the largest feed type (Alemayehu, 2003). In UOG dairy farm
the animals are feed are different types of feed such as forage and concentrates. The major
feed resource used are roughages that is harvested hays, concentrates like grains such as
wheat, maize, guaya (vich) akuri-ater (soya bean) and green fodders like alfalfa, elephant
grass and Dashen brewery by- product (molasses) is purchased from the Dashen brewery
factory and additional feed staffs used in the farm are limestone, salt and premix.

2.1.2. Ration formulation

Formulating animal rations involves selecting and combining a number of feedstuffs to meet

the animal requirements at the lowest possible cost, for the most economical level of
production. Ration formulation is giving more attention by considering age, gestation,
lactation and any physical activities of the cattle with relation to the amount to be fed. Feed
types are practiced in the farm are as follows.

Hay making (forage): Hay is made up of the local grass. At young stage the grass is
cultivated, dried by the help of sun light, then stored and used when there is feed shortage.
Hay grass contain >18% CF, this types of feed refers to the grasses that are harvested, dried
and stored at 85-90% DM ( Church, 2000). In UOG dairy farm the hay has been harvested
from September to November and stored nearby dairy house and it is the main feed item in
the farm.

Figure: here hay feed storage photo needed!

Concentrate feed (mixed): Concentrates are low-fiber, high-energy feeds when compared to

forage and they can vary considerably in their protein content. Gondar university dairy farm
formulates this feed in the farm by its own machine or brought from Dashen brewery factory
(molasses came from here). But, sometimes those concentrates and Dashen brewery by-
product (molasses) were not supplied on time i.e. there was scarcity. Such feeds, particularly
concentrates, have been formulated as follows (table 1.) and processed in the farm by food
processer machine that contains mixer and crush.

Figure: here feed mixing machine is required!

Table 1: Feed formulation in UOG dairy farm

Feed item Amount in kg

Soya bean 20kg

Noug cake 17kg

Maize 25kg

Salt 2.5kg

Lime stone 1.5kg

Vich /Guaya 40kg

Wheat 10kg

Even though, UOG dairy farm has been using this kind of formulated rations as fulfillment of
nutritional requirement of dairy animals, but now a days it is not practicing this system of
feeding due to shortage of dairy feed supply. Currently (2022/23), UOG farm has been
buying formulated ration even though it has a machine to crush and mix different feed items
together.

2.1.3. Feeding system

Lactating cows: Concentrates feeds are given for lactating cows in UoG dairy farm based on
the amount of milk the cows produce. Therefore, cows have been provided with concentrate
that is half of their milk production in litter (For example: 10 litter milk yielding cow has
been fed 5 kg of concentrate feed). Additionally and by consent of the feeder/attendant before
and after milking there was also supplementation of elephant grass and hay, but
supplementation greatly vary from time to time due to scarcity of feed. During my
observation and supervision of UOG dairy farm concentrate feed given to lactating cow was
not greater than 1 kg (this was indication of gaps in feeding system).
Dry cows and heifer: During my routine activities in the farm, dry cows and heifers have
been fed on 3 kg of concentrate in which 1.5 kg was provided in each feeding period
supplemented with hay and elephant grass.

Dairy calves (females):

Feeding of dairy calves was highly dependent on size and age of the young calf. Calves less
than 2 months and less or equal to 60 kg fed on milk of 10% of their body weight with water
(1:2 ratio) to decrease diarrhea. Calves at the age above two months and greater than 60 kg
body weight fed on 1.5 kg concentrate at the morning and 0.75 kg at the evening. If calves
are day old, feeding of colostrum via bucket feeding has been conducted for 24 hours at 10%
of body weight with water (2:1 ratio). On average, calves can take 1.5 kg concentrate while
they are 4 months of age so that they wean from their mother. Supplementary feeds provided
for the calf were hay, elephant grass and also water was supplied to all groups freely, but
scarcity sometimes occurs.

2.1.4. Forage development and feed production strategies

Forges are herbaceous feeds harvested or grazed by livestock or ruminants or non-ruminants.

It contains a relatively high percentage of fiber and low percentage energy (Rainhon, 2001).
There is a demarcated site for forage development and feed production strategies in the
college of veterinary medicine and animal science compound covering large areas. The
different types of forages were planted in this site in order to feed animals during dry season.
The major forage planted in the farm forage development site is cultivation of green fodder
like alfalfa, suspania grasses and elephant grass by using backyard system. In general, they
are important as adjunct to crop residues, natural pastures and concentrate feeds and may be
used to fill the feed gaps when the supply of these feeds is inadequate. Even in the presence
of abundant crop residues, which are often free fed to ruminants, forages especially legumes
are needed to improve the utilization of crop residues, which provide energy while forage
legumes provide proteins. The feeding value of forages is greatly influenced by the growth
stage when harvested or grazed. Usually, the feeding value of forage is highest during
vegetative growth and the lowest during the seed formation stage.
2.2. Breeding and Genetics

Dairy cattle breeding programs, genomic selection allows breeders to identify genetically
superior animals at a much earlier age. Breeding is getting of good offspring by mating of
genetically identical or different species of animals. There are many breeds of cattle used for
milk production in Ethiopia, for intensive dairy production. The following five breeds are
suitable when crossed with exotic breeds; Zebu, Fogera, Boran, Horro and Arsi. These local
breeds have a low yield potential unless they are crossed with exotic breeds (Holstein
Friesian, Brown Swiss, Ayrshire and jersey). Milk yields from unimproved local cows are
generally less than 500 Litters per lactation. With cross breeding yields may be increased to
3000 liters per lactation. UOG dairy farm there are three types of breeds those are HF crosses
with Fogera, pure Fogera and one Jersey breed. From these three breeds 95% were HF cross.
As the farm manager explained that they are normally do not use natural mating use. They
regularly use AI. The farm does have skilled or professional artificial inseminator. In the farm
there was no problem of inbreeding because of artificial insemination and proper breeding
record.

2.2.1. Genotypes and species used

Genes are the basic unit of inheritance. A calf receives one half of its genes from its sire and
one half from its dam. These, genes together are called the animal’s genotype. As the
generation of exotic breed increases, the exotic blood level also increases which in turn
decreases adaptability of the animal to the environment which may decrease resistance.
University of Gondar dairy farm, there were three types of breed’s namely Holstein Frisian
crosses with fogera, pureo fogera and one jersey breed.

2.2.2. Herd profile (structure)

The whole dairy cows in UOG dairy farm were cross breed of Fogera and HF to improve the
production level. This has been achieved by increasing the genetic blood level of HF inside
Fogera breed, which was about 37.5%. In UOG dairy farm there are a total of 97 cattle. There
are 26 calves, 35 heifers and 38 cows (24 Lactating and 4 dry) and no bull. The male calves
have been sold for community based on university management command.
2.2.3. Methods of selection

Selection is the process of choosing the parents for the next generation. It is the primary tool
for genetic improvement in dairy cattle.

The most important traits that UOG dairy farm has been applying are milk yield and quality,
age, body size, productive life of the animal, disease resistance, fertility status, body
confirmation, and management temperament. The most important consideration in choosing
dairy cattle is the present and future market for the coming milk.

2.2.4. Mating system (breeding systems)

Breeding is mating of parent animals in order to obtain progeny which best achieves (meets)
the wishes or breeding goals of the breeders. There are different types of breeding systems
such as inbreeding, line breeding, cross breeding and others. Inbreeding is mating of two
animals that are more closely related than the average of the population. Line- breeding is one
form of inbreeding and it refers to mating of several generations of the offspring to a
particular animal.

Cross breeding begins with the mating of two pure breeds of different breeds. In dairy cattle
there are two types mating systems. These are natural mating and artificial insemination (AI).
Artificial insemination is the technique in which semen with living sperms is collected from
the male animals and introduced into the female genital tract at proper time by mechanical
means. It is the most applicable system in improved or intensive farming system. But, in
extensive and small holder production system natural mating is the commonly used method
due to the cost of the technology and less awarded users. AI can be influenced by semen
quality, insemination time, and skill of the technicians. The major advantage of AI is the
potential genetic gains, disease control, safety and cost effectiveness. The Artificial
insemination (AI) in UOG dairy farm has been performed by skilled artificial inseminator.

2.3. Herd Health Management

UOG dairy farm does have one animal health technician. The farm faced some health
problems. The infectious diseases that occur in the farm are mastitis both clinical and sub
clinical are common, pneumonia, arthritis and diarrhea in calves which is not confirmed but
tentatively 10 suspected to be colibacillosis, coccidiosis and salmonellosis due to milk
contamination because the milk was not given directly to the calves after milking of their
dam. These shows the farm have poor feeding management which can be the cause to health
problems. Non-infectious diseases occurring in the farm especially this year are milk fever,
ketosis due to mal nutrition as the formulated feed given to milking cows is not sufficient
enough. There was also stunning of calf’s growth. As the farm animal health technician
explained they only give vaccination against anthrax. Strategic deworming has been done at
the end and beginning of rainy season and also regularly every three months interval using
albendazole for internal parasites. Ivermectin was also used in the farm for both ecto and
endo parasites. Generally, the farm uses anthelmintic and antibiotics available in the
university of Gondar veterinary clinic. Currently, lumpy skin disease vaccination was started.
Heat detection influences the reproductive rate of a dairy farm. Proper detection of heat has a
great importance to get cows pregnant at the desired time. Cows should be inseminated
approximately 12 hours following the first sign of heat. Heat manifested after two month of
calving can be used for insemination. In UOG dairy farm heat detection was performed by
animal breeding professional majorly and by the daily attendants. Infertility is a serious
problem with common aspects in several species. It is sub-optimal performance of an
individual animal in its fertility and is one of the most important economic losses in dairy
herds. Abortion is defined as fetal death and expulsion between 42 and 260 days of gestation.
Abortion can occur any time during gestation, but most of them are observed during the
second half of gestation and either infectious or non-infectious agents can cause it.

2.4. Reproductive Health Management

Reproduction is a key parameter determining the level of production and profitability in a

dairy herd. Low fertility leads to productivity losses which can be directly translated into
economic loss of great magnitude, and it is also the major reason for involuntary culling of
dairy cows. The reproductive health problems in Gondar university farm were abortion,
sterility, delayed breeding according to the farm doctor say.

2.5. Housing and Other Farm Infrastructure

UOG dairy farm housing has good ventilation, concrete floor and half closed wall with mesh
window. The house was divided into four compartments those are house of milking cows,
pregnant cows, heifers and calves compartment. Within the house cows are housed based on
their physiological status, production status and age. For the 87 cows there are 87 cubicles in
the house with head to head arrangement. The windows of the house were full of spider webs
and some are open which will predispose animals to diseases that can be transmitted through
wild carrier birds. The roof of the house is made of iron and also have drainage canal made of
concrete which is wide enough for waste removal. The houses also have six doors from these
only three are functional currently. There are also exercise yard in the farm for both cow and
calves separately in the eastern direction of their houses. The calves’ house was divided into
four depending on their age.

2.5.1. Window of the house

There are 124 windows which have equal dimension after measurement have been taken
(90*64cm3). The mesh wire have been destroyed due to unknown case during my
observation there were full of spider web and opened which predispose the animal for
different disease carrier wild birds.

2.5.2. Door of house

There are also 8 doors of which six have a dimension of w190 cm*l200cm and two of them
have a dimension of 3*4m2.three of the doors has not been functional. The remaining doors
used for exiting and entrance of dairy cows. After the measurement had been carried out the
dimension of the house has been found 13mwidth and 64m length 4.6 m height from the
ground -Area = width* length =13m* 64 m = 832 m

2.5.3. Dairy cattle exercise pen

Two pens have been visited and isolated by wire and wood these pens have their own feed
and watering trough, and the feeding trough was covered with a shed but watering trough was
not covered by a shed. I have been observing the floor in most of my extern ship period and it
was clean, hygienic, which was free from dust and animal dung. The drainage canal has 30
cm width and 25 cm depth made of concrete. Parlor is the room where cows are milked.
Milking facilities include holding area and milking parlor. There are different types of
milking parlors. These are herringbone, tandem, tie stall and rotary type. In tandem type of
parlor, cows enter and leave the stall either side of a pit and especially in modern tandem
parlor, exit and entry gates can be automatically opened after the cluster has been removed
allowing the cow to leave and the next to enter. In tie stall parlor, cows are still kept
permanently tethered in stalls and are usually milked by milking units, which are moved
between them and the milk is collected into a can suspended under the cow’s body. While
milking in UOG dairy farm, the milkers have been adopted hand milking without protective
cloth (gown except few) in two times period at 9-11 O’clock at night and 8-10 O’ clock in the
day time local time with consecutive washing of whole body including udder at 9-11 O’clock
at night and only udder 8-10 O’ clock in the day time local time. The milkers have been used
washing towels for udder with water immersing continuously. The milking order as accepted
one is in the manner of milking first calving healthy heifer, cows having problem of mastitis
history and illness, cows having mastitis history but recovered from illness and cows having
mastitis problem at the moment respectively. Even though such practice is planned and
implemented most of the time, there have been also milking out of the above order
(practically seen). The collected milk via different sized/volume containers then measured by
weighting balance, filtered via clean white cottony cloth, stored in a milk cane followed by
distribution to the society/customers and fed the calves as soon as the milk is fresh/milked.
Other infrastructures just like fencing and equipments of the farm have seen while my
observation in which the exercise area was fenced only but the other area of the farm was not
sufficiently fenced. The available equipments in the farm include one nonfunctional crush,
two nonfunctional weighting balance, heart girth, medicine administering equipment’s
(several syringe and needle), hay harvesting equipments, waste removal equipments, one
tractor, feed processing machine, 3 water storage tanks and houses for feed/hay storage can
be mentioned.

Figure: Dairy animal’s exercise pen

2.6. Farm Record Management

Proper management and record keeping is the key to success in any enterprise. Each
successful producer must have records which are accurate and reliable to make sound
management decisions. Keeping written records helps to avoid loss of useful information.
Record keeping is an essential part of good animal farm business management. The
importance of record keeping on the farm includes give a history of what has happened on the
farm for the period during which it has been kept, serve as an aid to managerial control
during production, trace the origin of animals and serve as a tool for selection of breeding
animals, Provide figures for farm planning and budgeting, tell how much the producer is
earning and keep tracks of assets. University of Gondar dairy farm has also different records.
These were feed records, production records, health records and financial records. The feed
records of the farms are types of feeds used, amount of feeds used for each animal, date of
feed purchase, amount purchased, milk fed for calves. Production records are milk
yield/day/animal/lactation and average lactation length. Parents of the animal were recorded.
The health records are reproductive problem like abortion, infertility, and mastitis. The farm
also has financial records of both expense and income. Income records are sale of milk,
unproductive and male animal and manure. The expense records are salary for the workers,
purchase of concentrate feed, and salt, accessory feed and production record includes the
amount of milk produced, calving interval, and lactation length, weight of the calf at the time
of weaning, 14 time, date and year of calving. The cow has been given ear tag for
identification of dairy farm animals this tag used to identify calves, dam and calving number.

2.7. Marketing

UOG dairy farm objective was income generation of income by selling milk, fecal compost
and live animals to the UOG staff and to the community. Evaluation of the farm economies is
not profit oriented, but it is the aim of teaching and learning Purpose, research and
community service.

3. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

PART THREE: UNIVERSITY OF GONDAR APIARY FARM

1. INTRODUCTION

Beekeeping refers to the breeding and use of honeybees.  Beekeeping is an important venture
used for strengthening the livelihood of rural communities. It generates a variety of
production assets. It has a substantial role in generating and diversifying the income of
Ethiopian smallholder farmers and youth who do not have land. Ethiopia is the home of
diverse fauna due to its varied ecological and climatic conditions that are suitable for
beekeeping practices (Beyene et al., 2016).

Ethiopia is known for its tremendous variation of agro-climatic conditions and biodiversity
that favored the existence of diversified honeybee flora and huge number of honeybee
colonies. Ethiopia hosts around 6 million managed honey bee colonies and nearly 10 million
feral colonies. This made Ethiopia number one in natural honey production in Africa and the
tenth in the world. However, there are several marketing, natural, and financial constraints
that hinder beekeeping adoption in Ethiopia (Andaregie and Astatkie, 2021)

All of the countries in the world, no country has such a long tradition of beekeeping than
Ethiopia. Despite its long history, beekeeping in Ethiopia is still not advanced sector of
agriculture. Bee keeping plays a great role directly by providing valuable output such as
honey, beeswax, queen and bee colonies and etc. In Ethiopia there are three types of bee
hives used for honey production .These are traditional, intermediate /transitional and modern
hives. The UoG bee farm (apiary) was established in 2003 E.C. It is located behind the Atse-
Tewodors student café. It has 8 modern hives, 1 transitional hive and 2 traditional hives,
which are 11 in total.
2. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

2.1. Site Selection

UoG apiary hasn’t been situated in favorable place. This apiary has no problem with feed
availability but there are so many problems like exposure to cold weather especially during
morning time up to 4:00 local time. There is no heat access into the farm house and area (due
to dense trees has been preventing penetration of suns’ radiation into the farm), which leads
to cold weather stress with subsequent inactivation, shivering, depression and death of some
honey bees. Wind-driven cold is by far the most harmful factor that results in bee deaths in
cold climates. A bee will not die until its body temperature reaches 41 degrees or lower. At
this temperature, the bee can't move its shivering muscles to generate heat and stay warm. It
all depends on the temperature outside. Bees tend to come out when it's warm enough to
gather their nectar and return to the hive when it becomes too cold. This is because bees start
to feel drowsy and fall asleep if the temperature outside goes below 50 to 55°F.

2.2. Feed and Nutrition

The honey bee is an important fruit and vegetable pollinator and a producer of honey and
other hive products. Honey bees do not require feed regularly like other livestock do. But
there are some occasions that honey bee needs supplementary feeding (i.e. during scarcity of
feed and seeking of increased production and reproduction).

2.1.1. Major feed resources used

UoG apiary was located at the center of dense trees, which are flowering plants by their
nature. There were different flowering plants and forages near the farm as the feed sources
for bees feeding as well as honey production. These are bisana, girar, endod, kega,
kusheshile, kentafa, grawa, agam and lenkuata and etc. UoG apiary hasn’t been encountered
the feed shortage b/c plants possess flowers throughout the year. Water is provided every day
to the honey bees by the farm worker.

2.3. Breed Types

The breed or species of the bees currently found in in UoG apiary was not known. So the
bees had been randomly getting access into the bee house through the hole, which is 30 cm
above the ground in the left side of the house.

2.3. Challenges in UoG Apiary

A big challenge facing UoG apiary is wax moth (insect), which lays invisible eggs that
destructs the bees and the hive products. This was recorded as the worst problem of bee
production because the larvas are visible after destructing the hive materials. Wax moths are
moths that sneak their way into a hive and lay eggs in the honeycomb. Wax moths mainly fly
at night and are able to fly between hives and cause new infestations. When the eggs hatch,
the wax worm will eat through the beeswax, honey, pollen and sometimes even the bee larvae
and pupae. As they eat their way through the hive they leave a trail of webs and feces. The
webbing hinders the bees from being able to catch the worms and remove them from the
hive. Wax moth larvae are very destructive and can quickly destroy stored beeswax combs.
Bee keeper also mentioned that bee-eater birds as the second top challenging honeybee
predator. The other predators like mouse, spider and ants are other sorts of disturbance of
honey bee colony. There are no specific diseases detected in the farm except those problems
listed above. To prevent spider access into the hives, there has been chemical spraying around
the hives.

2.4. Housing and other farm infrastructure

UOG apiary there are three types of bee hives that are modern hives, transitional/
intermediate and traditional hives. There were total of 11 hives found in the farm. The
modern hive is 8, traditional hive 2 and transitional/intermediate hive is 1.

Figure 4: Housing and other farm non-functional materials

2.5. Farm record management

During the honey season from the modern hives honey can be harvested two times a year.
Honey is harvested and collected in two seasons namely October and June in UOG farm.

3. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Generally the apiary farm is located in Atse-Tewodros campus behind the student’s café in
the environment with many plants coverage but no natural water available near to the farm.
Honey bee does not require a regular feed provision unlike other livestock do. There are
around 11 hives and bee colonies in this farm of which 8 modern, 2 traditional, and 1
transitional hive were found with bee colony. The honey season from the modern hives honey
can be harvested two times a year. Honey collected in two seasons namely October and June.
The species of those colonies are not known. The nature of disease diagnosis in the apiary is
very poor. In the farm there were different bee enemies such as bee eater birds and ant. The
record keeping of this apiary is very poor and almost none. Based on the above conclusion
the following recommendations are forwarded:

 Disease control and prevention methods should be applied in right manner

 Control of predators is very essential
 Record keeping should be implemented
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