Improved Animal Husbandry Training Program at Hetuda, Makwanpur District.

The training was conducted for 3 days at Hetauda Sub-Metropolitian City-10, Makwanpur District, Bagmati Province on 9th of June 2022 to 11th of June 2022. Altogether there were 34 women participants. The chief guest was Makwanpur District- Sub-Metropolitian City , Hetauda ward-10, Ward Chairman – Mr. Furwa Dorjee Tamang during the opening session of training program. Trainer Dr Sonu Adhikari and Dr. Monica Gautam. Facilitated the training program.

The training started on the 9th of June 2022 in Makwanpur district of Hetuda – Seema Hotel by an introduction to improved housing system for cow, buffalo, pig, chicken and goat. The team went through what an improved housing means, types of improved housing and the benefits of each of the housing systems. In addition, the team discussed the appropriate sites for the constructing of pens and coops.  After the presentations and discussions, the team went through a session on how to construct improved houses using locally available materials.  The practical sessions offered the opportunity for participants to visit a few pens and coops been used by communities’ members, and also visited some improved structures in the improved farms named Abhiyan Farm and Bibek Poltry Farm Pvt. Ltd. They observed the different housing systems, materials used for their constructions and their appropriateness. Others, such as positioning (East to west) to avoid the direction of sun and flooding during rainy season, routine management of pen and the appropriate materials for flooring of pen were all discussed.  The training sessions continued with the introduction to breeding and breed selection. The session looked at what breed selection was, the types of breeds in the locality, when to select new breeds and signs of good breeds. During these discussions, it was revealed that farmers should avoid going to market centers to buy new breeds but rather always first look within their neighborhoods, contact experienced breeders/other livestock keepers or acquire new breeds from breeding stations. Marketing centers as revealed were potential grounds for diseases and most of the animals at the market centers would be at risk of infection.  Besides the disease infections, most of the livestock at the market center would not serve as goods breeds because farmers would not normally sell out their good breeds (except under serious financial constraint). Further discussions revealed that before introducing a new breed into an existing flock/herd, the animal must be quarantined for at least a week and observed to ensure it is healthy before adding to the existing animals. Participants were also taken through feeding for improved productivity.  Topics included the importance of providing feed, components of good feeds and formulation good feeds. Discussions included the dangers of feeding chicken on maggots, animals drinking polluted water from household latrines drainage, goats feeding on fresh soybean crops leading to bloating and death, consuming Newcastle infested dead chicken, and feeding animals with non-nutritious feeds crop residues. The participants learn how to prepare good feed for both chicken and goats using local crop residues and other available materials. During the practical session, participants were taken through the formulation of various feeds with the correct requirements of carbohydrates, proteins, and other minerals to ensure balance diet. Routine health management was another area that was emphasized during the training. Some of the topics discussed included the signs and symptoms of diseases especially Newcastle for chicken and peste des petits ruminants (PPR) for goat/sheep. The notable signs to look out for in Newcastle included loss of appetite, coughing, difficulty breathing, watery eyes, nasal discharge, bright green diarrhea and comb and wattles may swell and discolored blue. For PPR in goats, signs included sudden onset of depression, fever, discharges from eyes and nose, sore in the mouth, foul- smelling diarrhea, coughing and difficulty in breathing. Both PPR and Newcastle are viral diseases and so have no treatment. As such they must be prevented through vaccinations, adaptation of strict bio security, quarantine and proper disposal of disease dead birds and goats. In addition, other routine health practices such as dosing/drenching, dipping, hoof trimming and debeaking etc were important to keep livestock healthy.  Record keeping which is another important activity in livestock rearing was also discussed during the training. The team discussed the importance of farm records, benefits of keeping records, types of farm records to be kept and how to develop different simple farm records such as health records, vaccination records and inventory records.

Overall, the training achieved its objectives as gathered from the evaluation of participants. The evaluation process revealed that women livestock keepers who had limited knowledge on good husbandry practices had greatly increased their understanding in that area. The training has served as a good platform that has prepared them sufficiently to build capacities of farmers to improve on the husbandry practices.