Agro Tips with Kuda

Agro Tips with Kuda An agric fanatic who has had vast experience in both the animal health and the poultry industries.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FEEDER AND DRINKER PLACEMENT & HEIGHTDid you know that the placement and height of your feeders and dr...
25/08/2026

THE IMPORTANCE OF FEEDER AND DRINKER PLACEMENT & HEIGHT

Did you know that the placement and height of your feeders and drinkers can be the difference between a profitable poultry project and one that runs at a loss due to high bedding and disease treatment costs?
By simply raising your poultry feeders and drinkers to the correct height, you can significantly improve performance and prevent many common losses.

THE GOLDEN RULE IS:
KEEP THE FEEDING/DRINKING POINT LEVEL WITH THE BACK OF THE BIRDS AT ALL GROWTH STAGES.
As the birds grow, continue adjusting the height by either hanging the containers or placing blocks underneath them.

Some farmers believe that raising feeders and drinkers makes birds grow taller.
That however is not true.
What it actually does is encourage lazy birds to stand up, exercise, and stretch their legs every time they eat or drink. This helps prevent leg problems.

3 KEY BENEFITS OF CORRECT HEIGHT ARE:

1. Reduces Water Spillage
Correctly placed drinkers spill far less water. This keeps your bedding drier for longer.
Result: Lower bedding costs and fewer issues like ammonia and footpad dermatitis.

2. Reduces Feed Wastage
Raised feeders prevent birds from scratching and flicking feed out.
RESULT: Lower production costs. Remember, feed is your biggest expense.

3. Helps Prevent Disease
When feeders and drinkers are on the ground, disease spreads fast.
Example: Droppings from a sick bird can contaminate feed and water. Healthy birds then get infected and the disease spreads through the whole house.
Result: Correct height stops droppings from getting into feed and water, helping prevent diseases like coccidiosis.

Success in poultry isn’t always about working harder. It’s about also working smarter.
This one small adjustment can have a huge impact on the success of your poultry project.

Livestock Technical Advisor
Kudakwashe Chishaka

HOW POULTRY FARMERS CAN SAFELY USE CHICKEN MANURE IN THE GARDENChicken manure is "black gold" for your garden. It’s high...
22/08/2026

HOW POULTRY FARMERS CAN SAFELY USE CHICKEN MANURE IN THE GARDEN

Chicken manure is "black gold" for your garden. It’s high in nitrogen and makes crops grow fast. But fresh chicken manure is dangerous — it can burn your crops and spread E.coli, Salmonella and worms.

Here’s how to make it safe:

THE 2 BEST WAYS FOR CHICKEN MANURE

1. COMPOSTING - BEST METHOD
How to do it:

1. Mix: 3 buckets of chicken manure + bedding with 1 bucket of dry grass, maize stover, or crop residues

2. Make a heap: About 1.5m wide x 1.5m high. Keep it damp like a wrung-out sponge

3. Turn: Turn the heap every 2-3 weeks to let air in. Do this 3-4 times

4. Wait: 6-8 weeks in hot weather.

It’s ready when: It’s dark, crumbly, smells like soil, and no longer hot.

Why: The heat reaches 55-65°C and kills diseases + w**d seeds. It won’t burn your plants.

2. BOKASHI / SEALED FERMENTATION - FAST METHOD
Good if you’re short on space.

1. Layer chicken manure with bran + molasses + EM microbes in a sealed drum

2. Leave for 2 weeks, then bury in soil
Why: Fast, no smell, but you need the inoculant.

⚠️ 5 SAFETY RULES YOU MUST NOT BREAK

1. Never put fresh chicken manure on leafy vegetables like r**e, covo, lettuce. It will burn them + risk food poisoning

2. Waiting periods:
120 days before harvesting leafy veg
90 days for tomatoes, carrots, potatoes
45 days for maize and fruit trees

3. Don’t apply just before heavy rain - nutrients will wash away and pollute water

4. Always wash hands after handling manure

5. Chicken manure is "hot" - that’s why you MUST compost or age it for at least 6-8 weeks

QUICK TEST: IS IT READY?
Grab a handful. If it smells like soil, crumbles in your hand, and you can’t see the original bedding = it’s safe.

Bottom line: Don’t waste your chicken manure. Compost it. Your vegetables will be bigger, your soil will be healthier, and your family will be safer.

Livestock Technical Advisor
Kudakwashe Chishaka

19/08/2026

FARMER QUESTION OF THE DAY.
You have US$500 available to start a small agro project today. Which would you choose?
🐓 A. Broilers
🐔 B. Layers
🐖 C. Pigs
🐐 D. Goats
🥬 E. Vegetables

Briefly explain why you go with your choice.


🐄 DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOUR CATTLE LOSE CONDITIONIn the late dry season, the veld may still be available but often low in pr...
18/08/2026

🐄 DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOUR CATTLE LOSE CONDITION

In the late dry season, the veld may still be available but often low in protein and energy.

THIS WEEK, DO THESE 5 CHECKS:
1. Body Condition Score every animal - Start with calves, pregnant cows, lactating cows, and any thin animals
2. Count your feed - Estimate remaining hay and crop residues
3. Check water- Confirm clean, reliable water for all animals
4. Plan supplements early - Arrange protein, energy and minerals before severe loss of condition.
5. Upgrade your roughage- Crop residues are good for fill, but poor-quality stover alone won’t maintain production

Pro tip: Urea-Treated Stover
Treating maize stover with urea increases protein from ∼3% to 8-10% and improves digestibility. It’s one of the cheapest ways to turn low-value crop residue into useful dry-season feed. Get help from AGRITEX or your vet to do it safely.

Early feeding decisions cost less than trying to recover weak animals later.

Technical Livestock Advisor
Kudakwashe Chishaka

15/08/2026

🐔 Broiler farmers: What is the biggest challenge you've faced this winter?

A. Poor weight gain
B. Ascites
C. Coccidiosis
D. High feed costs
E. Something else

Share your experience below and let's help solve it.

A WISE FARMER ALWAYS PLANS FOR CASHFLOW.The big question is: “While I’m waiting for my long or medium-term project to re...
12/08/2026

A WISE FARMER ALWAYS PLANS FOR CASHFLOW.

The big question is: “While I’m waiting for my long or medium-term project to reach harvest, what will sustain me?”

The answer is to always have a short-term “cash cow” project that covers daily expenses while you wait for your main crop to mature.
A perfect example is green leafy vegetables like covo, r**e, and spinach. You plant them once and harvest multiple times.
Other horticultural crops can also be planted in batches to ensure a continuous flow of income.

Remember farming is not just about working hard — it’s about thinking smart.

Below is a planting calendar for Zim or Southern climate for horticultural crops you can plant throughout the year to ensure you always have something bringing in consistent cashflow.

1 Ha GREEN MAIZE REQUIREMENT ROUGH BUDGETDid you know that if you can irrigate, you can make big money from growing gree...
05/08/2026

1 Ha GREEN MAIZE REQUIREMENT ROUGH BUDGET

Did you know that if you can irrigate, you can make big money from growing green mealies before planting your main grain crop later into the season?
Here is guide of what you need.

INPUTS
1. 25kg maize seed.
2. 200-400kg Compound D(7:14:7)
3. 200-350kg AN (applications split at 4 and 6 weeks after emergence.)

HERBICIDES
1. Glyphosate + 1.25-1.75ltrs Metalachlor 960EC soon after planting.
2. 2.5ltr/ha Atrazine or 2-2.5ltrs/ha Sweeper/Nato/Sakura or 1ltr/ha W**d wipe/Stellar Star are some of the options you can use as early post emergent selective herbicides.

INSECTICIDES
Maize stalk borer control options: 200ml/ha Worm kill or Ecoterex or Optimator.(Scout for pest presence from 3weeks going forward)

SPACING:75-90cm x 25-40cm

PLANT POPULATION: Aim for 44000-53000/ha to get 25000-40000 marketable cobs/ha

PLANTS/STATION: 1-2 plants

To allow continued fresh harvest, you can stagger your plantings to avoid one big harvest and have more of a continuous supply.
Green mealies usually sell well before or around the onset of the rains. So ensure you plant early and avoid growing it when everyone else is growing their own maize crop.

Some of the local Zimbabwean seed varieties that do well for green mealies are:
* Agriseeds: Zap 63, Zap 65
* SeedCo: SC 555, SC 659, SC 719, SC 727,
* K2: Pgs 65, Pgs 63
* Dekalb: DK 777, DKC 90-89

Agro Tips With Kuda

04/08/2026

Cattle restraining method.

COCCIDIOSIS IN CHICKENSDuring the wet and cold seasons, farmers often report sleepy, slow-growing birds with ruffled fea...
03/08/2026

COCCIDIOSIS IN CHICKENS

During the wet and cold seasons, farmers often report sleepy, slow-growing birds with ruffled feathers and blood-stained droppings.
These are classic signs of COCCIDIOSIS - a parasitic caused disease that thrives in wet, dirty litter.

HOW IT SPREADS: Birds ingest the parasite from contaminated feed, water, and litter.
WHAT IT DOES: The parasite damages the intestinal lining. This causes blood loss, poor feed absorption, and opens the door for secondary infections. Without treatment, it leads to high mortalities and poor growth.

OTHER SIGNS TO WATCH FOR:
1. Pale combs and wattles due to blood loss
2. Huddling for warmth
3. Reduced feed and water intake
4. SUBCLINICAL FORM: No blood in droppings, but birds are depressed, have ruffled feathers, and stunted growth. This is common even when feed has coccidiostats.

PREVENTION & CONTROL
Coccidiosis is a management disease, whenever it happens we can be sure that there is something we need to improve in our management. Keep the house dry.
- LITTER: Keep bedding dry. Pay special attention around drinkers and wall openings where rain enters.
- EQUIPMENT: Constantly raise drinkers and feeders to the height of the birds' back as they grow, to prevent droppings from contaminating feed and water.
- BIOSECURITY: Practice "all-in, all-out" and disinfect between batches. Also ensure disinfectant footbaths at the poultry house entrances as multiple batches in one house increase the chances of bedding contamination by the parasites.
- FEED: Most broiler feeds contain coccidiostats that help suppress the parasite, but they don’t give 100% protection if litter is wet or if the drinking water is contaminated by infected dropping due to drinkers being too low.

TREATMENT
Treat at first signs. Use a sulpha-based or amprollium containing drugs like Esb3, Astrisul Sulphadimidine, Bremamed, Amprocox or Trisulf for 3-5 days in drinking water. Give with a Vitamins + Electrolyte supplement like Stresspack, Ashboost, or Introchick to boost immunity and appetite.

NB: After treatment, change litter if possible and increase ventilation to break the cycle.

LIVESTOCK TECHNICAL ADVISOR
Kudakwashe Chishaka

Address

Harare

Website

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