All   over   the   world      bull   calves   of      dairy breeds   origin   are   uneconomical   to   raise. Despite    of    most    places    having    higher beef   prices   than   us   and   much   cheaper feeds    of    better    quality    available    to them!    Therefore    dairy    bull    calves    are often   killed   right   after   birth.   Efforts   to simply    outlaw    this    practice    have    not proven to be very effective.

In   the   beginning   we   did   it,   too.   I   still have    nightmares    about    it    now,    even though   we   haven’t   killed   a   bull   calf   in many   years.   The   genetics   we   have   used over   the   years   got   better   and   better and   our   bulls’   breeding   merit   under   local conditions     is     superior     to     that     of purebred and most imported genetics.

Some   days   ago   our   first   calf   of   100% imported   ancestry   (8th   generation)   was born.   It   is   by   Sansão    (Best   Dairy   Gir ever)   *   Edbo    (Best   Scandinavian)   *   Bold (Best   Jersey)   *   O-Man    (Best   Holstein) *   Phuket    (Best   Sahiwal)   *   Bold    (Best Jersey)   *   Sargent   (Imported   Ayrshire) * Joe (Imported Brown Swiss).

This   calf   is   a   combination   of   some   of   the World’s   greatest   sires   &   of   7   different breeds!   You   won’t   find   anything   close   to this   kind   of   breeding   wherever   else   you might   look.   It   really   is   a   great   sin   &   what a   huge   waste   of   potential   not   to   raise such   a   calf   for   breeding   &   let   it   grow   up to propagate its fabulous genes.

We   keep   our   cattle   under   quite   intensive conditions   with   all   concentrates   &   over 80%   of   roughages   bought   in.   A   two   years old    bull    has    cost    us    more    than    KShs 140,000/-   to   raise.   As   this   is   much   above what     most     small     scale     farmers     can afford   to   pay,   we   greatly   subsidise   its sale price as breeding bull.

Sale   of   semen    possibly   would   have   been able   to   help   us   out   of   this   kind   of   loss making,   all   in   the   name   of   doing   some useful    development    effort    in    Kenya’s Livestock    sector.    Unfortunately    this was   not   to   be   and   now   we   are   facing   a real   dilemma   of   how   to   keep   financing our good intentions...

This   can’t   be   plausible   after   all   I   have   just   said?   The   emphasises   is   on   “a”   bull speak “one” bull rather than 50... If   you   have   some   few   dairy   animals   to   breed   or   some   local   cows   that   you   are seeking   to   improve   you   could   just   use   your   neighbour’s   bull   which   quite   often   is   of limited   or   unknown   quality.   Or   you   could   aspire   to   breed   them   by   use   of   artificial insemination. This often poses insurmountable management or logistics problems. Or,   best   option,      you   could   buy   a   service   age   ready   to   breed   bull   from   us,   which   you will   get   from   as   low   as   KShs   70,000/-.   You   can   then   use   this   bull   to   breed   your   own cows   for   a   couple   of   years,   maybe   even   provide   natural   bull   service   at   a   fee   to   your neighbours   and   thereby   earn   the   bulls   upkeep   and   a   little      extra   profit   for   you.   If you   have   fed   and   maintained   him   well   you   can   then   sell   him   at   about   4   years   of   age, when   usually   he   hasn’t   turned   aggressive   or   troublesome   yet.   Such   bulls   will   fetch at   least   KShs   100,000/-   slaughter   value   or   even   more   when   sold   to   another   farmer for   breeding.      You   keep   KShs   30,000/-   as   profit   &   invest   the   remaining   70,000/-   in a   new   bull   from   us   with   certified   &   unrelated   genetics.   The   quality   of   these   bulls’ offspring will convince you and repay your efforts and expenses many times over!   If you are not farming yourself but want to help a small farmer & save a calf too? Although   the   bull’s   sale   price   already   is   greatly   subsidised   by   us,   all   too   often   it   is still   out   of   reach   for   the   most   needy.   Exactly   those   farmers   who   would   benefit   in the   greatest   way   through   an   improvement   of   their   cattle’s   production   potential. This   could   take   them   out   of   mere   subsistence   farming   and   open   a   gateway   for   them into   profitable   commercial   farming   for   the   good   of   their   family,   their   community and   all   of   Kenya.   If   happy,   satisfied   and   successful   in   their   rural   environment   not all   of   our   young   people   will   then   strive   to   seek   their   fortunes   in   the   big   towns   and cities   or   abroad.   You   could   sponsor   a   bull   for   such   a   small   scale   dairy   farmer   or women’s group in Kenya who then could use that bull in the way described above.

How YOU could benefit out of this situation? Keeping   a   bull   WILL   BE   PROFITABLE   FOR   YOU!

Therefore   we   have   decided   to   raise   our bull   calves   with   the   intention   of   selling them     for     breeding     purposes     to     our fellow   farmers.   These   bulls   not   only   have a     tremendous     potential     to     increase productivity   and   profitability   in   all   dairy production      systems      but      also      beef production under ranching conditions.

And   most   important,   your   sponsorship   will   then   enable   us   to   raise   another   bull   calf for the next upcoming dairy farmer and no more bull calves will have to die!

The Life and Death of Dairy Bull Calves Warning:  This Video contains highly disturbing images. Not for sensitive viewers! 

Last but not Least: Many   well   meaning   projects,   where   high   quality   cows   or   heifers   were   bought    or given   out   to   small   scale   farmers   (Heifer   Project   International   and   others)   often run   into   the   great   problem   eventually   that   after   the   heifer’s   first   calving   she never   gets   pregnant   again.   Quite   often   breeding   was   exclusively   attempted   by   use of   artificial   insemination   and   as   a   general   rule:   the   better   the   cow   the   more difficult   she   will   be   to   breed.   Using   a   quality   bull   could   have   saved   a   great   many good cows from a final fate of being sold to slaughter for infertility reasons.