Leveraging on Flock Dynamics and Farmers’ Production Constraints in Designing Flock Health Program for Accelerated Goat Production

Compliance with appropriate flock health program is vital for preventing introduction and minimizing impact of diseases in goat farms. Unfortunately, most goat farms in Uganda, especially in the Albertine Graben Zone lack flock health program. The associated frequent outbreaks slow down effort aimed at commercializing goat production. In this study, we documented flock dynamics, identified and prioritized pressing challenges experienced by goat farms during the year 2022 and generated appropriate flock health program and packaged it for dissemination to farmers. Materials and Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, semi-structured questionnaire, data were collected and analyzed with MS Excel 2013. The data included: location and socio-demographics of household, farming system, flock dynamics, housing, feeding system, health management, challenges encountered by goat farm and suggested solutions. Results: Beginning January 2022 to December 2022, the number of goats reared in all the 45 sample farms increased from 2128 to 2220 goats. Results showed that 884 kids were produced and 88 breeding goats were introduced into the farms. Three hundred ninety-nine goats died due to mainly diseases and 435 goats got withdrawn through nondeath. The average farm level and overall mortality rate were 21 goats per 1000 goatmonths and 15 goats per 1000 goatmonths respectively. The most pressing challenges encountered by sample farms were death of goats especially due to diseases, poor access to veterinary extension services, high cost of inputs and feed scarcity. Solutions suggested by sample farms were improved access to veterinary services, improved housing, enhanced vaccination of goats against diseases, and enhanced grazing land management and feed conservation, all of which were incorporated into the flock health program. Conclusion and Recommendations: An appropriate flock health program was generated based on flock dynamics and production constraints which reveal high mortality and limited access to veterinary services respectively. Actors are recommended to promote adoption and adherence to the flock health program so as to increase goat production and access to wider market.

Ingredients from integral valorization of Isabel grape to formulate goat yogurt with stimulatory effects on probiotics and beneficial impacts on human colonic microbiota in vitro

Isabel grape(IG)products have high contents of phenolic compounds and fiber recognized for their positive impacts on microorganisms associated with health benefits to host.This study evaluated the effects of goat yogurts formulated with ingredients from IG integral valorization on the growth and metabolism of different probiotic strains,as well as on the population of selected bacterial groups and metabolic activity of human colonic microbiota in vitro.Goat yogurts with IG ingredients(IGI)stimulated the growth of tested Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium probiotic strains during a 48-h cultivation,as well as decreased the pH values and enhanced the organic acid production.Goat yogurts with IGI increased the population of Lactobacillus spp.and Bifidobacterium spp.during a 24-h in vitro colonic fermentation.A stable Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes ratio close to 1 was found in media with goat yogurt formulations during the colonic fermentation,being similar to the effect caused by fructooligosaccharides.Goat yogurt formulations with IGI caused increased production of short-chain fatty acids and sugar consumption during colonic fermentation.Goat yogurts with IGI should be a valuable strategy for development of novel added-value foods with beneficial effects on gut microbiota and human health.