Watch out against aflatoxin, it wiped out my pigs

It is an incident that Hildah Mugure, a farmer in Othaya, Nyeri wants to forget fast.

But the harder the pig farmer tries to forget it, the more she recalls it.

Hildah lost four of her pigs on Christmas Eve just when she was about to sell them.

As usual, the farmer went to an agro-vet and bought feeds that she gave to her animals.

“I checked the expiry date normally stamped on the bag and saw it was valid. The feeds also had the quality mark,” says Hildah, who has been a pig farmer for five years.

Back home, the farmer who was eyeing the Christmas boom as she had received an order served the feeds to the animals early evening.

“I woke up in the morning and found my four pigs dead in the pigsty. Several others were in critical condition.”

Out of 19 animals she kept, nine mature pigs died hitting her with a loss of about Sh200,000. All of them were eight months old.

“The ones that remained were the young ones which I did not offer the feeds. I called a veterinary doctor and, thereafter, he told me the problem might be feeds,” she recounts, adding that she had expected to make good money that she would have used to pay university fees.

“After checking the animals, the veterinary doctor informed her that they had died of aflatoxin.”

Aflatoxins are toxic and highly carcinogenic substances produced by moulds. They are associated with various diseases such as aflatoxicosis in livestock and humans.

“I talked to the stockist, who later contacted the company. The company promised to compensate by supplying feeds for a certain period.”

BIG PROBLEM

Doris Wambui, a Livestock Production Officer from the Ministry of Agriculture, says aflatoxin is a big problem to many farmers.

“Farmers have lost their livestock due to commercial feeds contaminated with aflatoxin. The fodder that farmers prepare for their animals if preserved poorly can also be affected by aflatoxin.”

After buying animal feeds or picking the stored ones, Doris says a farmer should first scoop some in his hand and check if the feeds have mould.

“All animal feeds are made with cereal products like wheat and maize bran. Aflatoxin mainly affects cereals. If you see mould, then it is obvious the feeds are contaminated.”

“Such feeds should first be dried under the sun for two to three days before crashing the mould,” she adds.

However, she says feeds contaminated with moulds are not good for livestock.

Another way to know if the feed is contaminated is by checking the colour of the maize grains in the feeds.

“With contaminated feeds, the maize particles would have turned brown or orange and they would be smelly.”

The livestock production officer acknowledges that cases of animals dying due to aflatoxin are on the rise, particularly, due to wide adoption of hydroponics.

“Commercial feeds are normally in powder form and dry. In that condition, they can easily absorb moisture or liquid substances if poorly stored.”

She cautions farmers against use of hydroponics technology without proper training.

“Feeds grown with the technology are cheaper, but improper use may lead to moulding that causes aflatoxin. Farmers need to grow the fodder in a food classified tray.”

Any other material can rust and cause aflatoxin. “Do not use any metal equipment even if it is galvanised because it could still cause problems.”