Non-ruminant animals such as poultry, pigs, and rabbits play a critical role in Kenya's agricultural sector by providing meat, eggs, and income to many smallholder farmers and commercial enterprises. Effective routine management of these animals enhances productivity, disease prevention, and welfare, which is essential for meeting the growing demand for animal protein in Kenya. This chapter focuses on the routine management practices necessary for non-ruminant animals, equipping Agriculture and Extension professionals with the knowledge to support farmers in optimizing animal health and production.

5.1 Routine management practices of non-ruminant animals

Routine management practices are the daily and periodic activities carried out to ensure the health, welfare, and productivity of non-ruminant animals. In Kenya, where small-scale and commercial farming coexist, understanding these practices enables extension officers to tailor advice that improves farm efficiency and animal well-being.

5.1.1 Definition of terms

Clear understanding of terminology related to non-ruminant management helps professionals communicate effectively with farmers and stakeholders.

Non-ruminant animals

Non-ruminant animals are species that have a single-chambered stomach and do not chew cud. These animals digest food primarily through enzymatic action rather than microbial fermentation. Examples include poultry (chickens, ducks), pigs, and rabbits, which are widely farmed in Kenya for meat and other products.

Routine management practices

Routine management practices refer to the regular, systematic activities performed to maintain animal health, welfare, and productivity. These include feeding, housing maintenance, health monitoring, cleaning, and record-keeping. These practices prevent disease outbreaks and optimise growth and reproduction.

Biosecurity

Biosecurity encompasses measures taken to prevent the introduction and spread of infectious diseases within animal populations. It involves controlling movement of animals and people, disinfecting equipment, and managing waste. In Kenya, biosecurity is crucial in controlling diseases like Newcastle disease in poultry and African swine fever in pigs.

Animal welfare

Animal welfare refers to the physical and psychological well-being of animals. It includes providing adequate nutrition, shelter, health care, and the ability to express natural behaviours. Welfare standards ensure ethical treatment and improve productivity by reducing stress and disease susceptibility.

Record keeping

Record keeping involves systematically documenting animal health, production data, feeding schedules, and treatments. Accurate records assist farmers and extension officers in tracking performance, identifying challenges, and making informed management decisions. Systematic documentation of animal performance, health interventions, and feed consumption supports effective farm management.

5.1.2 Importance of routine management practices of non-ruminant animals

Routine management practices are fundamental to sustainable and profitable non-ruminant animal production in Kenya. Their importance can be detailed in several key areas.

Disease prevention and control

Regular cleaning, vaccination, and monitoring reduce the risk of disease outbreaks such as fowl typhoid in chickens or swine flu in pigs. Prevention minimises losses and the need for costly treatments.

Improved productivity

Consistent feeding, proper housing, and health care promote optimal growth rates, egg production, and reproductive performance. Example: a well-managed layer unit that feeds, cleans, and vaccinates on schedule produces eggs more consistently than one managed irregularly.

Economic efficiency

Routine practices reduce wastage of feed, prevent disease-related losses, and increase production quality, leading to higher returns for farmers. This is essential for smallholder farmers who operate on tight margins.

Ensuring animal welfare

Maintaining clean, comfortable housing and proper nutrition reduces stress and suffering. Welfare-friendly practices also meet consumer expectations for humanely produced meat, eggs, and pork.

Facilitating traceability and management decisions

Good record keeping allows farmers and extension workers to identify trends, monitor health status, and implement timely interventions. Example: tracking weekly growth rates in a rabbit unit enables better breeding and culling decisions.

5.1.3 Types of management practices in non-ruminant animals

Management practices in non-ruminant farming cover all aspects of animal care, from daily feeding to once-off procedures performed on young animals. Some are carried out every day (feeding, housing), some at set ages or intervals (vaccination, deworming), and some only once in the life of the animal (identification, tailing, castration, teeth clipping, debeaking, sexing, iron injection). The sections below describe each practice, its purpose, and how it is carried out.

5.1.3.1 Feeding

Feeding management involves providing balanced diets that meet the nutritional needs of animals at different growth stages, together with clean drinking water at all times. It includes choosing the right ration, setting feeding schedules, and ensuring feed quality. Example: a broiler unit moves birds from starter to finisher feed at set ages to achieve fast, even growth.

Key feeding practices include:

• Stage feeding: Chicks receive chick mash, growers and layers receive growers and layers mash, and pigs move from creep feed to weaner, grower, and finisher rations as they grow.
• Rabbit diet: Rabbits need pellets or a balanced concentrate, plus good quality hay and fresh forage to supply fibre.
• Feed quality: Feed must be dry and free of mould, since mouldy feed carries toxins that cause poor growth and deaths.
• Feeding schedule: Feeding at regular times, in clean and adequate troughs or hoppers, reduces wastage and competition.
• Clean water: Drinkers are cleaned daily, because water is essential for feed intake and egg production.
• Special needs: Lactating sows and laying hens have higher nutrient demands than animals kept for maintenance only.

5.1.3.2 Vaccination

Vaccination is the deliberate administration of a vaccine to stimulate an animal's immunity so that it resists a specific disease. It is far cheaper than treating outbreaks, and it protects whole flocks and herds. Example: a poultry farmer vaccinates chicks against Newcastle disease and Gumboro disease, with boosters at the ages advised by a veterinarian.

Procedure for vaccinating a flock or herd:

1. Consult the veterinarian or extension officer for the vaccination programme suited to the area and the species.
2. Buy vaccines only from a reliable supplier and check the expiry date and the manufacturer's instructions.
3. Keep vaccines cold, using a cool box with ice packs during transport and a fridge on the farm.
4. Vaccinate only healthy animals, because sick animals respond poorly to vaccines.
5. Prepare and give the vaccine by the correct route (eye drop, drinking water, wing web or injection) using clean equipment.
6. Use opened or mixed vaccine within the time stated on the label and dispose of leftovers safely.
7. Record the date, vaccine, batch number, and number of animals vaccinated.

African swine fever has no vaccine, so pig farmers depend on strict biosecurity to control it.

5.1.3.3 Deworming

Deworming is the routine treatment of animals with anthelmintic drugs to remove internal parasites such as roundworms. Worms compete for nutrients, cause diarrhoea, and reduce growth, egg production, and feed conversion. Example: a pig farmer dewormed sows before farrowing so that piglets do not pick up worms from the sow's dung.

Good deworming practice includes:

• Drug choice: Use an anthelmintic recommended for the species and dose according to body weight and the label.
• Timing: Deworm at regular intervals set by the veterinarian, and deworm new animals before mixing them with the herd or flock.
• Administration: The drug may be given in feed, in drinking water, or by injection, depending on the product.
• Environmental control: Remove dung regularly and keep litter dry, because worm eggs are passed in droppings and survive in damp, dirty pens.
• Withdrawal period: Observe the time stated on the label before slaughtering animals or using eggs for human food.
• Records: Note the date, drug, dose, and animals treated.

Coccidiosis in poultry is caused by protozoa, not worms, and is controlled by dry litter, clean housing, and anticoccidial drugs under veterinary advice.

5.1.3.4 Housing

Housing management ensures that animals are sheltered in environments that protect them from adverse weather, predators, and disease vectors. Proper ventilation, adequate space, and appropriate bedding materials are critical. Example: an improved poultry house with a raised, well-ventilated structure and dry litter reduces mortality during rainy seasons.

Important housing practices include:

• Space allowance: Overcrowding raises stress, fighting, and disease spread, so stocking density should match the species and age.
• Ventilation and temperature: Houses should allow fresh air without draughts, and chicks need a heat source (brooder) in the first weeks.
• Bedding: Dry litter such as wood shavings or rice husks in poultry houses, and dry floors in pig pens, keep animals clean and comfortable.
• Daily cleaning: Manure is removed daily or litter turned, drinkers and feeders are washed, and equipment is disinfected, which prevents pathogen buildup and diseases such as coccidiosis.
• Biosecurity features: A footbath at the entrance, restricted visitors, and rodent- and bird-proof walls keep disease out.
• Hutches for rabbits: Hutches are raised above the ground, with wire mesh floors or slats that let droppings fall through.

5.1.3.5 Identification

Identification is marking individual animals or groups so that each can be recognised and linked to its records. It allows the farmer to follow growth, breeding, vaccination, and treatment of each animal, and to select breeding stock. Example: a pig farmer ear-tags each gilt so that her litter sizes can be recorded.

Common methods by species:

• Poultry: Leg rings, wing bands, or wing tags are used for breeding birds, and toe punching can mark chicks.
• Pigs: Ear tags, ear notching (cutting small notches in a set pattern in the ears), and tattooing are used.
• Rabbits: Ear tattoos or ear tags are placed in the ear, and hutch cards record each animal.
• Good practice: Use clean, disinfected equipment, mark young animals as early as is practical, and write the identity number in the record book at the time of marking.

A good identification system is permanent, easy to read, painless as far as possible, and does not injure the animal.

5.1.3.6 Tailing

Tailing, or tail docking, is the removal of part of the tail of piglets shortly after birth. It is done mainly to reduce tail biting, an injurious vice in which pigs bite the tails of others, causing wounds and infection. Example: a farmer docks the tails of piglets in the first week of life before they are moved into crowded growing pens.

Procedure:

1. Restrain the piglet gently and firmly, with another person helping if needed.
2. Wash and disinfect the clippers or sharp cutting tool before use.
3. Cut the tail cleanly, leaving a short stump, and avoid cutting too close to the body.
4. Apply an antiseptic or iodine solution to the wound to prevent infection.
5. Return the piglet to the sow and watch for bleeding or infection over the next days.
6. Record the date and number of piglets docked.

Tail biting is also reduced by avoiding overcrowding, providing enough feeders and water points, and giving the pigs materials to chew.

5.1.3.7 Castration

Castration is the removal or inactivation of the testes of male animals. It prevents unwanted breeding, makes males calmer and easier to handle, and in pigs avoids boar taint, an unpleasant smell and taste in the meat of some entire males. Example: a farmer fattening male piglets for pork castrates them while they are still young and light.

Practical points:

• Age: Castrate pigs when very young (in the first weeks), because healing is faster and stress and bleeding are lower.
• Rabbits: Bucks not needed for breeding may be castrated by a veterinarian or trained person to prevent fighting and unplanned mating.
• Procedure for piglets: Restrain the piglet, disinfect the scrotum, make a clean incision with a sterile blade, remove the testes, and treat the wound with antiseptic.
• Hygiene: Use a clean, sharp, disinfected blade and work on clean, dry bedding.
• Aftercare: Keep the animals in a clean pen and watch for swelling, bleeding, or infection.
• Qualified help: Seek advice from a veterinarian or animal health technician when unsure, to protect animal welfare.

5.1.3.8 Teeth clipping

Teeth clipping is the trimming of the sharp needle teeth of newborn piglets. Piglets are born with eight needle teeth that can wound the sow's udder, causing pain, so that she refuses to nurse, and can also injure littermates. Example: a farmer clips the teeth of every piglet within the first day after birth.

Procedure:

1. Disinfect the teeth clippers or side-cutting pliers.
2. Hold the piglet securely and open the mouth gently with a finger.
3. Clip the tips of the teeth straight across, taking off only the sharp points.
4. Avoid cutting down to the gum or leaving jagged edges, since this causes pain and infection.
5. Check the mouth for bleeding and return the piglet to the sow.
6. Disinfect the clippers between piglets.

In rabbits, incisors that grow too long (malocclusion) are trimmed with suitable clippers, and the affected animals are usually not used for breeding.

5.1.3.9 Debeaking

Debeaking, or beak trimming, is the removal of the tip of a chick's or bird's beak. It reduces feather pecking, cannibalism, and feed wastage, which become serious in crowded flocks and in layers. Example: a layer farmer has chicks beak-trimmed at a young age before they go to the growers' house.

Procedure:

1. Use a trained operator and a debeaking machine with a hot blade, kept clean and in good working order.
2. Trim chicks only when healthy, and avoid doing it at the same time as vaccination or other stress.
3. Hold the bird firmly with the head steady and the tongue protected.
4. Remove only the tip of the upper and lower beak, as advised by a veterinarian, without cutting too much.
5. Hold the cut surface against the blade briefly to seal it and stop bleeding.
6. Afterwards, fill feeders and drinkers deeper so that the birds can eat and drink easily, and watch for bleeding.
7. Record the date and number of birds treated.

Birds should also be given enough space, light control, and balanced feed to lower the need for trimming.

5.1.3.10 Sexing

Sexing is the identification of the sex of animals so that males and females can be separated for different purposes. It helps farmers raise pullets for eggs and cockerels for meat, and avoids early unplanned mating. Example: a rabbit farmer sexes the young at about two months and separates bucks from does.

Methods by species:

• Chicks: Vent sexing is done by trained sexers at day-old by examining the vent, and feather sexing is possible in some breeds because males and females differ in wing feather growth.
• Rabbits: Hold the animal safely and gently press on both sides of the genital opening. In the buck, a small round tube (the penis) appears, while in the doe, a slit-like opening is seen.
• Pigs: Sex is identified by looking at the external genitalia, since the male has a visible scrotum.
• Good handling: Handle animals gently and wash hands before moving to another animal to avoid spreading disease.
• Recording: Write the sex in the records of each animal or batch.

5.1.3.11 Iron injection

Iron injection is the giving of an iron preparation, usually iron dextran, to young piglets to prevent anaemia. Piglets are born with small iron reserves, sow's milk contains little iron, and they grow very fast, so they develop anaemia in the first weeks, especially when kept on concrete floors with no access to soil. Example: a farmer injects every piglet in the first days after birth.

Procedure:

1. Obtain an iron dextran product and read the label for the correct dose for a piglet.
2. Use a clean, sterile needle and syringe, and a new needle where possible, for each litter.
3. Restrain the piglet gently.
4. Disinfect the injection site, usually the muscle of the neck behind the ear.
5. Inject the correct dose deep into the muscle.
6. Return the piglet to the sow and record the date and dose.
7. If the product label advises a second dose, give it at the stated age.

Signs of iron deficiency include pale skin, weak growth, and laboured breathing. Do not overdose, as too much iron is harmful.

Chapter Summary

This chapter explored routine management practices for non-ruminant animals, beginning with clear definitions of key terms to establish a foundational understanding. The importance of these practices was emphasized, highlighting their role in maintaining animal health, productivity, and welfare. Various types of management practices were detailed, including critical activities such as feeding, vaccination, and deworming, which directly influence animal well-being. Housing was discussed as a vital factor in protecting animals from environmental stress and disease. Identification methods were covered to ensure proper record-keeping and traceability. Specific procedures such as tailing, castration, teeth clipping, debeaking, sexing, and iron injection were explained, each contributing to effective animal management and improved farm outcomes. Finally, practical steps for carrying out these routine management tasks were outlined to guide effective implementation in non-ruminant animal husbandry.