Animal Production: Husbandry, Health and Feeding
Livestock systems
Burkina Faso raises cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry under extensive, semi-intensive and intensive systems. Know the main local breeds (Zebu Peul, Baoulé taurin, Djallonké sheep, Sahelian goat, local chicken) and their adaptation traits. Understand reproduction: oestrus cycle (21 days in cattle), gestation length (about 283 days cattle, 150 days sheep and goats, 114 days pigs, 21 days chickens), and the importance of the breeding season.
Animal health
Master the major diseases: foot-and-mouth disease, pasteurellosis, anthrax, trypanosomiasis, Newcastle disease in poultry, and internal parasites. Know vaccination schedules, deworming, hygiene of housing, and quarantine of new animals. Trap: questions confuse signs of disease with signs of heat; another trap is confusing a viral disease (Newcastle) with a bacterial one (cholera) - Newcastle has no treatment, only vaccination.
Feeding
Understand the difference between maintenance and production rations, and the role of energy, protein, minerals and water. Know local feed resources: natural pasture, crop residues (millet straw, cowpea haulms), agro-industrial by-products (cottonseed cake, bran), and conserved fodder. Trap: candidates forget that water is the most limiting nutrient in the dry season.
Worked example
A farmer has 10 cattle averaging 250 kg live weight. A maintenance ration needs roughly 2.5 percent of body weight in dry matter: 250 × 0.025 = 6.25 kg DM per animal per day, so 62.5 kg DM for the herd. If millet straw provides 90 percent DM, the farmer needs about 69 kg of straw daily. This calculation is a classic exam question.