Animal Production and Husbandry
What you must understand
Animal husbandry covers housing, feeding, breeding, health and handling of livestock - commonly poultry, pigs, goats, sheep, cattle and rabbits in the region. Learn the components of a ration (water, energy, protein, minerals, vitamins), the difference between maintenance and production rations, and why protein is critical for young stock and lactating animals. Understand breeding terms: oestrus cycle, gestation length, gestation period differences between species, litter size, culling and selection. Know the signs of health and of disease (appetite, droppings, posture, coat, temperature), the meaning of quarantine and vaccination, and basic biosecurity. Housing must give shelter, ventilation, space per animal, clean water and easy cleaning; deep litter and battery systems differ in welfare and disease control.
Traps in questions
- Confusing culling (removing inferior animals) with culling for disease control only.
- Mixing up oestrus (heat) with gestation.
- Assuming antibiotics cure viral diseases; they do not.
- Forgetting that clean, continuous water matters more than feed quantity in heat stress.
- Space allowance questions: overcrowding raises stress, cannibalism and disease spread.
Worked example
A doe (goat) is mated on 1 March. Goat gestation is about 150 days. Expected kidding = 1 March + 150 days ≈ 29 July. Rule of thumb: count whole months first, then add the remaining days, and always record the service date - breeding records drive feeding and health planning.