Small Ruminants, Swine, and Other Livestock
Small Ruminants, Swine, and Other Livestock tests management of goats, sheep, pigs and minor species. The exam often uses Maharashtra breeds and simple reproduction dates.
Core rules
- Goats are browsers; sheep are grazers. Goats have a shorter gestation (about 150 days) than sheep (about 148 days), while pigs farrow after about 114 days.
- Important Maharashtra goat breeds include Osmanabadi, Sangamneri, Berari and Konkan Kanyal. Sheep breeds include Deccani and Madgyal.
- Pigs are prolific, omnivorous and have a short oestrous cycle of about 21 days. Iron injection to piglets helps prevent anaemia; clean farrowing pens reduce piglet loss.
- Sheep are more susceptible to copper toxicity than goats; mineral supplements must be species-specific.
- Rabbits and ducks need separate housing and feeding standards; do not apply cattle rations to them.
Worked example
A doe is mated on 1 January. Adding the 150-day goat gestation gives a kidding date around 30–31 May. The reasoning uses species-specific gestation length, not the cattle figure of 280 days. The farmer can prepare a kidding pen and watch for udder enlargement about two weeks before the date.
Traps
Do not use cattle gestation for goats or sheep. Do not feed a sheep the same copper-rich mineral mix as a goat. Do not assume pigs can sweat efficiently; provide shade and water. Do not treat browsing and grazing behaviour as identical.