Small Ruminant and Pig Management
What this domain tests
Small Ruminant and Pig Management tests breeding, feeding, housing and health of goats, sheep and pigs. Maharashtra's Osmanabadi and Berari goats and Deccani sheep are common examples; pig questions often cover the 114-day gestation and iron supplementation.
Core rules
- Goat: puberty 6–8 months; estrus 18–21 days; gestation 150 days; 1–3 kids per kidding; weaning at 3 months.
- Sheep: gestation 147 days; shearing once or twice a year; avoid copper-rich supplements, which are toxic to sheep.
- Pig: puberty 6–8 months; estrus 21 days; gestation 114 days (3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days); litter size 8–12; inject iron to piglets at 3–5 days to prevent anaemia.
- Feeding: a milking doe needs 1–2 kg green fodder and 0.5–1 kg concentrate; pigs need 16–18% protein and clean water.
- Housing: dry floor, 1.5–2 sq m per goat and 2–3 sq m per pig; avoid dampness.
Worked example
A doe is mated on 1 October. Gestation is 150 days. October has 30 days, then November 30 (60), December 31 (91), January 31 (122) and February 28 (150). Kidding is due around 28 February. Prepare a kidding pen one week earlier and watch for udder enlargement and restlessness.
Traps that cost marks
Using cattle gestation figures; feeding copper to sheep; delaying colostrum to kids; not injecting iron to piglets; wet floors causing foot rot; keeping bucks with pregnant does.