Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science: Breeds, Feeding, Reproduction and Vaccination
Animal Husbandry questions cover Rajasthan's breeds, ration balancing, reproduction and the vaccination calendar.
Breeds of Rajasthan
- Cattle: Rathi of Bikaner and Ganganagar with high-fat milk, Tharparkar of the Jodhpur-Barmer belt as a dual-purpose breed, plus Gir, Kankrej, Sahiwal and Red Sindhi used in crossbreeding.
- Buffalo: Murrah for high yield, Surti and Mehsana.
- Sheep: Chokla with the best carpet wool, Magra, Marwari, Jaisalmeri, Nali, Sonadi and Pugal.
- Goat: Sirohi, Marwari, Jakhrana, Sojat and Barbari.
- Camel: Bikaneri, Jaisalmeri, Nachna and Mewari; the National Research Centre on Camel is at Bikaner.
- Horse: Marwari with inward-curving ears, and Kathiawari.
Feeding
- A ration combines dry roughage, green fodder and concentrate, balanced for TDN and DCP.
- Mineral mixture and common salt are essential; bypass protein is used for high yielders.
- A cattle animal needs roughly 60-70 litres of water a day, more during lactation.
Reproduction
- Oestrus cycle is about 21 days in cattle and 21-23 in buffalo; heat lasts roughly 18 hours.
- Gestation: 280-285 days in cattle and 305-315 days in buffalo. Age at first calving should be 2.5-3 years.
- Artificial insemination uses frozen semen stored at minus 196 degrees Celsius in liquid nitrogen.
Health
- FMD is viral; HS and BQ are bacterial; PPR is viral and affects sheep and goats; mastitis is commonly caused by Staphylococcus aureus; brucellosis is zoonotic.
- FMD vaccination twice a year; HS and BQ annually before the monsoon.
Worked example
A crossbred cow yields 12 litres a day for 300 days. Lactation yield = 12 multiplied by 300 = 3,600 litres. With a 60-day dry period and a 365-day calving interval, the annual daily average is 3,600 divided by 365, about 9.9 litres per day.
Traps
- Treating PPR as a cattle disease or mastitis as viral.
- Mixing Chokla (sheep) with Jakhrana (goat).
- Confusing the oestrus cycle with the gestation period.