Animal Husbandry and Poultry: Breeds, Breeding and Feeding
What this domain tests
Breeds, reproduction cycles, feeding, housing and health cover of cattle, buffalo, goat and poultry, including the West Bengal breeds the syllabus names.
Breeds and reproduction
- Indigenous cattle - Sahiwal, Red Sindhi, Gir, Tharparkar; crossbred Haringhata cattle in West Bengal. Buffalo - Murrah. Goat - Black Bengal, the state's prolific meat goat. Poultry - Haringhata Black, Vanaraja and Gramapriya; ducks - Khaki Campbell and Nageswari.
- Estrus cycle in cattle is about 21 days; gestation is 280–285 days in cattle, 305–310 in buffalo, about 150 in goats. Hen eggs hatch in 21 days, duck eggs in 28.
- Colostrum within the first hour of birth supplies antibodies.
Feeding and health
A balanced ration combines roughage (straw, green fodder) and concentrate (oilcake, grain, mineral mixture). Feed conversion ratio (FCR) = feed consumed ÷ live-weight gain; a lower FCR is better. Vaccination: Marek's on day 1, Ranikhet (F1) around day 7, LaSota at 4–6 weeks, then IBD and fowl pox as per schedule.
Worked example
A broiler batch eats 480 kg feed and gains 240 kg live weight. FCR = 480 ÷ 240 = 2.0. Reasoning: divide feed by gain, not gain by feed; an answer of 0.5 would mean the birds gained more than they ate, which is impossible.
Traps that cost marks
Inverting the FCR; quoting buffalo gestation as 280 days; delaying colostrum; forgetting that vaccination protects only before exposure.