Animal Husbandry

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
• Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock. As such it is a vital skill
for farmers and is as much science as it is art.
• Animal husbandry deals with the care and breeding of livestock like buffaloes, cows, pigs, horses,
cattle, sheep, camels, goats, etc., that are useful to humans. Extended, it includes poultry farming and
fisheries.
• Fisheries include rearing, catching, selling, etc., of fish, molluscs (shell-fish) and crustaceans (prawns,
crabs, etc.). Since time immemorial, animals like bees, silk-worm, prawns, crabs, fishes, birds, pigs,
cattle, sheep and camels have been used by humans for products like milk, eggs, meat, wool, silk,
honey, etc.
• It is estimated that more then 70 per cent of the world livestock population is in India and China.
However, it is surprising to note that the contribution to the world farm produce is only 25 per cent,
the productivity per unit is very low. Hence, in addition to conventional practices of animal breeding
and care, newer technologies also have to be applied to achieve improvement in quality and
productivity.

DAIRY FARM MANAGEMENT

• Dairying is the management of animals for milk and its products for human consumption.
• In dairy farm management, we deal with processes and systems that increase yield and improve quality
of milk.
• Milk yield is primarily dependent on the quality of breeds in the farm. Selection of good breeds having
high yielding potential (under the climatic conditions of the area), combined with resistance to
diseases is very important.
• For the yield potential to be realised the cattle have to be well looked after they have to be housed
well, should have adequate water and be maintained disease free.
• The feeding of cattle should be carried out in a scientific manner with special emphasis on the quality
and quantity of fodder. Besides, stringent cleanliness and hygiene (both of the cattle and the handlers)
are of paramount importance while milking, storage and transport of the milk and its products.
• Nowadays, of course, much of these processes have become mechanised, which reduces chance of
direct contact of the produce with the handler.
• Ensuring these stringent measures would of course, require regular inspections, with proper record
keeping. It would also help to identify and rectify the problems as early as possible. Regular visits by
a veterinary doctor would be mandatory.

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Animal husbandry

Livestock -
• Domesticated animals, especially the farm animals, kept for profit are collectively called as livestock.
e.g. Cattle, Buffaloes, Sheep, Goat, Pigs, Horses, Camel etc.

Breed -
• A group of animals related by descent and similar in most characters like general appearance, features,
size, configuration, etc., are said to belong to a breed.
[A] Breeds of Cattle/Cow (Bos indicus) -
Depending upon the utility, the cattle are classified into the following groups -
1. Milch breeds 2. Draught breeds 3. General utility breeds
(Milk producing animal) (Used for working) (Can be used for both purpose)

[B] Exotic breeds of cattle-

Holstein-Friesian (Best milch breed in world),
Jersey, Guernsey, Ayrshire,
Brown swiss, Red Dane.

POULTRY
• Poultry is the class of domesticated fowl (birds) used for food or for their eggs. They typically include
chicken and ducks, and sometimes turkey and geese. Turkey is recently domesticated bird. The word
poultry is often used to refer to the meat of only these birds, but in a more general sense it may refer
to the meat of other birds too.
• Selection of disease free and suitable breeds, proper and safe farm conditions, proper feed and water,
and hygiene and health care are important components of poultry farm management.
• Poultry and poultry products are a rich source of animal protein & right kind of fats for good health.
• In our country poultry mainly means domestication of chickens for meat & eggs.

Breeds of Hen (Gallus gallus)-

Indigenous (Desi) or Indian breeds
Aseel, Ghagus, Karaknath, Brahma, Bursa, Black Bengal, Chittagong, Tellicherry etc.

Exotic Breeds
White leghorn, Rhode island red, Plymoth rock, New Hampshire, Sussex, Australop, Minorca etc.
1. Aseel is best game bird, it is used in cock fighting Leghorn
2. Poultry birds exclusively grown for meat are called broilers (plymoth rocks).
3. Poultry birds exclusively grown for eggs are called layers (white leghorn).
4. Indian breeds are slow growing, less efficient converters and produce fewer eggs (60 eggs/years).
5. The broilers with high nutritive value have been produced by cross breeding (heterosis)

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Common Diseases of Poultry

(i) Viral Diseases of Poultry - Fowlpox, Bird flu (H5N1-Virus), Ranikhet (New castle diseases) infectious
bronchitis, lymphoid leukosis and are common viral diseases of poultry.
(ii) Bacterial Diseases - Fowl cholera, Pullorum, Corryza, Mycoplasmosis and Spirochaetosis.
(iii) Fungal Diseases - Aflatoxicosis (Aspergillosis flavus), Brooder pneumonia, Aspergillosis and thrush.

ANIMAL BREEDING
• Breeding of animals is an important aspect of animal husbandry. Animal breeding aims at increasing
the yield of animals and improving the desirable qualities of the produce.

TYPES OF BREEDING
Types of breeding

Inreeding Out-breeding
Out crossing
Cross breeding
Interspectfic Hybridisation

• When breeding is between animals of the same breed it is called inbreeding, while crosses between
different breeds are called outbreeding.

(A) Inbreeding : Inbreeding refers to the mating of more closely related individuals within the same breed
for 4-6 generations.
The breeding strategy is as follows superior males and superior females of the same breed are
identified and mated in pairs.

The progeny obtained from such matings are evaluated and superior males and females among them
are identified for further mating.

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A superior female, in the case of cattle, is the cow or buffalo that produces more milk per lactation.
On the other hand, a superior male is the bull, which gives rise to superior progeny as compared to
those of other males. Try to recollect the homozygous purelines developed by Mendel.

Advantages of inbreeding
It increases homozygosity to evolve pure line variety.
It exposes harmful recessive genes that are eliminated by selection.
It helps in accumulation of superior genes and elimination of less desirable genes. This increases the
productivity of inbred population.

INBREEDING DEPRESSION
However, continued inbreeding, especially close inbreeding, usually reduces fertility and even
productivity. This is called inbreeding depression.

(B) Out-breeding : Out-breeding is the breeding of the

unrelated animals, which may be between individuals of
the same breed (but having no common ancestors), or
between different breeds (cross-breeding) or different
species (inter-specific hybridisation). Horse Donkey

(i) Out-crossing
(ii) Cross-breeding
(iii) Interspecific hybridisation

Mule

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(i) Out-crossing: This is the practice of mating of animals within the same breed, but having no common
ancestors on either side of their pedigree upto 4-6 generations. The offspring of such a mating is
known as an out-cross. It is the best breeding method for animals that are below average in
productivity in milk production, growth rate in beef cattle, etc. A single outcross often helps to
overcome inbreeding depression.

(ii) Cross-breeding: In this method, superior males of one breed are mated with superior females of
another breed. Cross-breeding allows the desirable qualities of two different breeds to be combined.
The progeny hybrid animals may themselves be used for commercial production. Alternatively, they
may be subjected to some form of inbreeding and selection to develop new stable breeds that may
be superior to the existing breeds. Many new animal breeds have been developed by this approach.
Hisardale is a new breed of sheep developed in Punjab by crossing Bikaneri ewes and Merino rams.

(iii) Interspecific hybridisation: In this method, male and female animals of two different species are
mated. In some cases, the progeny may combine desirable features of both the parents, and may be
of considerable economic value, e.g., Mules are sturdier and hardier than their parental species, that
are well suited for hard work in difficult terrains like mountainous regions.

Controlled breeding experiments are carried out using artificial insemination.

The semen is collected from the male that is choosen as a parent and injected into the reproductive tract of
the selected female by the breeder. The semen may be used immediately or can be frozen and used at a later
date. It can also be transported in a frozen form to where the female is housed. In this way desirable matings
are carried. Artificial insemination helps us overcome several problems of normal matings. Can you discuss
and list some of them?

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Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer Technology (MOET)

• The success rate of crossing mature male and female animals is fairly low even though artificial
insemination is carried out.
• To improve chances of successful production of hybrids, other means are also used. Multiple Ovulation
Embryo Transfer Technology (MOET) is one such programme for herd improvement.
• In this method, a cow is administered hormones, with FSH-like activity, to induce follicular maturation
and super ovulation instead of one egg, which they normally yield per cycle, they produce 6-8 eggs.
• The animal is either mated with an elite bull or artificially inseminated. The fertilised eggs at 8-32 cells
stages, are recovered non-surgically and transferred to surrogate mothers.
• The genetic mother is available for another round of super ovulation. This technology has been
demonstrated for cattle, sheep, rabbits, buffaloes, mares, etc. High milk yielding breeds of females
and high quality (lean meat with less lipid) meat-yielding bulls have been breed successfully to
increase herd size in a short time.

APICULTURE / BEE KEEPING

• Bee-keeping or apiculture is the maintenance of hives of honeybees for the production of honey. It
has been an age-old cottage industry.
• Bees are the pollinators of many of our crop species such as sunflower, Brassica, apple and pear.
• Keeping beehives in crop fields during flowering period increases pollination efficiency and improves
the yield beneficial both from the point of view of crop yield and honey yield.
• Although bees are very active throughout the year but in winter they become sluggish and are very
active in spring.

Important species of Honey-bees :

(i) Apis dorsata (Rock bee)
(ii) Apis indica (Indian Mona bee)
(iii) Apis florea (Bhringa bee)
(iv) Apis mellifera (European bee)

Procurement and rearing of honey-bees -

• The increased demand of honey has led to large-scale beekeeping practices; it has become an
established income generating industry, whether practiced on a small or on a large scale.
• Bee-keeping can be practiced in any area where there are sufficient bee pastures of some wild shrubs,
fruit orchards and cultivated crops. There are several species of honeybees which can be reared. Of
these, the most common species is Apis indica. Beehives can be kept in one's courtyard, on the
verandah of the house or even on the roof. Bee-keeping is not labour-intensive.
• Bee-keeping though relatively easy does require some specialised knowledge and there are several
organisations that teach bee-keeping. The following points are important for successful bee-keeping:
(i) Knowledge of the nature and habits of bees,
(ii) Selection of suitable location for keeping the beehives,

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(iii) Catching and hiving of swarms (group of bees),

(iv) Management of beehives during different seasons and
(v) Handling and collection of honey and of beeswax.
• Honey is a food of high nutritive value and also finds use in the indigenous systems of medicine. It is
the secondary product of apiculture.
• Honeybee also produces beeswax, which finds many uses in industry, such as in the preparation of
cosmetics and polishes of various kinds.
- Wax is the real and primary product of apiculture.

FISHERIES
• Fishery is an industry devoted to the catching, processing or selling of fish, shellfish or other aquatic
animals.
• A large number of our population is dependent on fish, fish products and other aquatic animals such
as prawn, crab, lobster, edible oyster, etc., for food.
• Some of the freshwater fishes which are very common include Catla, Rohu and common carp. Some
of the marine fishes that are eaten include Hilsa, Sardines, Mackerel and Pomfrets.
• Pisciculture is rearing catching & management of fishes.
• Culture fishery is the raising of fishes in tanks & ponds.
• Capture fishery is management of catching of fish without actually raising them.
• Aquaculture is rearing and management of useful aquatic plants and animals like fishes, oyster, prawns
mussel etc.
• Blue Revolution is an effort to increase fish yield in India.
• Fisheries has an important place in Indian economy.

By-Product of fish industry -

1. Isinglass is a high grade collagen produced from air bladder or swim bladder of certain fishes like cat
fishes & carps. The isinglass prepared in Russia is of best quality.
- Isinglas is used to clarify wine.
2. Shark Liver oil and Cod liver oil are very good source of vitamin A and D. Liver oil contains vit A, D, E
& C.
3. DHA (Docosa hexanoic acid) is also obtained from fish flour used as a supplement in baby food.
(Certain algae are also source of DHA) essential for brain functioning.
4. Skin of some fishes like shark (Shagreen) & rays are used for covering card cases, jewel boxes.

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Question-1: _________________is the management of animals for increasing yield and quality of milk and
its products.
(1) Dairy farm management
(2) Pisciculture
(3) Fishery
(4) Aquaculture
Answer: (1) Dairy farm management

Question-2: __________ of world livestock population is in India & China.

(1) More than 20 per cent
(2) Less than 20 per cent
(3) More than 70 per cent
(4) More than 90 per cent
Answer: (3) More than 70 per cent

Question-3: Mule is produced from -

(1) Male ass X female horse
(2) Male horse X female ass
(3) Male lion x female tiger
(4) Male tiger x female lion
Answer: (1) Male ass X female horse

Question-4: Which of the following is the aim of animal breeding ?

(1) To increase and improve the yield and desirable qualities of animals.
(2) To decrease and improve the yield and desirable qualities of animals.
(3) To increase and improve the yield and undesirable qualities of animals.
(4) To increase and improve the yield and desirable quantities of animals.
Answer: (1) To increase and improve the yield and desirable qualities of animals.

Question-5: Most common species of Honey bee is -

(1) Apis dorsata
(2) Apis mellifera
(3) Apis florea
(4) Apis indica
Answer: (4) Apis indica

Question-6: Important point/ points for successful bee-keeping -

(1) Knowledge of the nature and habits of bees
(2) Selection of suitable location for keeping the beehives
(3) Catching and hiving of swarms (group of bees)
(4) All of the above
Answer: (4) All of the above

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Question-7: Which of the following is a fresh water fish ?

(1) Rohu
(2) Common carp
(3) Catla
(4) All of the above
Answer: (4) All of the above

Question-8: Farming of aquatic organisms is called -

(1) Blue revolution
(2) Aquaculture
(3) Pisciculture
(4) Green revolution
Answer: (2) Aquaculture

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