CHARACTERISTICS DESIRABLE IN MALE AND FEMALE ANIMALS TO BE USED

FOR HERD IMPROVEMENT OR ESTABLISHMENT.

The performance of an animal is influenced by two major factors;

1. Genetic potential: The genetic potential of an animal is inherited from its

parents.

2. The environment, which includes: Feeding,Health, care and the ecological

conditions.

In selection and breeding animals with superior characteristics are selected and
allowed to mate.

In the process they transmit the superior characteristics to their offspring.

When this is done over a long period of time, it results in livestock improvement.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN SELECTING A BREEDING STOCK.

 Age

 Level of performance

 Physical Fitness

 Health

 Body Conformation

 Temperament or Behaviour

 Quality of products

 Mothering Ability

 Adaptability

 Prolificacy

Age

 Young animals,

 Those that have not parturated for more than 3-times, should be selected.
  They have a longer productive life.

 Old animals are poor breeders and low producers.

 Production and breeding efficiency decline with age.

Level of performance

 Animals with highest production level selected.

 Performance best indicated by records.

Good performance of animal indicated by;

 High milk, wool and meat production,

 Good mothering ability

 High prepotency which is the ability of a parent to pass good qualities to their
offsprings.

 The animals with poor performance should be culled.

 Good records kept and used by the farmer for this purpose.

Physical Fitness

Animals selected should be free from any physical defect e.g.

 mono-eyed,

 limping,

 irregular number of teats,

 scrotal hernia,

 defective and weak backline

Health

 Sick animals do not breed well and are expensive to keep.

 Animals that are resistant to diseases pass these characteristics to their

offsprings
Body Conformation

 Animals for breeding to be selected according to proper body conformation.

 A dairy cow should be wedge-shaped with a large udder, large hind quarters,
thin legs, long neck.

 Other visual charaacteristics for bulls includes well developed testes of equal
size, strong hind legs, active and not shy (a shy breeder is a bull that will
neither allow any bull to cross a cow nor cross itself).

Temperament or Behaviour

 Animals with bad behaviors should be culled. e.g Cannibalism,

aggressiveness, kicking, they must be docile

Quality of products

 Select animals that give products of high quality such as meat, wool, milk.

Mothering Ability

 Animals selected should have a good mothering ability,

 That is animals with good natural instinct towards their young ones.

 This will enable them to rear the young ones up to weaning.

Adaptability
Animals selected should be well adapted to the prevailing climatic condition in the
area e.g Arid and semi arid areas.

Prolificacy

 Animals selected should be highly prolific.

 That is, animals with the ability to give birth to many offsprings at a
time(larger litter).

 This is a quality that should be considered when selecting pigs and rabbits.

 The ancestry records assist to choose the prolific breedsfor mating

SELECTION OF CATTLE AND SHEEP

Selection in cattle

Characteristics to be considered are

Level Of Performance Which Include;

 Milk Yield Buter Content.

 Length Of Lactation Period.

 Calving Intervals.

 Age of the Animal, Fertility, physical Fitness, Health Of The Animal, Body
Conformation and suitability of the enterprise-milk or beef

Selection in sheep

Consider the following;

Level of performance which includes;

 Mothering ability ,Growth rate ,Wool quality,Carcass quality ,Twining rate Age
,Suitability to the enterprise-wool or mutton,Flocking instinct Health of the
animal,Physical fitness,Inheritable defects,Fertility,Inheritable defects,Fertility.

Selection in Goats

Consider the following:

 Fertility,Mothering ability,Growth rate,Twining rate,Carcass quality/dressing

percentage,Growth rate,Suitability to the,enterprise - milk or mutton,Health of
the animal,Age.

BREEDING SYSTEMS

Breeding is defined as the application of genetic principles to

improvement of farm animals.

They are categorized into two namely; Inbreeding and Outbreeding

1. Inbreeding
Mating of animals which are related i.e have certain alleles of genes in common.

Reasons:

 To increase genetic uniformity in a herd.

 To increase phenotypic uniformity.

 To get proven sires.

 To fix required characteristics when developing a new breed.

 used in animal of higher prepotency (stud Bulls)

 Limitations
It can bring about loss of hybrid vigour.
 It may lead to decline in fertility.
 It may lead to high rate of pre-natal mortality.

Systems of Inbreeding

Close Breeding: mating between very closely related animals, for example sib-
mating and parents sib-mating.

Line Breeding: mating of distantly related animals that had a common ancestor for
example cousins, halfbrothers/sisters, grand daughters and grand sires.

2. Outbreeding

Mating of animals which are not related.

Reasons:

 To introduce new genes in an existing breeding herd.

 To exploit heterosis resulting from a cross between two breeds.

 To develop a new breed or a grade animal.

Limitations

 Lack of uniformity in animals that result from outbreeding.

  Desirable characteristics may be lost due to variation.

Systems of Outbreeding

i). Cross-breeding

Mating of animals from two different pure breeds to attainhybrid viguor or heterosis
such as higher production rate, higher production rate, high growth, disease
resistance and heat tolerance.

ii).Out-Crossing

Mating of unrelated animals from the same breed for exxample fresian cow in kenya
with Semen of fresian bull from Britain.

iii) Upgrading/Grading up/Backcrossing

Mating where the female of a cow grade stock (locals) is mated with a pure breed
sire. The resultant animal is referred to as a high grade.

If the same sire mates with filial generation (F1-6) of its heifers, it will attain a pure
breed character. With Artificial insemination (A.I) the systemis used widely to
improve the local cattle for better milk production

Mating in Livestock

Mating in Cattle

 Heat signs occur every 21 days.

 The heat period last for 18-30 hours on average 24 hours.
 Cow should be served 12-18 hours after showing the first heat signs.

Management of breeding Ewe

The best strategy for feeding ewes before mating is to allow them to build up
steadily or to maintain body condition, rather than keep them hungry and attempt to
flush them in the last three weeks. Good body condition is necessary for optimum
ovulation rate and also to build up body reserves which can be drawn on during
pregnancy, when feeding is generally of poorer quality and more expensive.
Overfeeding on the other hand can be counterproductive, since it may have a
depressive effect upon ovulation rate. Healthy lightweight ewes which are flushed
well will generally out-perform fat ewes.

Selecting replacement ewes, does and cows

It is wise to select female breeding replacements from among the offspring of ewes
which have had trouble-free lambings. Flock records should be consulted to avoid
selecting replacements from ewes which have had any lambing difficulty.

At least two months should be allowed between weaning and mating, so

that ewes/cows/does have time to recover from the rigours of pregnancy and
lactation. This is particularly pertinent to ewes suckling twins or triplets, when it may
be tempting to allow lambs to continue sucking if ewes are still milking well. This
temptation should be strongly resisted, since these ewes will have lost considerable
body condition and need adequate time to make it up again before mating.

Flushing Beef Cattle. Flushing is a management term for providing high quality
feeds, usually grains prior to the start of the breeding to increase reproductive
performance

Steaming up is the feeding of a pregnant animals such as a dairy cow with a high
plane of nutrition 6 to 8 weeks before calving/ giving birth.

Heat Signs

Heat or Oestrus: Signs of Heat

 Mounting Other Cows.

 Mucus Discharge.
 Swelling and Reddening of the Vulva.
 Bellowing, Restlessness, and Trailing.
 Rubbed Tailhead Hair and Dirty Flanks.
 Chin Resting and Back Rubbing.
 Sniffing Genitalia.
 Head Raising and Lip Curling.
 Restlessness.
  Mounting on others and when mounted on she stands still. Rise in body
temperature.
 Drop in milk production in lactating cows. Vulva swells and becomes reddish.
 Clear or slimy mucus from the vulva.
 Bellowing or mooing frequently.
Methods of Service in Livestock

Natural Mating

Advantages:

 It is more accurate.
 It is less laborious.
 Useful when heat signs of females cannot be easily detected.

Disadvantages

 Inbreeding is not easily controlled.

 Transmission of breeding diseases.
 Extra feed for the male is required.
 Large males can injure small females.
 Wastage of semen.
 It is cumbersome and expensive to transport a bull to remote areas.

Artificial insemination

Introduction of semen into the female reproductive tract by artificial means.

Advantages

 There is economical use of semen.

 It controls transmission of breeding diseases.
 Sires that are unable to serve cows due to heavy weight or injury can produce
semen to serve cows.
 It prevents large bulls from injuring small cows. It reduces the expenses of
keeping a male animal.
 A small scale farmer who cannot afford to buy a superior bull can have the
cows served at a low cost.
  Semen can be stored for long. It helps to control inbreeding.
 It eliminates the threat of keeping dangerous bulls from the farm.
 It makes research work easier.

Disadvantages

 Harmful characteristics can be spread quickly by one bull to the offsprings.

 It requires skilled labour.
 Low chance of conception due to death of semen during storage.
 It is laborious:

Embryo Transplant

It is the implantation of an embryo (fertilized ova) from a high quality female

(donor) in the uterus of a low grade female (recipient).

Advantages

 Faster multiplication of an animal with superior characteristics . It is easier to

transport embryos than the whole animal.
 Embryos can be stored for a long period awaiting the availability by recipient
females.
 It stimulates milk production in a female (recipient) that was not ready to
produce milk.
 Low grade animals can be used in production and rearing of high quality
animals. Offsprings of a superior female can spread quickly in an area.

Disadvantages

 It is expensive.
 It requires skilled personnel.
 It requires special equipment for fertilization and storage of embryos.

Pregnancy
is period between fertilization of ova and the expulsion of the foetus through the
vulva. Also called gestation period. In cattle gestation period is 270-285 days.
Ends with the birth of a calf.
The reproductive tract undergoes a period of rest during which it is repaired and
returns to normal. During pregnancy, hormone called progesterone is produced by
the placenta to maintain the foetus in the uterus.

Animal Length of days

Cow 270-285 Days

Sow 113-117

Ewe/Goat 150

Rabbit 28-32

Methods of Pregnancy Diagnosis:

 Signs of Pregnancy - exhibited and detected externally.

 Symptoms of Pregnancy - per rectum / vaginum examination.
 Laboratory Tests - Presence of certain hormones tested in laboratory.

A. Signs of Pregnancy:

 Cessation of Oestrus cycle.

 Sluggish temperament
 Tendency to fatten.
 Gradual drop in milk yield.
 Gradual increase in Animal weight
 Increase in size of udder.
 Waxy - appearance of teats in last month of pregnancy

Confirmation of pregnancy

 It can be confirmed by laboratory tests such as:

 Use of ultrasonic devices
 Progesterone assay
 Pattern of Vaginal Smear
  Immunological Techniques
 Barium chloride test
 Pregnant mare serum test (PMS)
 Scanning

5. Parturition in Livestock

Parturition is the act of giving birth in female animals.

Signs of Parturition

 Restlessness,
 Enlarged or swollen vulva,
 Clear mucus discharge from the vulva.
 Slackening of the pelvic muscles,
 Full and distended udder,
 Thick milky fluid from the teats,
 A water bag appears and bursts just before calving.

6. Management of Calves, lamb and kids

Reviving Chilled Newborns: Newborns are subjected to an extreme temperature

change, even if they are born in moderate weather. They have just spent nearly 5
months inside their dams at a temperature of 102° F, then they are suddenly
dropped into the outside environment that may be 100 degrees cooler. This sudden
change may be one of the most significant causes of death in very young newborns.

First, put the newborn in a warm place in a barn, shelter, vehicle, camp, or house. If
possible, catch the mother or identify her with a dye pistol (a squirt gun with human
hair dye), chalk, or paint mark for later identification. When there are several
newborns to deal with, also identify the lamb/kid/calf with spray paint, chalk, or
crayon.

Giving Colostrum: Give a minimum of 150 mLs (5 oz) of natural colostrum as soon
as possible. This amount should be given at least 2 more times in the first 24 hours
of life.
Taking care after birth and providing colostrum:

1. Make sure the calf/lamb/kid starts to breathe immediately after birth.

2. If the new born is slow in starting to breathe, you can clear mucous from its
nose, tickle the nose of it with a straw and vigorously rub the chest of the new
born to stimulate it.
3. It is good to show the young animal to the mother by placing it near her head
and allow her to lick it
4. The navel of the calf/lamb/kid should be disinfected by dipping it in iodine
5. When the calf/ lamb/ kid starts to stand up you should assist it to suckle, this
helps with expulsion of the afterbirth
6. The first milk produced by the dam is very thick and yellow and
is called colostrum; this colostrum is like an oral vaccination, it transfers
immunity from the mother to the young which protects the calf/lamb/kid during
the first 3 to 6 months. Colostrum is very nutritious, it contains much more
protein, vitamins and minerals than normal milk and also activates movement of
the intestine and helps with passing of the first faeces. The calf/kid/lamb gets a
good start in life when fed enough colostrum.
7. The calf/lamb/kid should suckle for the first time not later than 3 hours after
birth. - it is good to feed a lot of colostrum to the calf/ lamb/ kid.

 A calf should drink at least two litres of colostrum during the first 6 hours,
 The newborns need to receive minimum 10% of their birth weight,
 Colostrum must be given within the first 3hours after birth,
 If the calf/lamb/kid receives colostrum too late, the antibodies in it cannot
pass the intestinal wall anymore and the newborn's immunity is very weak
and it may die easily.

8. In cattle expulsion of the afterbirth is normally complete 2 hours after birth, but
it can sometimes take up to 8 hours
9. To avoid onset of milk fever in high milk yielding cattle, it is useful to add a small
handful of dry agricultural lime (preferably mixed calcium and magnesium lime)
 to the first feed of the new mother cow. (Don't add extra calcium in the dry
period!)

Things NOT to do when the animal is giving birth

Many people interfere with birth too early or when it is unnecessary causing more
harm than good. Allow the cow, sheep or goat sufficient time and quietness to
deliver her calf, lamb or kid.

1. Do not chase or cause stress to the animal before and during birth, making the
dam nervous can disrupt labour and delay birth by many hours
2. Do not interfere before the water has broken; as long as the water has not
broken the calf/lamb/kid will stay alive inside the mother for a long time (up to
12 hours). If there seems to be no progress at all after the waterbag has become
visible (= the waterbag does not move through the vulva and the water does not
break) you must wait at least one hour before checking the position of the calf.
3. If birth progresses normally do not attempt to pull. Unnecessary pulling can
easily cause injury to the newborn and the mother
4. When the animal relaxes, do not try to pull out the calf/lamb/kid by
force, labour happens at intervals and you are not supposed to pull when the
mother rests; hard pulling on the calf/lamb/kid can easily cause prolapse of
the uterus which frequently causes death of both, the mother and the young
5. If the afterbirth does not come out normally do not try to put your hands in and
don't try to pull it out, you will cause damage and bleeding to the uterus and
may easily infect yourself with Brucellosis by touching the placenta
6. When you see milk drops on the teats, do not start to milk the cow before
calving, this will make her colostrums useless for the calf

When there is no colostrum - how to prepare colostrum substitute

If the mother does not give any colostrum milk or has died during birth you can
prepare colostrums substitute using the following recipe (mix ingredients):
  1 egg beaten (the egg must be from your own chicken, it contains chicken
antibody against many diseases that occur on your farm, these antibodies
protect the calf like a vaccine)
 300 ml clean water (boiled and then allowed to cool down)
 2 ml (1/2 teaspoon) castor oil
 600 ml milk from another cow

Feed the artificial colostrums at least three times per day for the first three days
after birth, prepare fresh ones every time.

Helping Mothers Own Their Newborns: Persuading a ewe/doe/cow to claim her

newborn(s) can sometimes be very difficult. The problem is greater for new mothers
that are giving birth for the first time.

Why does an ewe/doe/cow fail to claim her offspring? There is no clear cut answer
to this question. She may disown one or all of her newborns for a variety of reasons:

 An ewe/doe/cow may deliver one baby in one part of the barn and a second
baby in another part of the barn.
 The newborn may wander away from the mother before she has fully
recovered from delivery.
 The ewe/doe/cow may have a very painful udder because of swelling, caking,
or infection.
 The teats may be cut or chapped, causing the ewe/doe/cow a great deal of
discomfort.
 A ewe/doe/cow that has been in labor for a long-time may not be interested
in her newborn for quite a while after delivery.
 Sometimes an ewe/doe/cow may run a high temperature for several days
after lambing/kidding/calfing and not show much interest in her newborn(s).
 Sometimes ewes/does/cow that are very nervous and flighty may present
problems.
 Some young ewes/does/cow giving birth for the first time may be frightened
by the newborn(s).
Weaning young suckling animal Off of Milk and General Management:
Weaning often occurs at 8-12 weeks; well-grown newborns can be weaned after 4
or 5 weeks of feeding milk for calves. Lambs have been successfully weaned as
early as 14 days; kids as early as 28 days. Early weaning is usually defined
as weaning prior to 90 days of age; 60 days is most common. A producer may also
decide to wean the newborn once it has reached a "benchmark" weight of 2.5 times
its birth weight. To help develop the rumen, be sure to have the lamb/kid on an
appropriate creep feed prior to weaning time. Weaning should be abrupt, and it is
best to get the lambs/kids on a dry starter like alfalfa pellets or grain mix, instead of
straight onto lush pasture. These weaned lambs/kids/calves can be placed on
pasture after 7-14 days on dry starter. Good quality hays (preferably legumes, i.e.
alfalfa, clover, pea, peanut, or vetch) or silage may also be used. Lambs/kids/calf
being fed harvested roughages like hay or silage should also have access to grain or
grain mixes. All lambs/kids/calves should have free access to clean, fresh water and
a coarse ground, trace mineral salt at all times.

Problems Associated with Weaning

Nutritional Stress: Results from change of feed resource from milk which is highly
digestible (high quality) to non- based diet feed resource which might be less
digestible compared to milk, not be balance with respect to proteins, carbohydrate,
vitamins and minerals etc.

Physical Stress: Results from act of crying (Mooing in cattle, Bleating/baa in sheep
and goat) or wondering or looking for feed resources which may not be ready
supplied by farmer based on production system.

Health Stress; Results from risk of infection from feed resources and environment
compared to suckled milk of which is nature‟s most perfect food with less microbial
infection resources, if teats are not infected.

Psychological Stress; This result from physical separation of lamb/kid/calf from

ewe/doe/cow and refusal to allow lamb/kid/calf to suckle.

After weaning activities

Separation of calves, lambs or kids into groups based on sex or gender, weight or
productive activity they are to be put into such as; selection for replacement stock,
meat, milk production, wool production in case of sheep, for traction x or sporting
activity (Cattle). The animals are then fed, watered, housed, managed with respect
to record keeping and other husbandry activities as may be desired, that is;
castration, dehorning, hoof trimming and appropriate health care practices etc.

RUMINANT LIVESTOCK FEEDING

After weaning cattle, sheep and goats may be grazed on paddocks with planted
grasses and legumes, or allowed to graze on natural grass lands supplemented with
concentrates or meal mixes or cut grass or legumes, silage or agric and agro-
industrial by products or hay and silage plus prepared meals from cereals, oil seed
cakes, minerals, vitamins or other protein feed ingredient resources under housing
condition in intensively managed production systems

Dry feeding

Use of cereal crop remains and stalks as feed;

b. Feeding of hay during the dry season;

c. Silage;

d. Improving feeds with additives such as molasses and mineral licks;

e. Supplementary feeding with concentrates, meal mixes, minerals etc.

Commonly used grasses and legumes on which cattle, sheep and goat graze are:

 grasses in swampy areas;

 Sorghum;
 Sudanese Grass;
 Guinea grass
 Elephant grass
  Hyparrhenea (jaragua);
 Legume plants such as centrosema and calopogonium
 Alfalfa
 stylosanthes hamata

- oil seed cake (olives cake, peanuts for peanut cake, groundnut cake, coconut
cake, grapes for wine (pomace), and soybeans cake Other common press cakes
come from flax seed cake (linseed), cottonseed cake, and sunflower seed cake.
However, some specific kinds may be toxic, and are rather used as fertilizer, for
example cottonseed contains a toxic pigment, gossypol, that must be removed
before processing) other protein sources are brewers‟ dry grain, corn gluten.

Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are
raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective
breeding, castration, hoof trimming, dehorning/disbudding, cleaning of kraals/pens
(waste management) dipping or spraying against ectoparasite based on
recommended practices, deworming of young animals, provision of biosecurity, and
the raising of livestock.

The purpose of Animal Husbandry best practice is to ensure that the farming
practices of the establishment provide greater confidence in consumers‟ expectations
that the final products are safe and fit for human consumption, while ensuring
health safety and comfort to both the farm workers and the animals, without any
degradation to the environment.

Management

Record keeping of all farm practices and using the data for decision making on
animal agriculture being practiced.

Identification

Animal identification is an important management tool in raising and caring for

livestock. Records allow producers to track animal growth, treatment records and
movement as well as respond to disease outbreak if needed. Because some animal
diseases have human health implications, it is essential to properly identify animals
to help prevent and eradicate diseases.

Proper animal identification is more than just a requirement, it is essential in

providing animal traceability. With an ever-growing number of zoonotic disease
(diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans), there is an increased
need for livestock producers to be accountable for the locations of animals raised,
purchased and sold. When identification guidelines are properly followed, great
progress is made to eradicate diseases.

General Methods of Animal Identification: In general, there are two methods of

animal identification, permanent and temporary.

Permanent Ear notches (Swine), Tattoos (Cattle, Sheep and Swine), Hot Iron or
Freeze Branding (Cattle only)

Temporary (for Cattle, Sheep and Swine) Ear tags, Paint brands, Marking
crayon/paint marks, Back tag.

Record Keeping

Record keeping is a necessary element of good livestock business management.

With no written records, farmers have to depend on their memory while making
decisions regarding their farm practices. But, memories can become unreliable after
a few days, months or years. Thus, recording of the performances of the animals
can be done easily if animals have some identifications / numberings. Thus, both
animal recording and identification are always required. There are several useful
records such as production and financial transactions in the dairy enterprise. If we
know what is happening on the dairy farm we need to maintain some useful farm
records. Farm records are like the progress report cards students get at school. If
farmers have farm records, they can tell how well they are managing their farm in
comparison to other farmers. They can also see the strengths and weaknesses in
their farm operations. It is also important to have accurate facts and figures when
borrowing money, seeking government loans and tax returns.

Advantages of record keeping at farm

Records provides basis for evaluation of animals from past records hence helps in
selection and culling animals

 Helps in preparing pedigree and history record of animals.

 Helps in assessing the past records and designing better breeding plans to
check inbreeding, selecting superior parents and helps in better replacement
and culling practices.
 Helps in progeny testing of bulls.
 Helps in analysing feeding cost and benefits from animal product outputs.
Hence helps to formulate economic feeding strategies for optimal
productions.
 Helps in detection of abnormal conditions or disease status of the herd that
leads to loss in body weight, loss in milk production etc.
 Helps in finding the commonly occurring diseases in the herd and thus to
formulate in time precautionary measures like vaccination, deworming etc.
 Helps in fixing proper prices of animal meant for purchase and sale.
 Helps in overall better supervision and management of herd.
 Helps in ascertaining the income and expenditure (economics) of dairy farm.
 Helps in estimating the cost of milk production.
 Helpful in comparing the efficiency of labour and herd with other farms.
 To compare the herd performances in different years to determine the
amount of profit/loss each year and setting future goals/directions for the
farm.

Types of records to be maintained at a dairy farm

1. Livestock register: This register records the number of the animals at the farm
along with their identification number, date of birth, sire number, dam number,
calf and its sex, date of calving, date of purchase, date of sale/auction/death.
2. Calving register: This register maintains the records of calving that take place in
the farm. It maintains dam and sire number of the calf, calf number, sex and its
date of birth and any other remarks like type of calving (normal/abnormal).
3. Daily milk yield register: This register records the daily milk yield performance of
the cows.
4. Calf register: maintains the records of calf at the farm, calf number, sex of the
calf, sire number, dam number, birth weight etc.
5. Growth record of young stock: this record maintains the weight of the young
stocks at different intervals.
6. Daily feeding register: This register records the amount concentrate, dry fodder,
green fodder and other feeds given to the animals daily.
7. Herd health register: This register maintains the record of the diseased animals
along with history, symptoms, diagnosed disease, treatment given and name of
the veterinarian who treated.
8. Cattle breeding register: This register maintains the details of breeding practices
in the farm such as cow number, date of calving, date of heat and services along
with the bull number, date of successful service, pregnancy diagnosis records,
expected date of calving, actual date of calving, calf number etc.
9. Animal History sheet: This maintains animal number, breed, date of birth, sire
and dam number, lactation yield records, date of drying, date of disposal/death,
cause of disposal etc
What is it to 'keep records'?

To keep records is simply to collect relevant information that can help you to take
good decisions and to keep track of activities, production and important events on a
farm. Records can be about any performance of the animals, economic
development, or any activity of the farmer or veterinarian. It is important to keep
record keeping simple, and to keep records systematic. If records should be of use
for the farmer, than they must be complete (none missing), they should be true
(collected carefully). When record can't be trusted because they are not complete or
true, time should not be spent on it at all.

The records can:

  Be used in determining profitability of various techniques used at the farm
 Be used to keep your memory on what you did and/or what happened
 Be used in decision making, especially on a strategic level
 Be used to compare the efficiency of use of inputs, such as land, labour and
capital, for example when implementing a new / alternative systems
 Help the farmer / investor in improving the efficiency of farm's operations

The real value is to support the farmer and the advisors to keep track and take
decisions. Too often, records are only kept for the purpose of official reporting, e.g.
to the Ministry headquarters for the parasitical and not used as a tool on the
farm/ranch for making the decision in time.

The records should be simple, easy and quick to interpret, and then they can be
supplemented with remarks which can explain some unusual events or
findings.

What can records be used for?

If a farmer wants to build a financially successful livestock enterprise, record keeping

is a must. The records can be used to further develop the farm and the herd, and
thereby the sector in the country. For many farmers, it helps to think of their farm
as a business, and to see that good care and good management actually also
influences the production and profitability of the farm.

Records are important in (animal) farming because:

 To keep track of all animals (Identification records)

 Evaluation of livestock for selection (breeding records; financial records;
production records)
 Control of inbreeding and aid in breeding planning (breeding records)
 Aid in selecting animals with the right characteristics for breeding (production,
health, feed efficiency) to improve the herd or flock
 To rationalize labour
  Aids in feed planning and management
 Aids in disease management; keeping track about treatment (disease records)
 Aids in finding the effective treatments
 To assess profitability/losses (financial records)
 Improves bargaining power on products, because you can see the investment
and the price of the production (financial records)
 Credit/loan access (financial records)
Types of Records

The major types of records are all described below:

1. Identification
2. Breeding
3. Production
4. Feeding
5. Disease and treatment records
6. Financial records

1. Identification Records
 An identification method should be cheap, not harming the animal,reliable to
read at a distance of at least 2-3 metres and by preference be permanent.
 Identification of the animals is of course not necessary if a farm has only one
animal of a certain species, sex and age group.
 Identification of animals is usually through use of numbering, by marking of
the animal and by description of certain characteristics of the animal. The
latter is the most animal friendly, and can be done in practice by drawing e.g.
the different color spots of the animals, or certain cowlicks, or taking photos.
Giving the animals names and keeping a table with the characteristics of the
animal and link it to the name can work in many cases.
 Intrusive methods of identification can be subdivided into 2 categories:
permanent at the animal itself (which affect the animals most when doing it)
and non-permanent.
a) Permanent Identification
  Tattooing (ear or under)
 Brand (Hot iron, freeze and chemicals)
 Ear-notching, Punching
 Tags (Ear-tags, Flank-tags, tail-tags and Brisket-tags; permanent if they do
not fall off)
b) Non-Permanent identification
 Collars or neck or leg straps (chains)
 Paint and dyes (can be very animal friendly, but if the paint is full of
chemicals it is not healthy and is not recommended, please check)

2. Breeding Records

The importance of breeding records is to measure the productive efficiency of the

herd and to enable selection. For example, many farmers would like a cow or a goat
which gives birth yearly, or a sow 2 litters per year. Therefore, an accurate up-to-
date breeding record of each individual female is necessary. An indicator for
fertility/efficiency of mating or inseminations is e. g the number of matings or
inseminations needed to get an animal pregnant.

If many matings or inseminations are needed, it can indicate that there is a problem
with the female or the male, or it can indicate that the observation of the heats is
not efficient, or the semen, the technique of insemination is insufficient, or the
feeding is imbalanced. If the cow is taken to a bull, it can be the cow or the bull
which has a problem. Data for insemination or service with a male also is needed to
be reminded when the female should be prepared before giving birth, e.g. like in the
cow's case, to be dried off in time.

The most important data in breeding records include:

 Pedigree/parentage (name or other identification of parents and grand

parents)
 Fertility (dates of all services (this also allows calculating the number of
services per conception), dates of giving birth (allows to calculate the age of
first calving/giving birth and the period between successive birth)
  Birth details (number and weight of newborns, was assistance necessary?
Stillborn / perinatal deaths/vitality score)
3. Production Records.

These records are useful in measuring the performance of the animals and the herd.
It contributes greatly to the economic appraisal of the enterprise. It can help
farmers take decisions on investments, based on how many animals produce how
much on the farm, so how much surplus can the family expect?

The records can also be used by the whole sector to improve the genetics of the
animals in the country,

With specific focus on the production.

Production records are kept of:

 Animal products like eggs per hen per week and milk per cow per day in
combination with milk quality data, and of
 Animals which are slaughtered, in terms of for example weight, weaning age
and weight, daily gain, production period, and how many animals e.g. per
litter reached slaughtering.
Production records are also necessary when farmers start selling products together,
to know how much is available every day or every week or in a certain period.

4. Feeding Records

Feeding records give information about the amount, type and

quality of the feed.

Feeding records can be used both for day-to-day management and adjustment of
the feed ration. Together with the production data, it can for example be used to
adjust if a milking cow needs more concentrate, or help in decisions about
examining animals which seem to not grow, but still eat very much. It can also be
used for planning of activities related to feed conservation and establishment of
Grazing areas in the following season.

The important feeding records are:

  Produced and available fodder on farm; quantity and if possible, quality of the
different feeds. Including content of energy, protein and minerals.
 A feeding plan which tells how much feed is required per day per animal in
different age groups (grown-ups, newborn, pregnant the first time etc.) or
per group of animals (hens):
 Left-over feed if any (per head and per feed, if possible)
 Spoilage (per batch)
4. Disease and treatment records
Disease and treatment records are necessary to keep track of the disease events in
which each animal is involved during its lifetime. This can guide to better
management practices by leading the attention to repeated events or certain
vulnerable groups of animals over time (e.g., it can show how animals almost always
need disease treatments during weaning). It provides information about the health
status of each individual animal and the whole heard, and it can help ensuring
important vaccinations given at the right time.

On basis of the disease and treatment records, success of interventions both for
prevention and treatment can also be evaluated.

After treatment with dewormers, acaricides and antibiotics and other medicines,
milk, eggs and meat cannot be eaten by humans for some time. The records are
essential for keeping track of this, e.g. when this withdrawal time is over. In organic
animal husbandry, the withdrawal time is normally longer than the ordinary
withdrawal time (double, or three times).

Disease and treatment records can for example involve:

 Disease occurrence and date

 All handlings to cure diseases (also non chemical treatment)
 Vaccination
 Dipping/spraying
 Treatment
 Deworming
 Post-mortem
6. Financial Records.

The records of the costs and earnings related to the animal farming be kept for cash
analysis and enterprise appraisal.

In addition to this, keeping records of the animal enterprises is an important part,

because it can show whether it gives an income to the farmer or not. If records are
kept particularly for the animal herd as an income generating commodities, it will
help the farmer to see what they invest in it, and what it costs to produce it. Also, in
relation to the animal farm, an investment is more than an expenditure, an
investment hopefully enables and improves the production in the future. It is also
important to count approximately how many hours of work it has taken in the animal
herd, because it can help price setting.

Economic records are of paramount interest in providing the farmer with information
concerning the profitability of his farm. Moreover they are of great help in decision
making at the right time. For example, is it profitable to feed concentrates, is it
advisable to apply for a loan or credit to invest in a machinery or technology?

Answering these questions is only possible if adequate records are available.

Moreover, for tax purposes and for the purpose of getting loans or credit, economic
records are required.

Record keeping for Cattle production

Excellent records are the cornerstone of building a financially successful beef/Dairy

enterprise and they will be of great help in the development of the Beef/dairy
husbandry and beef/dairy industry of any country. In summary, the importance of
good record keeping include:

 Aids in efficient management of the herd

 Improves bargaining power on products
 Evaluation of livestock for selection
 Adding value to livestock
 Control of inbreeding and aid in breeding planning
 Aid in culling low performers
  To assess profitability/losses
 Aid in gross margin analysis
 Credit/loan access
 To rationalize labour
 Aids in disease management
 Aids in feed planning and management

Castration: Castration is defined as the destruction or removal of the testes,

epididymis, and a part of spermatic cord from a male animal e.g. ram, buck, bull.
Male animals that are reserved for fattening and those that are not needed for
breeding or mating should be castrated.

Importance of Castration

1. To prevent inbreeding

Inbreeding leads to poor growth rate, poor food conversion ratio, and some other
genetic defects.

2. To prevent unwanted pregnancies

Castration prevents unplanned pregnancies and also mating of young female animals
before they attain good body weight, size and age for pregnancy and parturition
(giving birth).

3. To improve the safety of employees, producers, and other animals.: Note

that castrated animals are often less aggressive and they can be handled with ease.

4. To reduce the taint odour or goaty smell in the meat of male animals:
For example, the meat from intact bucks (goat) always has strong „goaty‟ smell while
it is lesser in castrated bucks.
5. To improve weight development and carcass quality: This point is one of
the effects of castrating male animals. A castrated animal such as cattle, goats and
sheep from research develops more fat tissue. If castration is done late maybe after
the animal has attained sexual maturity, the growth of such an animal could be
retarded and its lean meat quality will also decrease.

Why Castration should be Done at an Early Age

Castration should be carried out at the youngest age because the stress of the
operation will negatively affect growth in older animals. You can castrate
kids, lambs, calves, as soon as you observe and confirm descend of the testicles into
the scrotum, which could take between few days to three weeks of age.
There is no need to administer pain reliever or sedation if castration is carried out at
this age.

The operation becomes complex and more painful with older ages and the
possibility of complication increases. In addition, castration is easier, and
the wound heals quickly in younger animals. It is recommended that
castration should be performed on animals at less than 3 weeks of age.
Unfortunately, many farmers choose to castrate their male animals at an older age
when the animal is matured. They give the reason that castration at an early age
would lead to stunted growth, or it would affect good body conformation.

Methods of Castration:

Surgical

One of the most common method of castration used is surgical castration. This
method requires very good restrain because it involves incising the scrotum with a
scalpel followed by removal of the testes either by twisting (in calves less than 90
kg) or an emasculator (for calves greater than 90 kg). This is a popular method of
castration because it ensures the complete removal of all the testicular tissue.
Advantages of surgical castration are that surgical incisions tend to heal
faster than wounds from rubber bands, and the assurance that al the
testicular tissue is removed.

Disadvantages include more pain than with a Burdizzo, risk to the surgeon,
more time to perform, blood loss, and risk of infection with open wounds.
This method is not generally recommended for calves/kids/lambs that will be housed
in wet or muddy conditions.

2) Burdizzo Clamps

Burdizzo clamps work by crushing the vas deferens and blood supply to the testicles.
Without a blood supply, the testicles die and fall off. Again, very good restrain is
essential because the Burdizzo clamp must remain in place for at least 10 seconds in
order to completely crush the artery and prevent hemorrhage after the clamps are
removed. Burdizzo clamps cane be sued to castrate calves 1 month of age or older
because this is when the spermatic cord can be palpated. It is necessary to palpate
the spermatic cord within the scrotum because this is the structure that must be
crushed between the jaws of the Burdizzo. After locating the spermatic cord, guide it
to the outside edge of the scrotum and place the jaws of the Burdizzo over the
spermatic cord about 1-1.5 cm above the testicle. Clamp down and count to 10
before releasing. Double check to make sure that the cord was crushed before
moving to the other side and repeating the procedure. Stagger the pinched areas to
reduce acute pain. The testicles initially swell but then shrink and shrivel after about
6 weeks.

3) Elastic Band Castration

This technique works by cutting off the blood supply to the testes and killing the
tissue. After a time, the testicles and scrotum fall away from the body. With latex
bands, the scrotum should drop off within seven weeks after castration. Elastic band
castration using an elastrator is used on calves less than 3 weeks of age while a
Callicrate or EZE can be used to place bands on older calves. There is some
controversy regarding the used-on banding to castrate mature bulls because of the
risk of infection, pain associated with the procedure, and decreased weight gain
following banding. In fact, elastic banding as a means of castration has been
banned in some countries because it is believed to be inhumane.

The disadvantages of this technique include inappropriate placement of the

band leading to retention of testicle, longer-term pain as the testicles
slowly die, bands may break, and slower healing leading to infection.

The advantages include the fact that this is a bloodless technique better
suited for wet and muddy conditions and the ease of application.

4) Chemical Castration

Chemically castrating male calves by injecting a product that prevents sperm

production and creates a steer-like animal can be effective. Currently, there are
no products available.
Deworming

Parasites are a problem in countries with tropical climates. Animals catch parasites
from soil and grasses.

Regular deworming with chemical or herbal preparations can reduce the amount of
parasites in your animals.

Deworming means removing worms from the digestive system, particularly from the
stomach, intestine and liver. Deworming makes the animal more resistant to
diseases. It helps the animal grow faster, perform better and produce better milk
and meat and reduce risk of respiratory diseases.

Importance of Regular Deworming for Dairy Cattle.

Due to fluctuating environment and climate, cattle go through various health issues.
However, worm infestation is a hidden disease that is prevalent in cattle in all
around the world. Until and unless the growth of the worm doesn‟t come to the
advanced stage and shows outward signs, it is quite difficult to detect the presence
of worms. It is suggested that if you are a dairy farmer, don‟t wait for worms to
have complete control over your cattle‟s health. You better take precautionary
measures by doing regular deworming of your cattle and keep the worms at bay.
Deworming helps to keep your livestock healthy and ultimately supports your dairy
farming business to flourish.

Effects of Worms on Dairy Cattle

Tapeworms, flukes, roundworms, and other internal parasites leave hazardous

effects of cattle‟s overall health. Being a responsible dairy farmer or animal parent,
you should keep an eye on below signs or effects of worms on your dairy cattle and
reach out to the veterinarian immediately.

Poor Health

Cattle with worm infection tend to be in weak physical condition. They become thin
and poor in appearance. Their coat becomes unhealthy and dull. Even after
providing a good amount of feed the infected cattle look poor because the feed gets
consumed by worms and doesn‟t benefit the cow.

Low Productivity

The intestinal worms feed off your cattle‟s bodies and throw the nutrients out of the
animal‟s body. As cattle don‟t get proper nutrition, it effects on their capability of
producing milk and calves. In the past, if your cows have produced plenty of milk
and healthy calves, you must check for worm infection problems.

Anaemia

The intestinal parasites, including ticks and worms suck cattle‟s blood and cause
them Anaemia. If your cow shows signs like lack of appetite, lethargy, pale gums,
and difficulty in breathing.

Diarrhoea

This is most common problem cattle with worms face. Due to diarrhoea, in some
cases cows feel dehydrated as well as consumption and digestion of feed become
challenging for them.

Deworming Schedule

This depends on the ecological zone and its associated feed resources, temperature,
relative humidity and rainfall or precipitation and or an area being endemic.

Hoof Trimming

A hoof is the horny part of the feet of cattle, water buffaloes, goats and pigs.
Hooves should be trimmed regularly. The hooves of animals kept indoors grow fast
and often in irregular shares.
Importance of hoof trimming.

Hoof trimming is an essential part of sheep and goat management. Flocks should be
checked on a regular basis for hoof growth. Overgrown hooves may make walking
painful, predispose the animal to other foot and leg problems, and competing for
feed difficult. This may cause sheep and goats to stop eating and exercising.
Animals with overgrown hooves are also very susceptible to joint and tendon
problems and arthritis. Also, breeding animals use their hind legs during mating;
mating and reproductive performance of a flock may seriously be affected if hooves
of breeding males are not trimmed.

Dehorning

Dehomed animals require less space in feeders. The danger of serious injuries from
horns is also avoided.

Methods of dehorning cattle, sheep and goats

Hot iron

This method is commonly used to dehorn older animals (4-5 months old). It is quick
and bloodless.

Chemical method

Caustic potash stick, Vaseline or vegetable oil, Vinegar

Importance of dehorning

Why do you think farmers practice disbudding/dehorning?

 To reduce the risk of injuries among pen mates

 To reduce the risk of the stockman being
injured by cattle horns To allow easier
handling of cattle.
 Dehorned cattle are less able to cause injury to udder, flanks and eyes of
other cattle
From a meat quality standpoint horns are the single major cause of carcass wastage
due to bruising, and trim associated with bruising for carcasses from horned cattle
approximately twice that for carcasses from hornless cattle.

Bio-Security

Farm biosecurity involves a range of day-to-day practices that can help keep
infectious diseases, pests and weeds off a property.

The term “biosecurity” refers to an overall program that uses a combination of

physical barriers (things) and directed actions (people) in a specific way that should
prevent the introduction of, or limit the spread of , infectious disease causing agents
(bacteria & viruses) into a group of susceptible poultry or ruminant livestock

Importance of Bio-security

1) Prevention. The principle of preventing the introduction of a disease agent.

Strict physical isolation of barns and birds from potential disease agents. Once the
flock or farm is contaminated, the owner of a poultry facility is faced with the
challenge and increased costs associated with cleaning and disinfection as well as
the potential reliance on vaccines and medications in subsequent flocks.

2) Containment. If infected, the steps are in place to prevent the spread of an

infectious agent by interrupting the disease transmission cycle. This is where
application of routine and responsive sanitation procedures for personnel and
equipment are vital. The overwhelmingly most common cause of disease spread
among farms is contaminated equipment and people.
Another aspect of containment includes rapid diagnostic support and effective
communication between producer, veterinarian and scheduled services such as feed
delivery and milk pick-up. Each producer should put in place a set of guidelines for
“self-quarantine” that can be referred to during the interim of suspicion and
confirmation of a disease problem.

3) Livestock Health. Optimizing bird health promotes immunity, which in turn

reduces the amounts of disease causing organisms in the livestock environment
should an infection occur. Early recognition of a disease problem can be
accomplished through daily record-keeping of mortality, feed and water consumption
as well as through observational instinct. Minimizing stress promotes optimal bird
health and ultimate productivity.

COMPENSATORY GROWTH

Can the natural process of compensatory growth be used to better meet markets
and reduce supplementation costs?

Compensatory growth in cattle is a process where if growth is less than normal for
some months due to under-nutrition, then later when good nutrition is available the
liveweight gain of the cattle will be greater than would otherwise be the case. It
means that there is a „rebound‟ effect. Typically, if cattle have reduced growth
during the dry season because of low quality and low availability of pasture, then
during the following wet season or in a feedlot when good nutrition is available then
weight gain will be abnormally high. Compensatory growth effects often mean that
part of the liveweight losses relative to a fully fed animal will be recovered during
good nutrition. This effect is well known and many feedlotters and finishers consider
this when selecting and setting values for cattle entering their operations.

Compensatory growth is also important for the nutritional management of any cattle
herd – regardless of whether the cattle are sold as stores or being finished on the
property. It can have a substantial impact on the economics of many of the
management decisions on the nutrition of cattle such as the extent to which and
when supplements should be used, and decisions on stocking rates and utilization of
pastures.
Although the principle of compensatory growth has been demonstrated in many
situations and circumstances there are many aspects which are not well understood.
It is often not possible to reliably predict for a specific mob of cattle how much
compensatory growth is going to occur in various sets of circumstances.

Although there are potential benefits in using compensatory growth, there are also a
number of other reasons why it is not desirable to allow cattle to lose too much
liveweight, even when that means foregoing some of the benefits of compensatory
growth. For example animal welfare requirements must be met, cattle in better body
condition are much easier and more flexible to manage, retain their value in case of
forced sale, and alleviate the worry about when the seasonal break will arrive.
However, these considerations do not prevent producers capturing some of the
benefits of the natural processes of compensatory growth to reduce input costs.

Compensatory Growth Compensatory growth in cattle is a process where cattle are

growing at a faster rate than would be expected as a result of accessing plenty of
high quality feed, following periods of slow growth or weight loss during times of
under-nutrition.

Factors influencing compensatory growth

A. Nutrition

Under-nutrition can occur in two ways.

1. Low feed quality: Commonly seen on the North Coast when the nutritional value
of pastures declines as they reach maturity and/or frost off in the winter.
2. Low feed quantity: There isn‟t enough feed available to satisfy animal hunger,
given that cattle prefer to graze for a maximum of around 11 hours per day.
B. The age and maturity of the animal when it goes through a period of
under-nutrition has a major effect on the extent it will be able to
compensate.

Calves with setbacks pre-weaning or early post-weaning have limited capacity to

exhibit compensatory growth. When good nutrition becomes available these young
cattle are likely to grow at much the same rate or only slightly better than if they
had not experienced a nutritional set back.

C. zthe severity and the duration of the restriction.