ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

 Calf rearing Why calf management is important in cattle management. Today's calf will be a good dairy cow tomorrow. Therefore, proper feeding of calves is essential. In order to obtain an animal with high productivity, the animal must reach the required body growth at a certain age from an early age. The average birth weight of a calf is about 7% of the adult body weight of that species. This body weight should be approximately 10% of the adult weight at the time of weaning. For this the daily growth rate of the calf should be maintained between 600-750g. Proper calf control is required to maintain that growth rate of the calf. The average calf is about 18-20 months old and about 75% of its body weight is required to conceive. Failure to do so will result in weakening of the calf, poor production of the heifer and poor physical condition. If not properly controlled in the early stages of the animal, the pups will not be able to reach the required body weight within the appropriate

  SHEEP-POX Epidemiology Sheep-pox is a highly contagious disease.It causes a mortality of 20 to 50 per cent in animals below the age of 6 months, and causes damage to the wool and skin in adults.Of the pock diseases, sheep-pox ranks only second to human small-pox in virulence.The disease is transmissible to in contact goats but not to other species of animals. It, however, spreads slowly. Symptoms The disease in characterized by high fever, and symptoms of pneumonia and acute enteritis.Skin lesions appear particularly in parts free from wool, notably around the eyes, inner side of the  thigh, udder and under surface of the tail. The internal organs such as trachea, lungs, kidneys and intestines are also affected.The disease results in emaciation and, as already mentioned, frequent  deaths of affected animals. Treatment, Prevention and Control The diseased animal should be treated with palliatives.In the young ones nursing is more important than medication.The infected litter should be

  Pregnant, Parturient and Lactating Ewes Careful management of the pregnant, parturient and lactating ewes will have a marked influence on the percentage of lambs dropped and reared successfully. So, the following steps may be taken to afford proper attention to these animals. Do not handle the pregnant ewes too frequently. Separate the advanced pregnant ewes from the main flock and take effective care in their feeding and management. Extra feed during the later part of pregnancy (3-4 weeks before parturition) will be beneficial for the condition of the pre-parturient ewes which will help in improving milk production of ewes, birth weight and growth of lambs. Inadequate and poor nutrition may result in pregnancy, toxaemia, abortions and premature births of weak lambs. Bring lambing ewes into lambing corals 4-6 days before parturition and provide maximum comfort. If possible, provide soft, clean bedding and individual lambing pens. Watch gestation length, which ranges from 142 to over

  Sheep Grazing – better thrive -on stubble after harvest 1. Highly resistant- water deprivation. 2. Bifid upper lip. 3. Consideration for fleece. Flushing Improving the nutritional status of ewes during 3-4 weeks prior to mating is known as ‘flushing’.  Nutrition and body condition of the ewes prior to putting them to ram are important.  Flushing will have effect only if the ewes were in declining phase of nutritional availability.  Ewes in better body condition will produce more lambs and thus the flushing of leaner ewes will increase the fertility by way of increased incidence of oestrus and increased ovulation rate.  To obtain increased lambing rate, the breeding ewes, 4-6 weeks prior to their being bred, should be supplemented with 250g of concentrate mixture or 500 g of good quality legume hay per head per day. Sheep Feeding Pregnant Ewes The foetus makes two-thirds of its total growth during the last 6 weeks of pregnancy.  The consequences of under-nutrition in late pregnancy ar

  Normally sheep do not require elaborate housing facilities but minimum provisions will definitely increase productivity, especially protection against inclement weather conditions (sun, rain and winds) and predation.  Shed could be built along the wall of the house.  Further protection could be provided with gunny bags or temporary of removable protections made of thatching material and bamboos.  The roof of the shed should be made of the asbestos sheet supported by tubular or angular steel, but wooden rafters and thatching material could also be used. Exotics should be provided 0.9-1.1 m2 and native and crossbred sheep 0.8-0.9m2 space per head.  Shed measuring 18 m x 6 m can accommodate about 120 sheep.  A chain link fencing or thorny bush enclosure of 12 m x 6 m can be provided for night paddocking of sheep on each side of the shed. Classing and Culling Classing and culling of sheep are very important for the development of a good flock.  It helps to remove undesirable animals and

  India can be divided on the basis of the agro-ecological conditions and type of sheep into 4 regions viz.  I. North-Western, Central arid and semi-arid region II.   Southern region, III.  Eastern region and IV. Northern temperate region. There are about  44 descript breeds of sheep  available in India. I. North-western, central arid and semi-arid region Hissardale Hissar and hilly regions of Kulu in Haryana. It was evolved by crossing Bikaneri with Merino rams. Average body weight of rams and ewes are 54 and 34 kg respectively most animals are polled. Colour is predominantly white, although some brown patches may be observed. Wool is of superior quality yield 2-3 kg per annum. II. Southern region       Important breeds in this region are Nellore:   Nellore, Prakasam and Ongole districts of Andhra Pradesh tall animals with little hair except at brisket, withers and breech. Rams are horned ewes are polled. Long and drooping ears; 86% of animals have wattles male: 36 kg female: 28 kg Ma