Animal Husbandry and its Major Role

Description

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 and the raising of livestock.

Husbandry

Traditionally, livestock has been part of the subsistence farmer's lifestyle, producing not only the food needed by the family, but also fuel, fertilizer, clothing, transportation and traction. Killing animals for food is of secondary importance, and their products such as wool, eggs, milk and blood were harvested as much as possible while the animals were alive. In traditional transhumance systems, humans and cattle travel between seasonally fixed summer and winter pastures. In Montan, the summer meadows were in the mountains and the winter meadows were in the valleys.

Feeding

The animals used as livestock are mainly herbivores, with the exception of the omnivorous pigs and chickens. Herbivores should be divided into "concentrated selectors" that selectively eat seeds, fruits and nutritious young leaves, "grass" that mainly eat grass, and "intermediate" who get food from all available plants. I can. Select a material. Cows, sheep, goats, deer and antelopes are ruminants. They digest food in two steps, chew and swallow in the usual way, then choke and chew the half-digested ruminants again to get the maximum nutritional value possible. The food demand of these animals is mainly met by the consumption of grass. Since the grass grows from the roots of the leaf blades, it can be propagated even with heavy grazing and cutting.

Breeding

The breeding of farm animals seldom occurs spontaneously but is managed by farmers with a view to encouraging traits seen as desirable. These include hardiness, fertility, obedience, maternal capacity, and rapid growth rate, low feed consumption per unit of growth, better body proportions, higher yields and better fiber quality. Undesirable properties such as health defects and aggression are specifically selected.

Animal health

Good livestock, proper feeding and hygiene are the most important factors for the health of animals on the farm and bring economic benefits through maximum production. If animals become ill despite these precautions, they are treated with veterinary medicine by farmers and veterinarians. When European Union farmers treat their animals, they need to follow treatment guidelines and record the treatments given. Animals are prone to many illnesses and symptoms that can affect their health. Some are specific to some species, such as classical swine fever and scrapie, while others, such as foot-and-mouth disease, affect all ungulates. Animals living in harsh conditions are susceptible to internal and external parasites. Increasing numbers of whales are affecting Scottish farmed salmon. Reducing the load of parasites on livestock leads to higher productivity and profitability.

Products

Animals are bred primarily for a variety of products such as meat, wool, milk and eggs, as well as tallow, isinglass and rennet. Animals are also bred for more professional purposes, such as making vaccines and antisera (including antibodies) for medical purposes. When feed and other crops are grown next to animals, liquid fertilizers can act as fertilizers and semi-closed organic systems can return minerals and organic matter to the soil.