Animal husbandry is the branch of biological Science that deals with the study of different breeds of livestock and poultry birds and their management for obtaining products and services from them.
Animal husbandry definition is -The production and upkeep of domestic animals is a branch of agriculture.
- Cattle refers to animals belonging to the bovine family, such as cows, bulls, and calves.
- Ewes, rams, and lambs are all members of the ovine family, and are referred to as sheep.
- Goats belong to the caprine family of mammals.
All of them are livestock.
Utility of livestock/ Purpose of animal husbandry:
- Milk- cattle, buffalo, goat sheep
- Draught animals- bullock, horse, donkey, mule, camel
- Fiber hide and skin yielding- sheep, goat, buffalo, camel
- Meat, egg yielding – fowl, duck, goat, sheep, pig, buffalo
Terms used in Animal Science
Q. Define and explain the following term:
a. free martin (AFU board, 2075,2074)
b. Gestation period( AFU board 2075)
c. Runt (AFU board 2075, 2074)
d. Crone (AFU board 2075, 2076)
e. Heifer ( AFU board 2076)
f. Transhumance system (AFU board 2076)
g. Concentrate (AFU board 2076, 2070)
h. Colostrum (AFU board 2074)
Anoestrus: Anoestrus is the absence of oestrus due to temporary or permanent absence of
ovarian function.
Baby Calves: Calves usually of 1 week or so old.
Breed: A breed is defined as a member of which have a common ancestry and possess similar
morphological and economic characters that are inherited more or less firmly.
Boar: An uncastrated adult male pig used for breeding.
Broiler: Dressed (inedible portion of the body removed) young chickens, approximately 8 to
weeks old of either sex. They should be sufficiently soft meated to be cooked tender by boiling.
(subjected to constant heat a process of cooking meat).
Branding: It is the method of marking on cattle and buffaloes by the use of branching rod. It can be done
by the use or hot iron or cold iron dipped in liquid N2.
Broody hen: A hen capable of hatching eggs and rearing young ones.
Buck: An adult male sheep i.e. a ram.
Buckling: A male goat between 1 and 2 years of age.
Bull calf: A male calf under 1 year of age.
Bull: An uncastrated sexually matured male of Bovine.
Buller: A cow always in heat, estrus also known as Nymphomaniac.
Bullock or Steer: A castrated male ox of over 2 years.
Cad, Critling, Runt: Smallest pig of litter farrowed in the last.
Capon: A castrated male bird.
Castration: Castration is the removing of testes or make them unable to produce germ cell. The male
individuals which are not required for breeding are castrated with the help of burdizzo castrator or rubber
band at an early age before reaching puberty.
Chícks: Young ones of poultry.
Çock: Matured male bird of hen species.
Closed gilt: A young female pregnant pig.
Cockerel: A male immature bird.
Concentrate: Feed containing low crude fiber (less than 18%) and high (over 60%) in TDN on
air dry basis and are easily digestible as grains mill by products oil cakes, etc.
Crone: An old broken mouthed ewe retained in breeding flock beyond normal time due to
Excellent breeding performance.
Cross breed: The animal produced by mating two different breeds of the same species.
Crypt orchid: A male animal in which both the testicles or one of them fails to descend in the
scrotal sac. This defect is heritable character and therefore, crypt orchid should not be used for
breeding.
Culling: Removal of undesirable stock from herd.
Dam: The cow or bullalo that is served i.e., female parent.
Deep litter system: System of rearing chicken on litter spread over floor surface in room in
closed confinement.
Docking: The process of removing the tail of sheep to facilitate excretion, to prevent dirt and faeces
accumulating on tail is called docking.
Dehorning: The process by which the horns of an animals are removed by treating the tender horn roots
with the chemical, mechanical or electrical dehorner is called dehorning.
Dipping: Dipping is the bathing or swimming of an animals in dip solution or chemical solution. It is
important means of tick control in sheep, goat. Purpose of dipping is to eradicate ectoparasites to prevent
spread of sheep scab, to remove waste materials and drug from fleece and to get clean wool.
Debeaking: Trimming of the beak involving removal of upper one third to one half of mandible in growing
and mature birds or removing of beak from the poultry birds known as debeaking. It controls cannibalism,
feather picking, breaking of eggs etc.
Dusting: It is the most convenient application of dusting powders containing parasiticides used to control
fleas and lice on animal body. They may also be used for an antiseptic.
Down calver: Dry but pregnant cow.
Drenching: If animal does not take medicine with their feed. It can be poured into the animal's mouth with
a bottle or drenching pipe or down a tube directly into the animal's stomach called drenching.
Dry period: Period from the date of cow dried off until date of next calving.
Ewe: An adult female sheep.
Extensive system (Outdoor system): System of rearing animals which are entirely maintained
on a range/ pasture grazing.
Flushing: After weaning the kids, dry does could be feed according to their body condition, doe should
provide to ribbing plane of balanced ration (nutrition) referred as flushing. This is the preparation for mating
and pregnancy. Flushing stimulates the number of ova released thus increasing the chances for more
ova/eggs to be fertilized resulting higher kidding percentage.
Forage: Green stuff obtained from the crops raised for livestock feeding usually roughage and
crop grains primarily used as roughage.
Free-martin: Free-martin heifers are born when twin calves of different sex are born, and the female calf is usually sterile. The bull, on the other hand, is usually normal (fertile).
Gestation period: The number of days between the date of fertile service and the date of calving is called the gestation period.
Goatling: A female goat between 1 to 2 years of age.
Grooming: It comprises brushing the hair roots of an animals. It is performed for clean appearance. It
massages and stimulates the cutaneous blood and lymph circulation, removes wastes product like loose
hairs, skin secretion, removes skin parasites from hair coat.
Hay: The term is applied to any forage crop cut at an appropriate stage and dried in the sun and
stored having green colour with not more than 20% moisture which may be leguminous, non-
leguminous or mixed.
Heat (estrus): Period of intense sexual urge or sexual excitement shown by female mammal.
Heifer: Young female that hasn't given birth.
Hinny: Whose sire is a stallion and dam a female donkey.
Hybrid vigor: Maybe defined as the vigor that a hybrid gains in comparison to either of the
parents. Mule maybe cited as an example. The advantage and qualities that mule possesses over
either ass or mare are due to this vigor.
Intensive system (Indoor system): System of rearing in confinement in which animals are
stalled and are not allowed to go for grazing.
Kid: A young goat of either sex not exceeding 1 year.
Maiden heifer: An adult female that has not been allowed to breed.
Mule: A hybrid whose sire is a donkey and dam a mare.
Multifarious: A female animal that has given birth to young ones so many times.
Open gilt: A female before removal of ovaries or gilt not yet served.
Paddock: Is the mere enclosure employed to house animals. Example: Sheep paddock, calf
paddock, etc.
Pedigree bull: The bull with known ancestral record.
Poultry: A collective term applied to all classes of domesticated birds that fowls and pheasants, etc
Primiparous: Female who has borne but one child or who is parturient for the first time or given birth for
the first time is called primiparaos.
Prolificacy: Quality of producing more or less number of offspring in one pregranancy.
Puberty: Puberty is the period when reproductive tract and secondary sex characteristics start to
acquire their mature form. It is maturity and capability of propagating species. Puberty occurs
at 12 to 14 months in cows and 8 to 12 months in ewe, goat, sow, 7 to 12 months in bitch and
cat and 15 to 18 months in mare. Male usually reaches puberty slightly earlier than female,
usually with an average of 2 to 3 months sooner.
Roughage: Feeds containing large amount of crude fiber (more than 18%) and less than 60%
TDN or less digestible substance are called roughage.
Scrub bull: A non-descriptive of stray village ball.
Seggy: A ram castrated after service.
Semi intensive system, System of rearing animals which are stall fed but loose for pasture
grazing daily.
Silage: Silage is a succulent fodder prepared by partial anaerobic fermentation of green fodder in a container
called silo. Nepalese traditional vegetables "Gundruk and sinki" are the best example of silage for human
Consumption. Silage can be prepared from thick stem crops like maize, teosinte, jowar (sorghum) etc.
Steaming-up: Feeding of nutrient ration to pregnant heifer called steaming-up. It helps in their growth,
growth of unborn foetus, bear stress, producing more milk after birth, increase lactation length.
Shearing: Shearing is removal of wool from sheep easily, quickly and completely with the minimum
discomfort.
Sheep: The common term used to denote every member of genus "Ovis”.
Slink calves: Calves, which have been aborted, or those which are found in the uterus during
Slaughter.
Sow: An adult female pig used for breeding
Stag, Steg/ Seg: A male castrated late in life.
Stud bull or breeding bull: The bull that is used for breeding purpose.
Transhumance system: Migratory system of animal husbandry production under extensive
feature of animal management.
Tup or ram: An uncastrated adult male sheep.
Wedder or Wether: A castrated adult male sheep.
Weaning: Weaning is the practice of separation of young from their dam. In case of goat weaning could be
done when kids multiplied their birth weight by 2.5, or weaning could be done at late as 4 month.
Yearling bull: An uncastrated male ox between 1 and 2 years of age.