ANIMAL HUSBANDRY – SECTION-B MAY/JUNE (2008)

l. (a) Explain each of the following terms:
(i) Parasite
(ii) Protozoa

(b) Discuss tape worm infestation in livestock under the following headings:
(i) Characteristics of tapeworm
(ii) Animals affected (iii) Symptoms of infestation (iv) Control.

Solution

(a) Parasite and Protozoa explain
(i) Parasite: A parasite is an organism which derives its food from another, which is the host is not usually killed. Parasite may also be defined as all living things which, during all or past of their lives, live at the expense of another organisms (host), causing to it some damage but not necessarily destroying (killing) it.
(ii) Protozoa: These are unicellular microscopic organism with a distinct nucleus. They reproduce either by simple division or by spore formation. In some cases, protozoa living in the animal body are useful and are symbiotic. In some cases, protozoa living in the animal body are useful and are symbiotic. In some cases, some protozoa live in the body and do no harm and are commensal, but in many cases they are harmful to the animal and are parasitic. Diseases caused by protozoa include: coccidiosis, trypanosomiasis, Trichomoniasis, Babesiasis, Anaplasmosis, East coast fever etc.

(b) Tape Worm Infestation (Discussion)
Rostellum
Hooks
Posterior proglottis
Body

Characteristics of tapeworm
•Tapeworm consists of the head (scolex) which is attached to the walls of the intestines by means of suckers and hooks and many segments.
•The segments end of the worm contain large numbers of eggs and they break off one by one in groups and get released with the faeces of the host.
•The eggs can survive outside the host for several months.
•The ripe terminal segment of the mature tapeworms contains tightly-packed eggs and the segments break off from the whole worm and get excreted with the faeces.
•Further development of the eggs takes place in alternate hosts which are certain forage mites
• When the eggs are in the mites, they develop into structures known as cysticercoids.
•These cysticercoids could remain in the mites for about two (2) years and still be alive.

Animal Affected: Cattle, sheep, goat, horses and for that matter all ruminants and even poultry birds.

Symptoms of tapeworm infestation
•Tapeworm infestation results in anaemia in host animals resulting in place mucous membranes.
• It results in digestive disorders and disturbances of the alimentary canal.
• Loss of weight and general weakness in the host animals.
• There is increased thirst and loss of condition.
• The infected animal may pass continuous semi-solid faeces (diarrhoea)
• Heavy tapeworm infestation may lead to the death of animals.

Control / Prevention
•Rotational grazing must be carried out
•Segregate calves, dams and young animals from mature animals
•Avoid overstocking or overgrazing of pastures
•Keep feeders and waterers clean and always give animals fresh and clean water
• Animals must be drenched with appropriate drugs at certain intervals
• Pasture land should be sprayed with copper sulphate solution to kill the vectors

Question 2.
(a)(i) Explain the term vocation as used in agriculture.
(ii)List five vocational opportunities that could be available in animal husbandry
(iii)Discuss briefly four vocational training programmes available in animal husbandry

(b)Name four ectoparasites of farm animals.

Solution

(a)(i), (ii) and (iii) Vocation, Vocational opportunities and Vocational Training Programmes . Refer from June, 2003 Qi (a) (i), (ii) and (iii).

(b) Name four ectoparasites of farm animals
•Tick
•Mites
•Fleas
•Lice

Question 3.
(a) Explain each of the following terms as used in animal nutrition:
(i) Roughage
(ii) Concentration

(b) i) Explain four reasons why proteins are important in animal nutrition
(ii) Name four sources of plants protein

(c) (i)State two causes of contaminated of feed. (ii) State two causes of contaminated of feed.

Solution

(a) (i) Roughages: These are feed material with very high fibre contents but low in digestible nutrients e.g. hay, silage, fodder etc.
(ii) Concentrates: These are feed material which is low in fibre but high is digestible nutrients and which contain high amount per weight of a particular nutrients e.g. protein.

(b) (i)Importance of protein in animal nutrition Refer from June, 2003 Q1(b)

(c)Name four sources of plant protein.
•Soya bean meal
•Groundnut cake
•Copra cake
• Brewers spent grain
•Cotton cake meal

(d) Causes of contamination of feed
• Inappropriate feed preparation and processing method.
•Storage of feed in a misty (moist) condition.
•Infestation of storage pest.
•Improper storage practices.
•Presence or introduction of foreign materials into the feed

Question 4.
(a)Explain six causes of low egg production in layers

(b)Outline the steps involved in preparing broilers from slaughtering to marketing stage.

(c)State two characteristics of eggs to be selected for hatching.

Solution

(a) Causes of low egg production in layers
Imbalanced diet/nutrition: Imbalance diet fed to layer especially protein and calcium deficiencies have remarkable effect on egg laying.
Starvation: Starvation among laying birds reduces egg laying considerable.
Inadequate lighting: Egg laying correlates with length of daylight, inadequate lighting affects the laying ability of layers.
Pests Infestation: Both internal and external parasites infestation among laying hen can affect their laying ability.
Reduce feed intake: Any continuous reduction in feed intake among laying hens can result in low egg production.
The prevailing environmental conditions: The prevailing environmental conditions especially extremely high or low temperatures affect egg laying among laying hens.
Inadequate supply and intake of water: Inadequate supply and intake of water to and among laying hens affect egg production.
The general health condition of the laying birds: The general health condition of the laying birds affects their laying ability. Generally, diseases such as Pullorum attack can affect egg laying ability of the laying hen.

(b) Outline of the steps involved in preparing broilers for the marketing stage The main operations involved in preparing poultry meat are:
Selection: Select healthy birds for slaughtering.
Starving: Birds are starved for 24 hours. Birds are served with water only. This is to reduce the intestinal and digestive tract content.
Slaughtering: This is the cutting of throat of birds so that they bleed and die. In commercial farms, slight electric shock is applied before cutting of throat and bleeding.
Scalding: Place carcass in hot water at about 640c for easy removal of feathers.
Plucking: This is the process of removing the feathers either by pulling feathers out by hand or by using the mechanical chicken plucker.
Singeing: It is the process of exposing carcass to a flame for a few minutes after plucking.
Washing: The carcass is cleaned with water to remove dirt and singed feathers.
Pinning: It is the process of removing pin feathers.
Evisceration: This is cutting open the carcass between the vent and the tail stump and removing the internal organs of the bird.
Packaging: This involves putting processes carcass after cutting them into attractive containers marketing them.
Marketing: This involves selling them to consumers or preserved after sometime.

(c) Characteristics of eggs selected for hatching
•Should have uniform weight and size
•Double yoked eggs should be avoided for hatching
•The eggs for incubation should have a normal shape (spherical)but nor round or long).
•Should not be contaminated with dirt
•Hair-cracked eggs should be avoided (should not be any reakages).
• Eggs with smooth shell texture are ideal for hatching.
•Eggs for hatching should be selected from health, disease-free birds
•The shell of eggs selected should be hard (soft shelled-eggs should be avoided)

Question 5.
(a)(i) State six characteristics of west Africa goats
(ii) Name three common breeds of goats found in West Africa.

(b)Discuss the management of goats under the following headings:
(i) Housing (ii) Breeding (iii) Feeding

Solution

(a)(i) Characteristics of West Africa Goats
• They are plumpy, small sized animals less than 50cm high at withers.
•Both sexes weigh less than 25kg
•They have variable colour but grey brown or dark colour is common. Combination of these colours also exists.
•They are short horned and short tailed and haired
•Very resistance to trypanosomiasis
•Both male and female horns may be horned
(ii)Some common breeds of goats in West Africa include:
• Sokoto Red (also called Red Sokoto)
• West Africa Dwarf Goat (Fouta Djallon).
• West Africa Long-Legged Goats
• Barite goats
•Boer Goat/ Africander
•Nubian Goats

(b) Management of Goats under the following headings
(i) Housing: Goats are usually kept in pen but in most communities, goats are kept mostly as semi-intensive.
• A good shelter or housing has to be provided. Goats are usually prone to diseases like pneumonia, foot rot and worm infestation in wet areas.
• The goat house or pen has to be dry, cool, well ventilated but draught free and also easy to clean.
•The lean-to type pens are common in Ghana where the roof slopes from the front to the back.
•The floor should be made of concrete sloping slightly to one side and into a shallow narrow gutter in the pen to make it easy to scrub.
• The concrete floor may be covered with straw to provide a comfortable warm floor. If the floor is ‘to be made of earth, then clay is the best material but the floor has still to be designed to slope slightly to drain urine out of the pen.
•It is important to keep the floor dry to prevent the goats from contracting foot rot disease.
• The pen has to be walled on all sides to a height of about 1.2m using wood, bamboo or corrugated iron sheets. For a more permanent house, the wall must be built or concrete.
•The roofing material may be thatch, corrugated iron sheet or aluminium sheet, wood covered with felt or any other suitable material which is water-proofed.
• The roof should have long sloping eaves of about 0.5m to prevent rain from entering the pens.
•The height of the roof be about 3m in front of the pen and slope 2m at the rear. Goats do not need a lot of space.

The following is the recommended floor space for each kind of goat:
•Billy – 2.8m².
•Non-pregnant nanny — I .5m².
•Pregnant nanny — I .9m².
•Kid – 0.3m²

(ii) Breeding
•The goats selected for breeding have to be healthy and strong and should have no defects on the reproductive organs.
•The nanny goat is ready for service between 5 and 6 month old but the best age for breeding is between 12 and 18 months. The female comes on heat every 18-21 days after the previous heat throughout the year if it is not pregnant.
•The duration of heat last for 24 to 28 hours and the best period to mate a female to achieve pregnancy is 21 hours after heat has started.
•The gestation period of goat is 145 to 153 days.
•It is always advisable to prepare the nanny goat on good feeding by flushing it 2 weeks before the heat period so that more eggs are released for fertilization.
•The pregnant nanny goat should be well fed especially the last 2 months before birth occurs to give birth to strong health kids.
•The female goat can produce milk for 4 months to feed its young kids and it should be made to rest for 3 months before the next mating starts
•The billy goat is selected for mating of the age of about I to 2 years. At 2 years the billy goat can be used several times throughout the breeding season. The ratio of male to female should be 1:40 respectively on pasture land. If hand breeding is adopted the ratio should be I :50.
•Male and females should be separated before they are 4-months old to prevent unwanted pregnancies and in-breeding.
•Artificial insemination is also practiced in goat breeding, but the semen has to be properly stored.

(iii) Feeding
•Goats eat a large variety of feed including leaves, shrubs and trees, roots and grasses, but they will not eat any feed that is contaminated by other animals’ faeces including other goats.
• Goats have special feeding habits in that they can make out feeds which are bitter, sweat, salty and sour taste.
• Common feedstuffs preferred by goats are guinea grass,Pongola grass, Centrosema pubescens and Calopognium muconoides. They usually prefer coarse plant material.
• The elephant grass is not much liked by goats as it too coarse.
• Any good concentrate feeds prepared from maize, oil cakes, mineral salts and vitamins are acceptable.
• Peels from cassava, cocoyam, yam, plantain and orange pulp are eaten by goats but these feedstuffs should be given in clean wooden containers.
•Hay and green forage can also be given to goats.
•Goats should be served with salt lick and adequate clean water although they can live without water for many days.
• The breeding billy goats should be given extra feed to maintain its body in a healthy condition throughout the breeding season.
• Goats browse rather than graze. Green shrubs like Grewia sp and Griffonia sp and tree branches should be hung for the goats to feed on.
• Pastures have to contain shrubs and trees that would provide this feeding habit (i.e. browsing).
• Goats should not be fed on the floor. Feeds must be put in troughs. In feeding cassava peels the thin brown outer cover and any soil should be removed before serving them to goats.

Solution

(a)(i) Importance of rearing snail
(i)Snails provide excellent food for many people. The meat of snail is a good source of protein (12-16%) and irons (45-50 mg/kg). It contains almost all the amino acids needed by the human body.
(ii)Snail shells can be processed and used in poultry feeds as a source of essential minerals such as calcium and phosphorus, etc.
(iii) There is a wide market for snail. Farmers can sell them locally to provide extra income or they can export them to other countries to earn foreign exchange for the country.
(iv) Snail farming can provide lucrative employment to many unemployed youths.
(v) Snail farming can prevent hazards such as snake and scorpion bites, which is often associated with picking of snails in the forest.
(vi) Snails have medical value. Glandula substances from edible snails have
been proved to cause agglutination of certain bacteria hence could be of value against a variety of ailments including whooping Coughs.
(vii) The bluish liquid obtained from the shell when the meat is removed is believed to be good for infant development.’ The high iron content is considered protein for the treatment of anaemia.
(viii) Snail meat is also thought to certain aphrodisiac property (i.e. increase libido and sex drive)

(ii) Why some ethnic group considers the eating of snail as a taboo
•Some ethnic groups believe that snail is a meat for the gods.
•Some also believe that snails feed on contaminated feeds and from unhygienic environments.
•Some believes are of historical antecedent and other superstitions.
•Some believe that eating snail bring bad omen to the people (like infertility).

b) i) Processing snail for the market
• Snail meat is processed by parboiling it for about 3 minutes with the whole animal in a shell.
•When the shell cools, the meat can be pulled out easily.
•The boiling also removes the slimy substance found in edible snails.
•The meat is then washed in warm water to remove the remaining slime or by washing the meat in lime juice.
•The meat can later be cut into sizeable chucks for further cooking.
• The meat can also be processed by using

Smoking: This involves removing the snail from the shell and smoking them on sticks.
Snail powder: Smoke-dry the snail, crash it in mortar, and grind it in a grinding meal. Parcel the powder in convenient containers for the market.
Snail grit: Crash the smoke-dry snail in mortar into grits. Parcel grits in convenient containers for the market.
Freezing: Remove the live snails fresh, separate it from the blue liquid and freeze.
Canning: Remove live snails fresh, separate it from the blue liquid, add vegetable oil, flavourers and can it in the cannery. Label and package for export.

NB: It should be noted the shells from snails can also be processed and used as feed. The shells are fired for a while to make them bristle for grinding.
They can be pounded in mortar to a desired texture or sent to the mill to be ground. The grounded shell can be used as mineral supplement in animal feed, to lime acid soils, and as a base material for white washing walls of houses.

(ii) Feedstuffs for Snail
•Cocoyam, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, fruits and palm fruits.
• Gari with palm oil is known to be a good fattening ration for snails.
• Other root tubers and also cormels of cocoyam
•Supplementary vitamins from sunflower
• Supplementary minerals from licking stones
•Water should also be available always although they can obtain water from other feeds.

(c) Parts of a snail
•Urinary aperture • Foot
•Anus • Maze of fine grooves
• Respiratory aperture •Genital opening
• Shell • Edge of mantle
•Posterior tentacle •Eye