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Class 9, Science, Chapter-12, Lecture-6, Animal Husbandry (Notes)

Animal Husbandry:

The branch of agriculture which deals with the feeding, shelter, health and breeding of domestic animals is called animal husbandry.

Practices necessary for Animal Husbandry:

  1. Proper feeding of animals
  2. Proper shelter for animals
  3. Prevention and cure of animal diseases
  4. Proper breeding of animals
  5. Proper economic utilization.

Need for Animal Husbandry:

  1. To increase milk production.
  2. To increase egg production.
  3. To increase fish production.
  4. To increase meat production.
  5. For proper utilisation of animal wastes.

Advantages of Animal Husbandry:

  1. Helps in proper management of domestic animals.
  2. Provides methods to produce good quality, high yielding breeds of domestic animals.
  3. Provides employment to people.
  4. Animal wastes are used as manure to enrich the soil.

Cattle Farming:

The raising of cattle for yield of milk by females and for draught labour by males is called cattle farming.

Milch Animals: The female cattle which produce milk are called milch animals or dairy animals.

Draught Animals: The male cattle which are used for farm labours are called draught animals.

Cattle Breeds:

A group of animals within a species which have a common origin and possess some distinguishing characters that do not occur in other members of the species is termed as a breed.

Types of Cattle Breeds:

  1. On the basis of reproduction:
    1. Indigenous Breeds
      Examples: Gir, Sahiwal, Red Sindhi, Nageri, Malvi, hallikar, Haryan, Tharparkar, Ongole, Murrah, Mehsana, Surti.
    2. Exotic Breeds
      Examples: Holstein-friesian, Brown Swiss, Jersey
    3. Hybrids
      Examples: Karan-fries (Holstein-friesian + Tharparkar),
      Karan-swiss (Brown Swiss + Sahiwar),
      Frieswal (Holstein-friesian + Sahiwal)
  2. On the basis of utility:
    1. Milch breeds
      The cattle breeds in which the females are good milch animals but males are bad draught animals.
      Examples: Gir, Shiwal, Red Sindhi.
    2. Draught breeds
      The cattle breeds in which the females are bad milch animals but males are good draught animals.
      Examples: Nager, Malvi, Hallikar.
    3. Dual purpose Breeds (General Utility Breeds)
      The cattle breeds in which the females are good milch animals and males are good draught animals.
      Examples: Haryana, Tharparkar, Ongole.

Cross-Breeding:

The method of controlled reproduction to obtain animals with desired characteristics by mating animals of two different breeds is called cross-breeding.

  1. Natural Cross Breeding:
    The method of cross breeding of indigenous female animal with exotic male through mating during the high fertility period of the female is called Natural Cross Breeding.
  2. Artificial Insemination:
    The process of storing semen of a desired male animal and then introducing it into the genital tract of a selected female animal by the use of suitable instruments to produce a better breed of the offspring animals is called artificial insemination.

Steps involved in Artificial Insemination:

  1. Collection of semen from a healthy male animal having desired characters.
  2. Preservation of semen by freezing or chemical methods.
  3. Injection of preserved semen, artificially into the vagina of the chosen female animal during its heat period.

Precautions to be taken in Artificial Insemination:

  1. Male animal selected should be healthy and having desired characters.
  2. Female animal selected should be healthy and of proper breeding age.
  3. Preserved semen should be inserted only during the heat period of the female.
  4. The instruments use for the purpose should be properly sterilised.

Advantages of Artificial Insemination:

  1. It is cheaper as the semen from a single male can be used to impregnate about 3000 females.
  2. The semen can be transported to remote areas.
  3. Good quality semen remains available at all the time at all the places.
  4. It is more reliable and hygienic than the natural breeding.