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:
- Proper feeding of animals
- Proper shelter for animals
- Prevention and cure of animal diseases
- Proper breeding of animals
- Proper economic utilization.
Need for Animal Husbandry:
- To increase milk production.
- To increase egg production.
- To increase fish production.
- To increase meat production.
- For proper utilisation of animal wastes.
Advantages of Animal Husbandry:
- Helps in proper management of domestic animals.
- Provides methods to produce good quality, high yielding breeds of domestic animals.
- Provides employment to people.
- 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:
- On the basis of reproduction:
- Indigenous Breeds
Examples: Gir, Sahiwal, Red Sindhi, Nageri, Malvi, hallikar, Haryan, Tharparkar, Ongole, Murrah, Mehsana, Surti. - Exotic Breeds
Examples: Holstein-friesian, Brown Swiss, Jersey - Hybrids
Examples: Karan-fries (Holstein-friesian + Tharparkar),
Karan-swiss (Brown Swiss + Sahiwar),
Frieswal (Holstein-friesian + Sahiwal)
- Indigenous Breeds
- On the basis of utility:
- Milch breeds
The cattle breeds in which the females are good milch animals but males are bad draught animals.
Examples: Gir, Shiwal, Red Sindhi. - Draught breeds
The cattle breeds in which the females are bad milch animals but males are good draught animals.
Examples: Nager, Malvi, Hallikar. - 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.
- Milch breeds
Cross-Breeding:
The method of controlled reproduction to obtain animals with desired characteristics by mating animals of two different breeds is called cross-breeding.
- 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. - 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:
- Collection of semen from a healthy male animal having desired characters.
- Preservation of semen by freezing or chemical methods.
- Injection of preserved semen, artificially into the vagina of the chosen female animal during its heat period.
Precautions to be taken in Artificial Insemination:
- Male animal selected should be healthy and having desired characters.
- Female animal selected should be healthy and of proper breeding age.
- Preserved semen should be inserted only during the heat period of the female.
- The instruments use for the purpose should be properly sterilised.
Advantages of Artificial Insemination:
- It is cheaper as the semen from a single male can be used to impregnate about 3000 females.
- The semen can be transported to remote areas.
- Good quality semen remains available at all the time at all the places.
- It is more reliable and hygienic than the natural breeding.