ANIMAL ENVIRONMENT

• Production performance is affected by

genetics and environmental factors.
• Animal environment affects the degree to
which its genetic potential is expressed
without environmental control.
 Climate
• includes temperature, humidity, ventilation
• can be controlled by environment control
devices which include shade (trees), insulation
(roofing, curtains), supplemental heat
(brooder lamps), fans, sprinklers
 Temperature
• animals are Homeotherms
• Homeotherms are warm-blooded animals that
can maintain relatively constant temperature
 Basic avenues for heat loss/gain:
A. Radiation – exchanges of heat between two
objects that are not touching each other

e.g. standing under the sun during a cold day; heat

loss from walls and ceiling when their temperature
becomes lower than environment
 Basic avenues for heat loss/gain:
b) Conduction – flow of heat from warm to cold
objects that are touching; the amount of
conductive heat transfer depend on the
surface temperature of objects touching and
thermal conductivity

e.g. lying on cold concrete floors to lose heat; piling

up of piglets or chicks to gain heat
 Basic avenues for heat loss/gain:
c) Convection – flow of heat from warm area to
cool area through air
e.g. cold air blowing to animal can provide
convective heat loss

d) Evaporation – most important means of heat

dissipation during heat exposure
eg. panting - rapid and labored breathing
As environmental temperature approaches body
temperature, heat loss through radiation,
conduction and convection becomes less
 Most farm animals except horses cannot
dissipate heat as rapidly as humans
• pigs cannot dissipate heat because they have
sweat glands which responds poorly to heat
partially due to the fat beneath their skin
• sheep have sweat glands which provide
evaporative heat loss but their wool limits rapid
heat removal
• chickens have no sweat glands so they pant and
open their wings
• cattle have sweat glands but they are not well
distributed on the skin surface
Thermoneutral zone – range of temperature at
which performance is maximized
Physiological response of animals to
temperature and stress:
1. acclimatization – adjustments an animal
makes to environmental changes/factors
over a period of weeks/months
eg. fat deposition and thickness of hair coat)
– acclimation – implies a more immediate response
to a single stressor
e.g. thyroid and adrenal glands secretion increases the
metabolic rate to increase heat production
Physiological response of animals to
temperature and stress:
2. feed and water intake
– heat stress increases water intake, decreases feed
intake
– can increase animal production by altering the
feed ration
• Ventilation
– air movement
• Relative Humidity
– the degree of moisture in the air
– necessary to prevent dampness
Major categories of ventilation
systems:
1. Forced air
1. positive pressure ventilation system
1. pushes air inside the house
2. employs the use of fans
2. negative pressure ventilation system
1. pulls air out of the house
2. employs the use of exhaust fans
Major categories of ventilation
systems:
2. Gravity convection system
– warm, moist air produced by the animal rises in
an opening in the top of the building which
causes a partial vacuum at the floor which allows
fresh air to enter alongside of the building (no +
or – pressure used) and works on the principle
that ‘warm air is lighter than cold air’
ANIMAL HEALTH
• Health
– physiological well-being of an animal
• Disease
– an impairment to normal body health
 Effects of disease:
1. death
2. decreased average daily gain
3. decreased feed efficiency
4. decreased market price of animal and animal
products and by-products
5. decreased reproductive performance
6. high cost of medication
7. increased cost of replacement as a result of high
demand for culling
Causes of disease:
1. host – all characteristics of the animal which make it
susceptible to infection and exposure to the agent
– age – young animals are more susceptible since:
• young animals have underdeveloped immune system
• they are more susceptible to stress which predispose them to
disease
– sex – mastitis or inflammation of the mammary glands,
metritis or inflammation of the uterus occurs only in
females while orchitis or inflammation of the testicles
occur only in males
– breed – breed predisposition for certain conditions e.g.
splayleg
 Causes of disease:
• nutritional status – malnourished animals are
more susceptible to disease and clinical signs
are more severe
• immunity – animals that failed to receive
colostrum are more susceptible; vaccinated
animals are protected
 Causes of disease:
2. agent
– infectious – transmissible by microorganisms;
infectious agents are host specific
• bacteria
• virus e.g. FMD
• parasites – internal, external
• fungi
 Causes of disease:
• non-infectious
– physical agent e.g. heat stroke
– nutritional
– genetic e.g. freemartinism, hernia,
hermaphroditism
– toxins – harmful chemicals produced by animal
cells or microorganisms
– poisons – chemicals harmful to animals where the
source is vested on plants
– neoplasms e.g. tumors
 Causes of disease:
3. environment
– climate – includes temperature, humidity and
ventilation
– management e.g. breeding, feeding
• overcrowding – acts as stressor, facilitates transmission
of infection
• indiscriminate use of antibiotics can cause bacterial
resistance
• poor ventilation – increases severity and frequency of
respiratory diseases
Clinical signs of healthy animals
1. alert and attentive
2. smooth hair coat and bright eyes
Clinical signs of sick animals
1. depression
2. rough hair coat
3. lack of appetite
4. isolation of animal from the group
5. unusually soft or firm feces
Disease prevention
1. providing proper nutrition
2. providing the animals with adequate housing
facilities
3. providing veterinary medical intervention
a. hygiene and sanitation
b. regular vaccination program
c. preventive medication and chemotherapy
Recommended sanitary measures:
• proper disposal of manure and regular removal of manure
• regular removal and proper disposal of garbage
• proper disposal of dead animals by:
– burning them in incinerators
– burying them in the ground
• quarantine or isolation of sick animals to prevent spread of
diseases
• maintain cleanliness of waterers and feeders
• disinfect houses, feeders, waterers between batches;
disinfect vehicles entering the farm using sprayers or wheel
baths
 Regular vaccination program
• increases resistance of animals to infections
• animals suffer less and recover faster from
diseases
• important in preventing viral diseases
 Common vaccines used:
• depend on the occurrence or prevalence of
infectious disease in the vicinity
– Cattle and carabao
• FMD, Hemorrhagic septicemia, Anthrax, Blackleg
– Swine
• FMD, Hog cholera, Pasteurellosis, Pseudorabies
– Poultry
• Marek’s disease, NCD, Infectious bronchitis, Fowl pox
 Guidelines for vaccination
1. vaccinate only healthy animals
2. do not vaccinate during very hot or wet weather
3. do not use expired vaccines
4. store vaccines in the refrigerator or at cold
temperatures
5. dispose and burn vaccine containers and unused
portions of vaccines
6. be prepared for allergic reactions
 Preventive medication program
1. incorporation of antibacterial drug in feed and
drinking water
– Situations where medication is needed:
1. adverse climatic conditions e.g typhoon, severely hot
weather
2. during vaccination
3. occurrence of diseases
2. regular deworming
– identify the parasite
– regular dosing of animals at appropriate intervals to
break the life cycle of the parasite
RECORD KEEPING
Kinds of Records:
1. identification records
2. production records
3. reproduction/breeding record
4. health record
5. financial record
 Objectives
1. for judicial culling of undesirable animals
2. important in intelligent selection of
individuals for replacement
3. formulation of effective or sound breeding
systems
4. evaluation of profitability of enterprise
 Identification records
• provides information on individual animals
• includes the:
1. identification
2. age of animal
3. weight of animal
4. color or body markings
5. owner
 Identification
Advantages Disadvantages
systems
ear notching Permanent Unpleasant sight

ear tagging The numbers are Not permanent;

easily read Expensive

ear tattoing Permanent Very hard to read

tattoo

Branding
a. hot iron Painful, can cause
branding damage to hide

b. freeze No damage to hide Causes white

branding discoloration of hair
coat, cannot be used
in white colored hide
lip tattoing
Wing brand
Identification records
 Identification records
• Age
– Record of farrowing dates
– Objectives:
• for selection and culling
• in breeding, marketing and differential diagnosis of
diseases
– Estimation of age
• body size – limited by breed, nutrition
• size of the horns
• dentition
 Identification records
• Weight
– Using a weighing scale is the most accurate method
for weight determination, practical to use in small
animals
– Weight can also be estimated using a scale that
measures the heart girth and body length
• Heart girth – circumference of the body from a point slightly
behind the shoulder
– Body length – from the point of the shoulder to the point of the
rump (ischial tuberosity)
» Cattle weight in lbs = heart girth (in)2 x body length (in)/300
» Horses weight in lbs = heart girth (in)2 x body length /300) +
50
Heart Girth
 Dehorning
• Cattle should be dehorned while young to
avoid excessive bleeding. Young cattle are
easily handled/managed.
• Advantages
1. Less space in feed lots & trucks.
2. causes less damage to facilities
3. less chance to injure other animals & handler
4. horns will no longer be fractured
 Methods of dehorning:
1. chemical – chemocutery – used only in calves
with horn buds/buttons only
– use of silver nitrate that destroys horn cells
2. hot iron – can be used in young – hot iron
cautery
3. Barnes type dehorner – has knives which cut
off the horns – disadvantage is that the
procedure is bloody
4. saws – used in old/mature animals
 Castration
• Removal of testicles

• Advantages
– castrated animals produce more desirable carcass
– quiet or more docile, thus easily handled; and
fattened better
 Methods of castration
1. use of a knife – the lower third of the scrotum is
removed, then the testicles are cut
2. elasticator – placing a small rubber ring around
the scrotum that cuts the blood supply of the
testicles (closed type of castration)
3. Burdizzo – using spincers/clamp to crash the
nerve and blood supply (closed type of
castration)
4. Emasculator - simultaneously crush and cut the
spermatic cord, preventing hemorrhaging while
still detaching the testis from the animal.
Burdizzo
Elasticator
Emasculator
 Tail docking
• performed in lambs and piglets only

• Advantages
– docked lambs are cleaner
– long tails interfere with breeding
– prevents tail biting which leads to cannibalism
 Production Record

• Provides information on relative efficiency of

farm animals
 Production Record
• production parameters:
– Feed efficiency – in meat animals
• ADG – average daily gain
– Divide the difference between initial and final weights (total
weight gain) by the number of days the animals have been fed
– ADG = final weight – initial weight/no. of days fed
• FCR – feed conversion ratio
– Amount of feed consumed by the animal for every kg gain in
weight
– Estimate the total amount of feed consumed by the animal by
the total gain in weight made by the animal
– FCR = total feeds consumed / total gain in weight
 Production Record
• Parameters:
– Egg production efficiency
• percentages lay on hen-day basis
• measure of egg productivity from live layer on any given day

• take no. of layers in the house and take one day full egg
production
• = no. of layers/no. of eggs produced x 100
– percentage lay on hen housed basis
• measure of egg productivity related to number of layers in
house at the start of laying period, includes mortalities
 Reproduction Record
• Parameters:
– Reproductive efficiency
• conception rate
– based on the no. of animals found to be pregnant divided by
the no. of females bred x 100
– CR = no. of pregnant animals/no. of females bred x 100
• farrowing/foaling/calving rate
– no. of sows that actually farrowed divided by the no. of sows
being bred x 100
– FR = no. of animals farrowed/no. of animals bred x 100
 Reproduction Record
• Reproductive efficiency in swine
– litter size at birth – include s the no. of pigs farrowed by the sow
including live and dead piglets
– litter size at weaning – includes pigs farrowed and raised by the
sows to weaning time
– average litter size at birth – measure of reproductive efficiency
of the whole farm
• dividing the total no. of pigs born by the number of sows that gave
birth
– average litter size at weaning – dividing all pigs born and raised
by their respective dams by the total no. of sows that farrowed
– weaning percentage – dividing the no. of pigs weaned by the
total litter size/or no. of pigs born alive only
 Reproduction Record
• In poultry:
– fertility rate – no. of eggs found to be fertile at 7th
or 10th day divided by the total no. of eggs set at
the incubator (at the 7th day, candling is
performed)
– hatchability rate – based on the no. of eggs
hatched divided by the total no. of eggs set in the
incubator
 Reproduction Record
• date of breeding
• date of expected parturition
• date of actual parturition
• no. of offspring born
• date of weaning
• may include pedigree of sire and dam
including individual identification of sire and
dam
 Health Record
• individual identification of the animal
• clinical history
• clinical signs
• laboratory finding
• vaccination and deworming history
• clinical findings
• tentative diagnosis
• definitive diagnosis
• treatments –
– name of drug/s
– dosage
– duration of treatment
– frequency of medication
– prognosis or expected outcome
• recommendations
 Financial Records

• includes expenses and income of the farm

 Marketing of Livestock and Poultry
Methods of marketing:
– Direct selling – transaction is being made directly
between the buyer and seller or by their agent
– Auction market – livestock are sold by public bidding
with the animals going to the highest bidder, most
valued to smaller cattle or carabao producers
• The price of commodities is a function of supply and
demand. An oversupply decreases the price of commodities.
– Supply – amount or quantity of a product which producers will
offer for sale at a given price at a given time.
– Demand – amount of product buyers will purchase at a given
time for a given price
 Marketing of Livestock and Poultry
Marketing tips:
– Be aware of the current market price of livestock
• seasonal marketing pattern:
– holidays – high demand, high price
– weather variation – during rainy season, prices of livestock and poultry
increases because of the effect of flood in feed supply; diseases are more
prevalent
– Sell animals on per weight basis rather than per head
basis.
– Sell during periods when prices are more favorable.
– Dispose of all marketable animals readily.
– Do not market sick animals.
– Do not let buyers into your farm.
 Marketing of Livestock and Poultry
Tips to prevent stress during pre-shipment and transport
handling of livestock and poultry:
– provide adequate loading facilities necessary for easy and
proper loading of animals – loading dock
– provide adequate bedding by using clean rice stalk or
straw and wood shavings on sand layer to provide better
footing stand prevent falling and slipping
– examine trucks before loading to check for protruding nails
– avoid overloading
– avoid overfeeding especially for ruminants which may lead
to bloat and death
– transfer livestock during the cool hours to prevent heat
stroke
 Marketing of Livestock and Poultry
• shrinkage – loss of weight as livestock are moved to
the market (The amount of weight varies from 1-5%
of an animal’s weight).
• The amount of shrinkage is affected by:
– distance the livestock are moved
– weather
– condition of the livestock
– how the animals are handled