eChapters

Feeding standards are vital guidelines that specify the necessary nutrient amounts for animals’ growth, health, and production. These standards have evolved since the nineteenth century and are classified into three types: comparative, digestible nutrient, and production value. They provide daily nutrient requirements or percentages of the diet, depending on the feeding method. Precise feeding uses daily requirements, while ad libitum feeding employs percentages.
A. Comparative type
1. Hay standard: In 1810, German scientist Thaer revolutionized the practice of animal feeding by introducing a standard for comparing different types of feed. This standard used meadow hay as the reference unit and considered it equivalent to 91 lbs. of clover hay, 200 lbs. of potatoes, or 625 lbs. of mangels. This allowed for a more accurate measurement and comparison of feed options, aiding farmers in their feeding decisions. Prior to this, feeding practices relied on practical experience due to limited knowledge of feed composition and animal needs. However, with Thaer’s new standard, farmers were able to make more informed choices when it came to providing proper nutrition for their animals. This marked an important advancement in the field of animal husbandry and laid the foundation for further research and understanding in the years to come.
2. Scandinavian “feed unit” standard: In 1884, Professor Fjord introduced the Scandinavian feeding standard, which focuses on the feed unit. One pound of common grains like corn, barley, or wheat is considered one unit, with other foods valued relative to this. The standard recommends one feed unit per 150 lbs. of body weight, with an additional unit for every three pounds of milk produced.

Carnivore [Carnivora]

Members of this family are mostly flesh-eaters and share features that show hunting lifestyle.

Limbs: These are very powerful, agile quick moving, very active.

Forward-facing eyes: These help in judging distance accurately.

Teeth: All have very strong canine teeth for cutting.

These molars … pre-molars function like shears to slice through flesh (meat).

One exception is the Giant Panda, which is almost-entirely Herbivore, although, most other members of carnivora family would supplement their diet with Vegetation, when necessary.

Pinnipeds [Marine mammals]

In some systems of classification, Pinnipeds are considered as members of Carnivora, for example, marine mammal – Elephant Seal.

Most pinnipeds are collected fromisolated island rookeries, shoelines or seaice. Use of a so – called “Wally” net is the most efficient means of collecting large Seals, such as above Elephant seal. Large transport - cage carries such big animal to shore.

Feeds and Feeding of Poultry

Proper feeding is crucial for the optimal growth, health, and productivity of poultry. It constitutes a significant portion of the total production cost in poultry farming, often accounting for 70-75%. Understanding the different types of feed ingredients and their nutritional contributions is essential for formulating balanced diets that meet the specific needs of poultry at various stages of growth and production.

Different Feed Ingredients Used in Poultry

Poultry feed ingredients are broadly classified into four categories: energy rich feedstuffs, protein-rich feedstuffs, vitamin and mineral sources, and non nutritive feed additives. Typically, commercial poultry feeds are formulated by blending 10-15 different ingredients to provide a balanced diet that meets the nutritional requirements of the birds.

Introduction

Optimum nutrition is one of the fundamental requirement for sustainable and efficient goat production . It involves the judicious selection and use of available feed resources in formulating a palatable, economical and nutritionally balanced ration for goats. In common with cattle, sheep and buffalo, goat is endowed with a pouch in the stomach called rumen and can digest a wide variety of herbage (tree leaves, grasses, weeds, legumes); agro-industrial by-products (Salseed meal, neem seed cake, bagasse, molasses, citrus pulp, oil cakes) and non-protein nitrogen sources such as urea. The rumen ecology of the goat is unique among other ruminants, with an adaptability to rapid changes in dietary components.Goats are reputed to be better utilizers of poor quality roughages. The traditional feeding systems for goats are based on native grasses available in the natural grassland and forests and the main constraints to goat production are lack of feed, particularly in the dry season. Goat production in developing countries is largely dependent on fibrous feeds –mainly crop residues and low quality pasture –that are deficient in nitrogen, minerals and vitamins. Goats diet in the tropics is largely composed of tree leaves and shrubs (browse), which ensure a reliable and steady supply of nutrients all the year around, albeit at a low to medium quality food

Goats are generally maintained on browsing on natural rangelands, community pastures and tree loppings. Goats prefer browsing as compared to grazing. They can digest tree leaves and farm weeds which cattle do not consume. Now the goats are being used as natural weeder. Goat producers in India are primarily located in semi-arid and arid zones where low capability land with shrub vegetation provides the grazing area. Improved pasture or its management for the goat production is naturally considered irrelevant to landless and socio-economically depressed farmers. Due to progressive fall in the forest cover (currently less than 20%), the administrators and planners are highly critical about the development of goats, dependent on extensive grazing in areas defined as fragile zone. On the contrary, the demand for reclamation of low capability soil to more productive agricultural land is ever increasing with the phenomenal growth in human population over the years in India.

1.1 Introduction

Agriculture and allied sector contributes nearly 18 percent of gross domestic product in Indian economy and more than 70 percent population is dependent on agriculture and allied sector. In this sector, livestock is an integral part and it provides essential commodities and livelihood to the majority of its population. Livestock sector provides sustainability and stability to the national economy by contributing farm energy and food security. During last decade, the annual growth rate for livestock population maintained and in contrast the crop production remained stagnant or increased marginally. Between 1983 and 1999, the per capita consumption of milk increased by 37 percent and meat, egg and fish by 24 percent.

Natural disasters frequently lead to significant shortages of animal feed, a common challenge faced by livestock owners. Events such as earthquakes, landslides, heavy rainfall, flooding, droughts, and cyclones can severely impact the well-being of livestock. Intense rainfall is often the primary factor contributing to both flooding and landslides, particularly in the hilly regions of India, where such landslides are a regular occurrence. The essential components of animal feed include both green and dry roughages, with dried roughages, such as straw, constituting approximately 60 to 80 percent of the total dry matter intake for livestock. Unfortunately, the occurrence of landslides or floods can abruptly disrupt transportation networks, including roads and railways. Consequently, livestock owners are compelled to rely on locally available unconventional feed sources during these challenging times.
Unconventional Feed Resources: In periods of resource scarcity, various unconventional indigenous ingredients can be employed. Such times may see the utilization of materials like tapioca, jackfruit, pineapple waste, sugarcane bagasse, rice bran or rice polish, water hyacinth, rubber seed cake, chicken litter and droppings, tea waste, urea and molasses, all of which can serve as valuable feed components. In comparison, low-quality rice straw and fallen leaves from trees are the predominant roughages, constituting approximately 60 to 70 percent of the total feed for cattle. The main sources of roughage during scarcity typically include straws from cereals or pulses, fallen leaves, dried grasses and foliage from forests and jungles. The collection or harvesting of roughages can be challenging due to their bulk, particularly in the case of forest leaves. Additionally, the volume of these materials presents significant transportation challenges. Consequently, chaffing roughages at the harvesting site emerges as the most effective solution for facilitating transport and minimizing costs. The densification of chaffed roughages further enhances their transport efficiency. Chaffing roughage is essential for the preparation of complete feed blocks (CFB) and total mixed rations (TMR).

Patients are unable to consume foods and fluids orally when they are suffering fromillness. Under surgical conditions, severe burns, severe infectious neonatal infants, congenital anomalies, anorexia, coma or dysfunction of elementary tract etc., special feeding methods should be used for feeding such patients.

Objectives

• To provide water and electrolytes to prevent dehydration and correct electrolyte imbalance.

• To make up the loss of tissue protein.

• To provide energy to meet the daily needs of the patients.

The nutrients used in intravenous feeding are :

a) Water and electrolytes : The daily minimum water requirement of an adult on anaverage is 1.5 liters.Additional waterwillbe requiredto correct dehydration that might have occurred before therapy. The water loss made up in about 24 hour and the urinary excretion restored to about 300-400 ml in every 8 hrs.

b) Carbohydrates and alcohol : Glucose, Fructose and Sorbitol are used in intravenous feeding. Three per cent alcohol @ 8 g/h can also be given; because this provides 7.1 kcal energy/ g. Glucose is usuallyadministered as 5 % solution. Fructoseis preferred to Glucose, as it can be administered at a concentration of 10-15 % without any adverse effect.

c) Amino acids : Solution form of Protein hydrolysates, Synthetic amino acid mixture and a mixture of L-amino acids are available for intravenous feeding. Protein hydrolysates prepared from casein, free from peptides and fortified withTryptophan are commonlyusedfor intravenous therapy.

d) Whole blood or plasma : One litre of whole blood provides about 180 gm proteins including haemoglobin. Blood is used mainly to combat circulatoryfailure andloss of bloodfrombody. One liter of plasma contain about 60-70 gm of protein. Plasma infusion is given as a measure for increasing plasma protein level when it is low.

e) Vitamins: All the vitamins (twice daily requirements) should be added to intravenous fluid to meet the daily needs of the patient.

Thrips : Thrips flavus : Thripidae

Infestation of thrips is generally during hot months with high night humidity.  The attack by thrips leads to discolouration, bronzing and drying of affected leaves.

Semilooper : Thysanoplusia orichalcea  : Noctuidae

Bluish green or grey coloured eggs are laid singly on lower surface of leaves.  Larvae feed voraciously on leaves and defoliate plants.

Familiarization with various fertilizers, manure and Agri – implements: Manure: * Nutrients are added to soil for healthy growth of plants. * Continuous growing of crops makes the soil poor in nutrients. * Manures are organic substances obtained from decomposition of plants animal wastes. * Manuring is done to replenish soil with nutrients.
Advantages of manuring: * Improves water retaining capacity of the soil. * Makes the soil porous and exchange of gases becomes easy. * Increases the number of friendly microbes. * Improves the texture of the soil. * Replenishes the soil with necessary nutrients.
Fertilizers: * These are chemical substances rich in nutrients. * These are produced in factories.
Advantages of fertilizers: * Help farmers to get better yield of crops.
Disadvantages of fertilizers: * Sources of water pollution. * Make the soil less fertile. * Artificial fertilizers often cause diseases.

The thermal range ideal for poultry rearing is 130C to 240C and is known as thermo neutral zone. Any temperature on either side of this zone falls in the critical range (240C-380C and 0-130C) and is detrimental to birds. Heat stress (HS) happens when the amount of heat produced by a bird exceeds the bird’s capability to dissipate the heat from the body to its surrounding environment both by sensible and insensible heat loss. The imbalance between heat production and dissipation result due to variations in a combination of various factors viz. sunlight, temperature of the air, humidity etc. and individual variations at bird level viz. sex, breed, species and physiological status (Lara and Rostagno, 2013). During heat stress, the birds reduce their heat production by decreased feed intake and increased water consumption.

All infectious agents, toxins, and nutritional imbalances have an impact on the performance of the farm and consequently on the local poultry industry. Additionally, poultry can be infected with common diseases like endoparasites, ectoparasites, infectious bronchitis, Marek’s disease, fowl cholera, salmonellosis, infectious coryza, fowl pox, avian encephalomyelitis, etc.

Controlling infectious diseases is vital for poultry health and diagnostic methods are an indispensable feature to resolve disease etiologies and the impact of infectious agents on the host. Although the basic principles of disease diagnostics have not changed, the spectrum of poultry diseases constantly expanded, with the identification of new pathogens and improved knowledge on epidemiology and disease pathogenesis. In parallel, new technologies have been devised to identify and characterize infectious agents, but classical methods remain crucial, especially the isolation of pathogens and their further characterization in functional assays and studies.

In poultry medicine, the diagnostic process originally shifted from the traditional veterinarian approach centered on individual animals to the health assessment of entire flocks. Flocks are commonly classified as “healthy” if they perform according to their genetic potential and are considered free from clinical disease. On-farm, diagnostic activities comprise routine sampling and investigations in line with health control programs; nationally and/or internationally adopted control programs for certain Mycoplasma and Salmonella species represent examples of paramount importance. Samples may be investigated immediately on site (e.g., rapid antigen test for avian influenza) or sent for further processing to a laboratory (e.g., ELISA and PCR). Field veterinarians further implement diagnostic surveillance in order to provide epidemiological data for flock management purposes. The periodical collection of samples (e.g., feces, serum samples, and swabs from mucosal surfaces) is primarily used to confirm the infection (free) status of a flock or to monitor vaccine response. Altogether, generated data facilitate objective judgment and decision making in order to optimize flock health and production.

Stem-borer: Batocera rufomaculata, B. rubus, Olenecamptus bilobus:Cerambycidae

These are large dark brown adult beetles that lay eggs in loose bark.  Grubs bore into the trunk and make tunnels in branches and main trunks.  This causes drying and wilting of the branches. Adults of O. bilobus are pale whitish with long serrate antenna.
 
When bark is suspected to have the grubs, try mechanical removal of them. Paste the tree trunk with mud paste containing insecticides like chlorpyriphos or carbaryl. In endemic areas, spray the bark with Carbaryl 4gm /l, Malathion one ml/l, or Chlorpyriphos 2.5ml/l

Sources of agriculture/ Livestock finance
Finance for agriculture can be obtained from formal and informal sources Formal sources
Credit co-operatives
Commercial banks
Government
Regional Rural Banks
Informal sources
Money lender
Friends and relatives
Traders
Landlords
3 R’s OF CREDIT
To estimate the rationality of a loan, it is essential to know credit analysis.

Livestock rearing provides triple benefits of income, employment and nutritional security to the society and is important source of subsidiary income to small/marginal farmers and agricultural laborers. Finance is a prerequisite and of paramount importance for setting up of a livestock enterprise whether a dairy farming unit for milk production, sheep or goat unit, piggery unit, dairy/poultry processing unit etc. Provision of credit/loans for the purchase of livestock, feed, veterinary services and insurance against the loss of valuable productive assets play an important role in encouraging new investments in the sector and also in coping with difficult problems such as draught and diseases. Decisions about credit are often most important judgments that people in the livestock enterprise must make. These decisions often determine whether individuals operating in input, production, processing and services based livestock enterprise would succeed in making profit.

This chapter introduces the microscopic and molecular structure of wool fibres and explains how structure determines their physical behaviour. It examines the cuticle, cortex and medulla and discusses the role of overlapping cuticle scales in felting. The bilateral organization of the cortex and the relationship between ortho-cortex and para-cortex are related to crimp formation. The chapter also explains the filament-matrix organization of keratin and its importance for the mechanical properties of wool.

Principles of Working
(Lundegårdh, 1929-1934 : Mac Intyre, 1961)

Flame photometry is the measurement of the concentration of an ionic material in a solution introduced in  to a flame, where the intensity of light emitted by the flame under these conditions is measured. We should give credit to Kirchhoff and Bunsen (1860), who developed the idea of emission spectroscopy into quantitative inorganic analysis, later on Janssen (1970) made lot of developments in this direction. The main parts of flame photometer are: (1) burner, (2) atomizer which disperses the solution as a fine spray into the flame; a means of isolating from the spectrum (i.e., filtering system, diffraction gratting etc.) only that portion of the emitted light which is a specific characteristics of the substance being examined ; a photosensitive detector with or without amplifier; and a method of measuring the desired emission. In flame photometry the diluted biological fluid is atomized directly ino the flame without need of preliminary separation. The resulting emissions are those of all the inorganic ions present. For measurement the emitted light is passed through a monochromater where the wavelength most characteristics of the material analysis and which most closely follows Beer’s law is selected.

Poultry manure provides an ideal habitat for fly breeding due to high manure moisture leading to increased fly populationand fly menace in poultry farm. The moisture, temperature and humid condition play important role in fly breeding. The flies on poultry farms are unacceptable as they act as a reservoir of many diseases and spread diseases to birds and human beings. In addition to spread of diseases, fly are nuisance to birds as they distract the birds as well as poultry farm employees, nearby farms and residence (Berry, 2003). High fly population contribute tapeworm infestation in flock and disseminate bacterial (like salmonella, fowl cholera, etc.) and viral diseases (Bird flu, New Castle disease, etc. in flocks. Fly population also causes public health issue leading to pressure on poultry farmers to control fly population on poultry farms to acceptable level. The flies on poultry farm includes House fly (Muscadomestica), little house fly (Fanniacanicularis), Black Garbage fly (Hydrotaeaaenescens), Dump flies (H? aenescens, H? ignava, H? capensis), Drosophila flies (Drosophila repleta), Soldier fly (Hermetiaillucens), Stable flies (Stomoxyscalcitrans), Drosophila flies (Drosophila repleta) and Blow flies (Lucilia, Phormia, and Calliphora) and black flies. The Lucilia species include L? cuprina and L? sericata(Axtell, 1999). Among these, the most common

Poultry holds significant value as it provides essential protein, vitamins, and mineral nutrients, including eggs and chicken meat.Poultry is a significant source of organic fertilizer and generates income and employment for millions of farmers and other poultry cultivators. The bigger and richer the industry, the more problems they face.Infectious diseases transmitted by flies, majorly house flies (Musca domestica) and other insects are the primary concern for poultry farmers on their farm. The threat of flies is a major problem worldwide wherever poultry farming is an important economic activity.In livestock and medical treatments, flies are significant pests that can cause irritation, spoilage of food, and serve as vectors for various pathogenic organisms. They are also highly destructive.

The key characteristic of monsoon based agriculture of India is variability of availability of forage and fodder resources for livestock. In monsoon seasons, fodder availability will be at its peak, and the same will be scarce in dry months. Considering that, preservation of fodder during monsoon months especially through rainfed farming is essential to ensure a fodder supply throughout the year. Preservation of fodder is process of preserving the excess available fodder in a proper form without the loss of nutrients and its palatability. 

Livestock farming is an integral part of Indian agriculture system and vital source of livelihood particularly in the rural areas of the country. This sector has been the primary source of energy for agricultural operations (for land preparation, sowing, pulling bullock carts etc.) and major source of animal protein (mutton, chevon, chicken, pork, beef, eggs etc.) for majority of population. India has been habitate of major draught, milch and dual-purpose breeds of cattle as well as buffaloes. Besides their potential our indigenous as well as crossbred animals are unable to produce maximum output due to unavailability of adequate and nutritious feed and fodder throughout the year. The quantity and quality of forage production is directly proportional to the livestock health, production and productivity. There is colossal gap between demand and supply of good quality nutritious fodder. Besides, the availability of lesser area under cultivated fodder crops, the grazing lands also becoming smaller due to the degradation of the land, urbanization, industrial development and increased area under food production to fulfil the demand of increasing human population. To meet the nutritional requirement of such a huge population of indigenous, crossbreds as well as genetically upgraded animals, proper management and conservation of fodder and grasslands is necessary.