Theory question 105
Digestive System of Farm Animals(a) State five differences between the digestive systems of a goat and a chicken. (b) Explain each of the following terms as used in animal production: (i) rumination; (ii) coprophagy. (c) Give one reason for carrying out each of the following practices in livestock production: (i) creep feeding; (ii) steaming-up; (iii) flushing. (d)(i) State four ways in which rangelands are important. (ii) List four practices that could be carried out to improve pastures.
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(a) Any five (goat vs chicken): has teeth and dental pad vs beak, no teeth; no crop vs crop; four-chambered stomach vs proventriculus and gizzard; chews the cud vs does not ruminate; microbial digestion of fibre in rumen vs little fibre digestion; one caecum vs two caeca; ends in anus vs ends in cloaca; long intestine vs relatively short intestine
(b)(i) Rumination: bringing partly digested food (cud) from the rumen back to the mouth to be chewed again and re-swallowed
(ii) Coprophagy: eating of its own soft faeces (as in rabbits) to re-digest them and obtain B vitamins and protein made by gut microbes
(c)(i) Creep feeding: giving extra feed to suckling young so they grow faster and get used to solid feed before weaning
(ii) Steaming-up: extra feeding of a pregnant female near the end of pregnancy for good foetal growth, good birth weight and milk production
(iii) Flushing: extra feeding of females before mating to make them ovulate more eggs and increase litter size
(d)(i) Any four: source of cheap feed for livestock; habitat for wildlife; protects soil from erosion; source of fuelwood, medicinal plants and thatch; recreation/tourism
(ii) Any four: reseeding; fertilizer application; rotational grazing; weed control; controlled burning; irrigation; liming
Answer every part; one reason for each practice in (c).