45 questions. Try each one, then open the answer to check yourself and read the explanation.
Docking is the process of removing an animal's
Answer: C (tail.)
Docking is cutting off part of the tail, e.g. in lambs and piglets.
Cellulose is broken down in the rumen mainly with the help of
Answer: A (bacteria.)
Rumen bacteria produce cellulase, the enzyme that breaks down cellulose.
Which of the following parasites is controlled by dipping?
Answer: B (Louse)
Dipping kills external parasites that live on the skin, such as lice and ticks.
Fresh forage cut and served to farm animals in their shed is referred to as
Answer: D (soilage.)
Soilage (zero grazing) is fresh green forage cut and carried to housed animals.
Which of the following members of the bee colony produces honey?
Answer: D (Worker)
Worker bees collect nectar and turn it into honey; the queen lays eggs, drones mate and the brood are the young.
The process by which an animal re-ingests its soft faeces to recover unused nutrients is called
Answer: A (coprophagy.)
Coprophagy, seen in rabbits, is eating the soft night faeces to re-digest them.
Which of the following systems is most suitable for broiler production?
Answer: B (Deep litter)
Broilers are heavy and grow fast; the deep litter system avoids breast blisters and leg problems that cages cause.
A symptom of fowl pox disease is
Answer: A (galls on comb.)
Fowl pox causes wart-like scabs on the comb, wattles and face.
Which of the following animals could be fed with a weaning ration?
Answer: C (Kid)
A weaning ration is for young mammals leaving their mother's milk, such as a kid (young goat).
What should a farmer do first if a sick bird is identified in a flock?
Answer: B (Isolate the bird)
Removing the sick bird first stops it spreading the disease to the rest of the flock.
The diagram below illustrates a farm animal.
The gestation period of the animal is
Answer: A (32 days.)
The doe rabbit is pregnant for about 31–32 days.
The diagram below illustrates a farm animal.
The part of the animal labelled I is called
Answer: A (back.)
I points to the top line just behind the neck: the back.
Which of the following factors is least considered in feed formulation for farm animals?
Answer: D (Breed of animal.)
Feeds are formulated mainly by age, purpose (e.g. layer, broiler) and health; breed matters least.
In poultry, cyclic movement and shaking of head are disease symptoms associated with
Answer: D (Newcastle disease.)
Newcastle disease attacks the nervous system, causing twisting of the neck, circling and head shaking.
Which of the following practices should be carried out by a farmer to encourage regrowth of pasture species?
Answer: D (Controlled burning)
Controlled burning removes old, dry, fibrous growth so fresh shoots can sprout.
To reduce the problem of cannibalism and egg sucking on a poultry farm, a farmer needs to carry out
Answer: A (debeaking.)
Trimming the beak stops birds from pecking each other and breaking eggs.
Which of the following processes is not involved in artificial insemination?
Answer: B (Mating.)
In AI the male and female never mate; semen is placed in the female by hand.
A nutritional disorder in cattle characterized by distended stomach is known as
Answer: A (bloat.)
Bloat is the build-up of gas that swells the rumen.
The ability of forage crops to survive and spread is referred to as
Answer: B (persistence.)
A persistent forage keeps surviving and spreading season after season.
Which of the following farm animals is not correctly matched with its parturition terminology?
Answer: D (Sheep → whelping)
Sheep give birth by lambing; whelping is used for dogs.
Study the diagram below.
The part labelled I could be removed by using
Answer: C (elastrator rubber.)
I is a fully grown horn; tight elastrator rubber rings cut off its blood supply until it drops off. Hot iron and caustic soda are used only on horn buds of young calves.
Study the diagram below.
The identification method carried out on the part labelled II is called ear
Answer: B (notching.)
The V-shaped cut on the edge of the ear is an ear notch.
Which of the following feed ingredients is required most in formulating ration for layers?
Answer: A (Bone meal)
Layers need a lot of calcium and phosphorus to form eggshells, supplied by bone meal.
The selection of an animal from a group based on its performance is called
Answer: D (individual selection.)
Individual (mass) selection judges each animal on its own performance.
A farmer noticed the laying of soft-shelled eggs by a flock of layers. Which of the following minerals is likely deficient in the diet of the layers?
Answer: A (Calcium.)
Eggshell is mostly calcium carbonate, so too little calcium gives soft shells.
One of the advantages of artificial insemination is that
Answer: D (the semen of the male animal can still be used after death.)
Frozen semen can be stored and used long after the bull has died.
Chronic Respiratory Disease is prevalent in
Answer: B (poultry.)
CRD, caused by Mycoplasma gallisepticum, is a common poultry disease.
Forage crops could be ploughed in the soil to serve as
Answer: C (green manure.)
Green plants ploughed into the soil to rot and add nutrients are green manure.
Which of the following practices is most vital during introduction of a farm animal?
Answer: B (Quarantine.)
New animals are kept apart (quarantined) first so any disease they carry shows before they join the herd.
The diagram below illustrates the digestive system of a pseudo-ruminant.
Cellulose digestion by micro-organisms takes place in the part labelled
Answer: C (III only.)
III is the large, sacculated caecum, where microbes digest cellulose in a pseudo-ruminant such as the rabbit.
The diagram below illustrates the digestive system of a pseudo-ruminant.
Which of the following farm animals has the digestive system shown in the diagram?
Answer: C (Rabbit.)
The rabbit has a simple stomach and a very large caecum: a pseudo-ruminant.
The diagram below illustrates the digestive system of a pseudo-ruminant.
The parts labelled I and II are known respectively as
Answer: D (gall bladder and stomach.)
I points to the small gall bladder on the liver and II to the stomach.
The function of an electro-ejaculator during artificial insemination is to
Answer: C (induce semen release.)
An electro-ejaculator is a probe that gives mild electric pulses to the nerves of a male's reproductive organs, making him ejaculate. It is used for males that cannot mount or serve an artificial vagina.
Which of the following terms is a technique used in processing farm animals?
Answer: C (Slaughtering.)
Slaughtering is the first step in processing animals into meat; the others are feeding practices.
An ewe which is not lactating after lambing should be given
Answer: B (oxytocin.)
Oxytocin causes milk let-down.
Which of the following vitamins is water soluble?
Answer: B (Vitamin B.)
Vitamins B and C dissolve in water; A, D, E and K are fat-soluble.
A record which shows all the assets on a poultry farm is called
Answer: B (Inventory record.)
An inventory lists everything the farm owns.
An organism that habours another organism is referred to as
Answer: A (host.)
The host is the organism that a parasite lives in or on.
The botanical name of Guinea grass is
Answer: C (Panicum maximum.)
Guinea grass is Panicum maximum.
(a) Explain each of the following mating methods in farm animals: (i) hand mating; (ii) pen mating; (iii) pasture mating. (b)(i) Mention two advantages of each of the mating methods explained in 1(a). (ii) Mention two disadvantages of each of the mating methods explained in 1(a). (c) Mention two methods of collecting semen from a bull.
(a)(i) Hand mating: the farmer detects a female on heat and brings her to a chosen male (or vice versa) for a controlled mating, then separates them
(ii) Pen mating: a selected male is kept in a pen with a group of females so he mates them as they come on heat
(iii) Pasture (flock) mating: males and females graze and run together freely and any male mates any female on heat
(b)(i) Advantages. Hand mating: sire known so records are accurate; prevents inbreeding and over-use of the male; date of birth can be predicted. Pen mating: less labour; heat is rarely missed; sire of the group known. Pasture mating: very little labour; high conception since no heat is missed; cheap
(ii) Disadvantages. Hand mating: needs skill to detect heat; more labour; heat may be missed. Pen mating: male may be overworked; exact mating dates not known; fighting if more than one male. Pasture mating: sire unknown, records difficult; inbreeding and mating of immature females; fighting among males
(c) Any two: artificial vagina; electro-ejaculator; massage of the ampullae/seminal vesicles through the rectum
Two separate points for each method in (b).
(a) Explain each of the following terms as used in animal husbandry: (i) coprophagy; (ii) rumination; (iii) candling; (iv) tethering. (b) List four local materials which could be used for constructing a goat house. (c)(i) Name the three members of the honey bee colony. (ii) State five ways in which honey beekeeping is important.
(a)(i) Coprophagy: eating of its own soft faeces by an animal such as the rabbit, to re-digest them and gain vitamins and protein
(ii) Rumination: bringing back swallowed food (cud) from the rumen to the mouth to chew it again before swallowing
(iii) Candling: examining eggs against a bright light in a dark place to check fertility, embryo development or defects
(iv) Tethering: tying an animal with a rope to a peg or tree so that it grazes only within a circle
(b) Any four: bamboo; wood/planks/sticks; palm fronds/raffia; grass thatch; mud/clay bricks; rope/twine; stones
(c)(i) Queen, drone, worker
(ii) Any five: honey for food and medicine; beeswax for candles and cosmetics; pollination of crops; income and employment; propolis and royal jelly; foreign exchange; research/education
One clear definition for each term.
(a)(i) Explain the term monogastric. (ii) Give two examples of monogastric animals. (b) Explain each of the following terms as used in animal nutrition: (i) concentrate; (ii) additive. (c) State four ways in which roughage is important in the diet of farm animals. (d) List four materials which could be used in milking cow. (e) Mention two animals each which could be fed on each of the following forms of prepared feed: (i) pellets; (ii) mash.
(a)(i) A monogastric animal has a simple, single-chambered stomach and cannot digest much fibre
(ii) Any two: pig; poultry (chicken); rabbit; horse; dog
(b)(i) Concentrate: feed low in fibre and high in digestible nutrients (energy or protein), e.g. maize, groundnut cake, fish meal
(ii) Additive: a non-nutrient substance added in small amounts to feed to improve growth, health or feed use, e.g. antibiotics, coccidiostats, hormones, flavours, antioxidants
(c) Any four: provides bulk/fills the gut; fibre aids gut movement and prevents constipation; source of energy for ruminants via rumen microbes; stimulates rumination and saliva flow; keeps rumen healthy and maintains milk fat; cheap feed
(d) Any four: milking bucket/pail; stool; milking machine; udder towel and warm water/disinfectant; strip cup; milk can; sieve/strainer; teat dip
(e)(i) Pellets, any two: rabbits; fish; poultry (broilers); pigs; grasscutters
(ii) Mash, any two: poultry (chicks, layers); pigs; calves
Keep definitions short and give examples.
(a) Mention two organs each in each of the following parts of rabbit: (i) head; (ii) thorax; (iii) abdomen. (b) State one function of each of the following organs in farm animals: (i) caecum; (ii) gizzard; (iii) crop; (iv) rumen; (v) lung. (c) State six practical ways of checking malnutrition in livestock production. (d) Mention three examples of non-traditional farm animals.
(a)(i) Head, any two: brain; eyes; ears; tongue; teeth; nose (ii) Thorax, any two: heart; lungs; trachea; oesophagus (iii) Abdomen, any two: stomach; liver; intestines; kidneys; caecum; pancreas; spleen; bladder; reproductive organs
(b)(i) Caecum: microbial digestion of cellulose (ii) Gizzard: grinds food with grit (iii) Crop: stores and softens food (iv) Rumen: microbial fermentation of fibre/storage of swallowed feed (v) Lung: gaseous exchange, taking in oxygen and removing carbon dioxide
(c) Any six: feed a balanced ration; give feed according to age and purpose; provide clean water at all times; give mineral licks and vitamin supplements; deworm regularly; avoid overcrowding at feeders; supplement in the dry season (hay, silage, concentrates); improve pastures; creep feed the young; store feed well to avoid spoilage
(d) Any three: snail; grasscutter (cane rat); bees; giant rat; quail; ostrich; guinea fowl; frog
Match each function to the organ asked.
(a) Explain the following terms as used in pasture and range management. (i) fodder; (ii) paddocking; (iii) reseeding; (iv) stocking rate; (v) natural pasture. (b) State five factors which could affect the establishment of pasture in West Africa. (c) State five ways in which weeds are of economic importance in livestock production.
(a)(i) Fodder: forage that is cut and carried to animals (fresh or conserved as hay or silage) instead of being grazed
(ii) Paddocking: dividing a pasture into fenced sections that are grazed in turn so each section can rest and regrow
(iii) Reseeding: sowing new seeds of good grasses/legumes on a degraded pasture to improve it
(iv) Stocking rate: the number of animals kept per unit area of pasture (e.g. per hectare) over a period
(v) Natural pasture: grassland made of grasses and legumes that grow on their own without being planted
(b) Any five: climate (rainfall, temperature); soil type and fertility; choice of suitable species; land tenure; cost of establishment/capital; pests and diseases; weeds; bush burning; labour and equipment; topography
(c) Any five: compete with forage for nutrients, water and light; reduce pasture yield; some are poisonous to animals; harbour pests and disease vectors; lower quality of produce (e.g. burrs in wool, taint in milk); increase cost of production; some are useful as feed or medicine
Define each term in one sentence.
(a) Explain each of the following terms as used in animal production: (i) flushing; (ii) dystocia; (iv) parturition. (b) State five ways in which fencing is important in livestock production. (c) Mention five ways in which rearing of rabbits is important. (d) List four disadvantages of deep litter system in poultry production.
(a)(i) Flushing: giving extra, high-quality feed to females two to three weeks before mating to raise ovulation and litter size
(ii) Dystocia: difficult or abnormal birth, needing assistance
(iv) Parturition: the act of giving birth to young at the end of pregnancy
(b) Any five: keeps animals in and prevents straying into crops; keeps out predators and thieves; allows rotational grazing/paddocking; separates animals by age, sex or health; controls breeding; reduces spread of disease; marks boundaries
(c) Any five: meat rich in protein; fur/pelt; manure; income; used in research and teaching; breeds quickly with short gestation; needs little space and capital; pets
(d) Any four: high disease risk (e.g. coccidiosis) as birds contact droppings; litter becomes wet and dirty; egg eating and cannibalism more common; floor eggs get dirty; more space per bird than cages; harder to identify poor layers; dust problems
Short, distinct points.