📖 Lesson 3: Ruminant and Non-Ruminant Animal Production

👩🏽‍🏫 Introduction

Hey there, future animal farmer! 🐖🐓🐐
Have you ever wondered why cows chew their food again after swallowing it? Or why poultry farmers separate chicks from adult birds? This lesson takes you into the world of animal production, where we raise animals for meat, milk, eggs, hides, and income.

We’ll explore the two main groups of farm animals—ruminants and non-ruminants—and the different ways they are bred, fed, and cared for. You’ll also discover the scientific principles behind successful animal farming in preparation for the WASSCE.

Let’s dive into the barnyard! 🚜

🔍 Core Concepts

🔹 1. What is Animal Production?

Animal production is the science and practice of breeding, raising, and managing farm animals to produce food and other useful products (like wool, hides, or manure).

Farm animals are grouped into two types:

🔹 2. Differences Between Ruminants and Non-Ruminants

📘 WASSCE Tip: Know the chamber functions:

• Rumen – fermentation

• Reticulum – traps foreign objects

• Omasum – absorbs water

• Abomasum – “true” stomach for digestion

🔹 3. Principles of Animal Production

Key areas to manage in both ruminant and non-ruminant farming:

🔹 4. Ruminant Animal Production

Focus: Cattle, Goats, Sheep

Breeds

• Cattle: White Fulani (milk/meat), Muturu

• Goats: West African Dwarf, Sokoto Red

• Sheep: Uda, Yankasa

Feeding

• Ruminants eat grasses, legumes, and crop residues

• Use salt licks and mineral supplements

Management

• Extensive: Free-range grazing

• Intensive: Zero-grazing with housed feeding

• Semi-intensive: Mix of both

Diseases

• Foot-and-mouth disease, mastitis, liver fluke

• Use vaccines, clean water, and regular deworming

🔹 5. Non-Ruminant Animal Production

Focus: Poultry, Pigs, Rabbits

Poultry Breeds

• Layers: for eggs (e.g. Isa Brown)

• Broilers: for meat

• Indigenous/local fowls: hardy, low productivity

Pig Breeds

• Large White, Duroc, Landrace

Feeding

• Balanced diets: maize, soya, fishmeal, vitamins

• Clean water is essential

Housing

• Pigs: Concrete pens with drainage

• Poultry: Deep-litter system or battery cages

• Rabbits: Wire hutches off the ground

Diseases

• Poultry: Newcastle, Gumboro

• Pigs: Swine fever, worms

• Rabbits: Ear mites, pneumonia
  🩺 Control: Vaccination, hygiene, biosecurity

🧠 Sample Problem Walkthrough

🐐 Problem:

Your school wants to rear goats and pigs. As the science prefect, you must advise on feeding and housing for both. What are your recommendations?

✅ Step-by-Step Solution:

1. Animal types: Goats = ruminant; pigs = non-ruminant

2. Feeding:

   • Goats: Grasses, crop leaves, salt lick

   • Pigs: Mixed concentrate feeds (grains, protein, vitamins)

3. Housing:

   • Goats: Wooden shelter with ventilation; separate pens

   • Pigs: Concrete pen with a roof and proper drainage

4. Extras: Clean water, routine deworming, and record keeping

✔️ Answer: Goats need grass-based feed and ventilated housing. Pigs need concentrate feed and concrete pens with good drainage.

✍🏽 Practice Exercises

1. Multiple Choice

Which of these is a non-ruminant animal?
A. Cow
B. Goat
C. Pig
D. Sheep

Answer: C. Pig
Explanation: Pigs have a single stomach and do not chew cud.

2. Fill in the Blanks

(a) The _______ is the true stomach of ruminants.
(b) Broilers are poultry breeds raised mainly for _______.

Answers:
(a) abomasum
(b) meat

3. Match the Animal to Its Breed

Answers:
(i) → B
(ii) → A
(iii) → C

4. Short Answer

Q: Give two reasons why record keeping is important in animal production.
A:

1. It helps monitor animal growth and health.

2. It helps manage feed cost and production planning.

🌀 Recap

Today you learned:

• Ruminants (like cattle) chew cud and digest fibrous food; non-ruminants (like pigs) do not.

• Good animal production involves selecting breeds, housing, feeding, health care, and keeping records.

• Different animals have specific housing and nutritional needs.

• Managing animal health and preventing disease is key to success.

💭 Reflection Prompt

If you could start a small animal farm with three animals, which would you choose—goats, pigs, or chickens? Explain your choice and describe how you’d house and feed them.