Animal Production: Types, Systems and Feeds

What you need to know

• Farm animals are grouped by digestive system. Ruminants, namely cattle, sheep and goats, have a four-chambered stomach of rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum, and host micro-organisms that digest cellulose, so they can live on grass. Non-ruminants or monogastrics, namely pigs and poultry, have a simple single stomach and need concentrated feed. The rabbit and the horse are pseudo-ruminants, digesting fibre in an enlarged caecum.
• Animals are also grouped by use into dairy, beef, dual purpose, work or draught, layer, broiler, dual purpose poultry and fancy or pet animals, and by maturity and sex, for example bull, cow, heifer, calf, steer in cattle, ram, ewe, lamb in sheep, buck, doe, kid in goats, boar, sow, piglet in pigs, and cock, hen, chick, pullet, cockerel in poultry.
• The main Nigerian cattle breeds are the White Fulani or Bunaji, the most numerous, dual purpose with a white coat and black points; the Sokoto Gudali or Bokoloji, a heavy humped beef and milk animal of the north west; the Red Bororo or Rahaji, a tall deep red beef animal of the nomads; the Azawak; and the Adamawa Gudali.
• The trypanotolerant cattle of the humid south are the Muturu, a small humpless dwarf shorthorn, and the N'Dama. They survive in tsetse-infested areas where the northern zebu breeds cannot, which is why they matter for southern Nigeria. Exotic dairy breeds kept on Nigerian farms include the Holstein-Friesian, the Jersey and the Brown Swiss, usually crossed with local stock to add heat tolerance.
• The main sheep breeds are the Yankasa, the most widespread, white with black patches round the eyes, ears and muzzle; the Balami, the largest, all white with a long drooping ear and a convex face, from Borno; the Uda, pied with the front half brown and the rear half white; and the West African Dwarf of the forest zone, small, prolific and trypanotolerant.
• The main goat breeds are the Red Sokoto or Maradi, reddish brown and famous for the quality of its skin which feeds the Kano tanning trade; the Sahel or Borno White, long legged and kept in the far north; and the West African Dwarf of the south, short legged, prolific, often twinning, and trypanotolerant.
• Poultry stock in Nigeria includes the indigenous local fowl, hardy and broody but slow growing and a poor layer; exotic layers such as the Rhode Island Red, White Leghorn, Isa Brown, Bovan Nera and the Shika Brown developed at the National Animal Production Research Institute; and fast-growing broiler strains such as Anak, Arbor Acres, Ross and Hubbard. Pig breeds include the Large White, Landrace, Duroc, Hampshire and the indigenous Ashanti Dwarf.
• The extensive system allows animals to range freely and find their own feed, as in nomadic and transhumant Fulani herding and in free-range village poultry. It needs little capital and little labour, but growth is slow, mortality and theft are high, disease spreads easily, breeding is uncontrolled and record keeping is impossible.
• The intensive system confines animals in housing and brings all feed and water to them, as in the deep litter and battery cage systems for poultry, zero grazing for dairy cattle and the pig pen. It gives high output per animal, close disease and breeding control and good records, but it demands heavy capital, skilled labour, costly feed, and it spreads disease fast and encourages vices such as cannibalism and egg eating when stocking is too dense.
• The semi-intensive system houses animals at night and lets them graze or range by day, with supplementary feeding. It is the practical compromise for most Nigerian smallholders and keeps feed cost down while reducing losses.
• Feeds are grouped as roughages, which are bulky and high in fibre, such as fresh grass, hay, silage, maize stover, groundnut haulms, cowpea husk and cassava peel; concentrates, which are low in fibre and high in energy or protein; and supplements, which supply minerals and vitamins.
• Energy concentrates are maize, sorghum, millet, wheat offal, rice bran, cassava meal and palm oil. Protein concentrates are of plant origin, such as groundnut cake, soya bean meal, palm kernel cake and cotton seed cake, or of animal origin, such as fish meal, blood meal, meat and bone meal. Animal protein sources have a better balance of essential amino acids than plant sources.
• Mineral supplements include bone meal and oyster shell for calcium and phosphorus, common salt for sodium and chlorine, and a commercial premix for trace minerals and vitamins. Laying hens need extra calcium, about 3.5 per cent of the ration, to form strong egg shells.
• The standard crude protein levels to quote are chick or broiler starter mash 22 to 24 per cent, broiler finisher 18 to 20 per cent, growers mash 15 to 16 per cent and layers mash 16 to 18 per cent. A maintenance ration keeps an animal alive with no gain; a production ration is added on top for growth, milk, eggs, work or pregnancy; a balanced ration supplies all nutrients in the right proportion for the animal's purpose.