Chapter 39 - Exam Questions

Question 1

Concentrates are commonly fed to farm animals.

1. Name two food nutrients found in concentrates.
2. Decribe the function of each of the nutrients referred to in 1.

Answer 1

1. Carbohydrates and Fats
2. Carbohydrates: Energy and fibre (roughage) for the correct functioning of the rumen.

Fats: Insulation and energy.

Question 2

1. What is meant by condition scoring in cows?

2. Give the recommended condition scores for a dairy cow at service and at calving.

Answer 2

1. Body condition scoring of cattle, sheep and pigs assesses the level of fat reserves an animal has at various production stages (prior to mating, giving birth and during lactation). Body condition scoring is commonly referred to as ratio of lean meat to fat
2. At service: 3.0
   At calving: 3.25

Question 3

FOOD CONVERSION EFFICIENCY (FCE) decreases with age in farm animals

1. Explain the term in caps and give an example of FCE for a named farm animal.
2. Explain why FCE decreases with age in an animal.
3. Explain how a farmer might improve the FCE of his herd.

Answer 3

1. Food conversion efficiency is also known as food conversion ratio (FCR) and it is a measure of an animal’s efficiency at converting a mass of food into live weight gain (LWG). It is expressed as a ratio of the food consumed to the live weight gain.
2. • ## Young animals (lamb, calf or piglet) have low FCR values, since they will convert most of the food they consume into bone and muscle growth.As the animal gets older, and in particular as it reaches slaughter weight, its FCR value increases.

• The reason for this is that fat deposition has started and this requires more energy than the production of lean muscle, therefore decreasing food conversion efficiency.
  3. -Increase the amount of concentrates in the diet of the animal. The higher the quality the feed ks, the more efficiently the animal will convert it to body tissue. If the feed is palatable, this will increase the animal’s intake of the feed and lead to a lower FCR.
• Use breed that confer low FCR values. In pig production, Large White is used to confer a good FCR value on to their offspring. In cattle and sheep, breeds with fast growth rates tend to hace better or smaller FCR values.
• Good disease and parasite control. Diseases and prasites can increase FCR value. Nutrients are diverted away from LWG and used by the immune system to fight a disease. Diseases also normally reduce feed intake.
• Housing and temperature control: Cattle housed outdoors over the winter months utilise feed less efficiently than those house indoors. Since it is colder outside, animals divert more of their feed intake into heat production to keep themselves warm. Temoerature control is vital in pig production. The houses in a pig production unit are maintained at appropriate temperatures for good FCR values: dry sow house at 20°C, weaner house at 24°C, and fattener house at 22°C.

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Question 4

Distinguish between essential and non-essential amino acids.

Answer 4

Essential amino acids are amino acids that cannot be manufactured in the monogastric animal’s body, and must be obtained in the animal’s diet.

Non-essential amino acids are amino acids that can be manufactured in the body from other amino acids, e.g. alanine and glutamine.

Question 5

Irish beef animals are graded at slaughter according to their fatness and conformation.

1. Explain the term conformation.
2. Describe the difference in conformation between beef cattle and dairy cattle.

Answer 5

1. Conformation refers to the shape of the animal and the distribution of fat and muscle around its body.
2. Beef Cattle:
   - block shaped conformation, with wide shoulders and hindquarters that are well fleshed.

Dairy Cattle:
- triangular or wedge shaped conformation, with narrow shoulders that are not well fleshed and a long and thin neck, hindquarters that are wide but not well fleshed, however, they have a wide chest and a large lung capacity, which supports their ability to produce lots of milk.

Question 6

Many diseases of plants and animals are caused by a lack of a particular element in the soil or in the animal’s diet. Match each element to the deficiency disease that is caused by a lack of that element.

Deficiency disease:
Heart rot in sugar beet
Swayback in sheep
Anaemia in Pigs
Grass tetany in cattle
Milk fever in cattle
Pine in sheep

Answer 6

Boron
Copper
Iron
Magnesium Oxide
Calcium 
Cobalt

Question 7

Name any three ingrediants, apart from minerals, that you would find in a sheep concentrate and explain why each one of them is present.

Answer 7

Soyabean hulls: Soyabean hulls are the seed coat of the soya bean and are present in sheep concentrate as a source of fibre.

Maize distillers: Maize distillers provide a good source of protein for the sheep.

Soya, palm and rape acid oils: Soya, palm and rape acid oils are high in fat and provide a good source of energy.

Question 8

Explain the difference between a production diet and a maintenance diet.

Answer 8

A production diet is the extra amount of feed required to produce 1kg of wool, 1litre of milk, 1kg of LWG (Live Weight Gain) or to produce a calf or lamb.

A maintenance diet is the amount of feed that allows an animal to maintain a constant body weight.

Question 9

1. Why are mineral and vitamin supplements used in the diet of farm animals?
2. How are these supplements supplied to farm animals?

Answer 9

1. Mineral and vitamin supplements are used in the diet of farm animals because:
   - Minerals are bone and teeth building, provide energy, and produce milk and fertility
   - Many metabolic processes are controlled by vitamins.
   - Deficiencies in minerals cause diseases in farm animals, such as a cobalt deficiency causing pine disease in lambs and ewes, and a copper deficiency in pregnant ewes causing swayback in lambs. Mineral supplements can be added to the diet of the animal to prevent these deficiencies.
   - Vitamin A is added to aid growth, fertility and milk production. Vitamin E plays an important role in maintining the immune system and Vitamin D encourages healthy bones.
2. Minerals are supplied to an animal’s diet using the following methods:
   - Dusting the mineral onto the silage (Cal Mag)
   - Providing mineral lick to the animal
   - Adding minerals to the drinking water of the animal
   - Oral dose or mineral bullet
   - Decorating the pasture.