elbs brainscape unit three livestock husbandry part two

Question 1

Fertilisation

Answer 1

Sperm meets egg and they fuse. This takes place in the oviduct

Question 2

Embryo

Answer 2

Fertilised egg turns into this

Question 3

Placenta

Answer 3

Pad of flesh which lets the mother’s blood get close to the offspring. Oxygen and food go into the embryo, CO2 and waste come out.

Question 4

Umbilical cord

Answer 4

joins placenta to offspring

Question 5

Amniotic sac

Answer 5

full of liquid to protect offspring

Question 6

Birth process

Answer 6

Vulva swells, udder fills, waters break. Cervix dilates, offspring are pushed out by contractions of the uterus wall. Offspring may need manipulating to get them out the right way (not backside first)

Question 7

Signs that signify that an animal is on heat,

Answer 7

reddened enlarged vulva, seeking out males, standing to pressure, calling , mounting others

Question 8

artificial insemination (AI)

Answer 8

semen in a catheter, thaw it out and place it into the uterus when the animal is on heat

Question 9

AI advantages and disadvantages

Answer 9

Advantages – don’t have to keep a male, can choose the best males, can choose different breeds. Disadvantages – disease needs trained operative

Question 10

Embryo transfer

Answer 10

Inject female with a hormone to cause lots of eggs to ripen. Fertilise them with AI. Flush out the uterus while the fertilised eggs are still small. They can be frozen for future use or put into surrogate mothers.

Question 11

Advantages and disadvantages of AI

Answer 11

Advantages – good mothers can have lots of offspring per year.
Disadvantages – disease, needs a trained operator, can be expensive.

Question 12

Ethical issues for AI and embroyo transfer

Answer 12

Ethical issues are to do with right and wrong. Some people regard AI as unnatural. Also by using lots of sperm from a single donor animal or lots of eggs from a female which is undergoing embryo transfer you will narrow the gene pool, reducing the variety of animals to choose to breed from. Welfare implications include having to constrain and anaesthetise animals while you perform the various necessary operations on them could be seen as being cruel.

Question 13

milk producing organs

Answer 13

Mammary glands produce milk from alveoli which feed in to ducts then a cistern. The teats lead out from this. A big blood supply is needed so they have a big artery and a milk vein to supply the udder

Question 14

lactation curve

Answer 14

Graph of how much milk a cow gives over the year

Question 15

Lactation curve changes

Answer 15

Cows produce more milk early in their lactation, especially when put out onto spring grass. The production drops off over the rest of the year until they are dried off for a couple of months prior to calving.

Question 16

Milk production and stress

Answer 16

Cows like routine and quiet conditions. If there is a change to routine, loud unfamiliar noises or strangers present they may not give as much milk as they usually would.

Question 17

principal components of milk differ during lactation

Answer 17

The cow starts to give milk as soon as it has given birth. The first milk is called colostrum and is very rich in fats and contains antibodies which protect the offspring from infection. A couple of weeks after birth the cow are producing her maximum. This is called peak yield. From there the yield slowly drops off over the year. It may go up a bit when the cow is turned out onto fresh grass in the spring. The cow is dried off for a couple of months before the next calving. Protein level is highest at the start, mineral levels higher later on.

Question 18

characteristics

Answer 18

Features of an organism

Question 19

DNA

Answer 19

Chemical which code information from one generation to the next

Question 20

chromosomes

Answer 20

coiled strands of DNA

Question 21

mutations

Answer 21

Random changes in genes

Question 22

alleles.

Answer 22

alternative versions of the same gene e.g blue eyed, brown eyed

Question 23

genotype

Answer 23

Combination of alleles eg BB, Bb , bb

Question 24

phenotype

Answer 24

What the organism actually looks like

Question 25

dominant

Answer 25

Some alleles are stronger than others and if present will always be expressed (they will show in the offspring)

Question 26

recessive

Answer 26

Some alleles are weaker than others and will only be expressed if no dominant allele is present.

Question 27

F1

Answer 27

The first cross of offspring from true breeding lines

Question 28

monohybrid inheritance

Answer 28

where there are dominant and recessive alleles, applied to breeding livestock. Cattle may lack horns. This is called “polled”. The dominant allele (no horns) =P. The recessive allele (horns) = p. If we take a true breeding polled and cross it with a true breeding horned:-

Parents phenotype Horned X Polled

Parent’s genotype pp X PP

Gametes p p X P P

P	P p	pP	pP p	pP	pP

Question 29

Cloning

Answer 29

Making copies of an organism which are genetically identical to each other

Question 30

Plant clones

Answer 30

Many plants can be cloned by taking a part off a plant and growing it on (e.g. taking cuttings)

Question 31

Animal clones

Answer 31

In animals clones can be made by taking the nucleus from an adult and placing it into an egg cell which has had the nucleus removed then growing it on into an embryo.

Question 32

Ethical problems with cloning

Answer 32

Ethical issues mean whether something is right or wrong. There are ethical concerns regarding cloning such as the suffering of the animals involved, viewing animals as objects and commodities as opposed to sentient (feeling) beings. Cloning often goes wrong, causing painful defects in the animals.

Question 33

Risks of cloning

Answer 33

risks can include high risk of death during pregnancy and during the period shortly after birth, plus the possibility of defects. There can be a question over the safety of animal products from cloned animals e.g. meat and milk.

Question 34

Benefits on cloning

Answer 34

benefits include the ability to reproduce large numbers of animals identical to superior specimens or disease resistant ones, and to allow breeding from animals that can no longer reproduce naturally e.g. old bulls. Zoos can use cloning to reproduce endangered animals.

Question 35

Selective breeding

Answer 35

Selective breeding means deliberately choosing animals to breed from which have a characteristic which you want to improve. Careful record keeping must be done over many generations so it takes lots of years to make a difference

Question 36

yield

Answer 36

the amount of useful product you end up with e.g. milk of meat

Question 37

disease resistance

Answer 37

how well they can fight off infections

Question 38

hardiness

Answer 38

the ability to survive harsh conditions

Question 39

conformation

Answer 39

their body form

Question 40

Example of selective breeding

Answer 40

Belgian Blue cattle have been selectively bred to produce a lot more muscle than ordinary cattle. A mutation in the gene which controls muscle growth has been selected for over many generations

Question 41

Hybrid vigour

Answer 41

when you cross two breeds together – they thrive better and are more vigorous and hardy than pure bred animals

Question 42

inbreeding

Answer 42

which can cause health problems to animals e.g. crossed beaks in chickens, hip problems in pure bred cattle. This is because recessive alleles are more common and can combine to get expressed in the phenotype.

Question 43

gene pool

Answer 43

. Rare breeds are important in maintaining a wide genetic base (gene pool)

Question 44

Rare Breeds Survival Trust

Answer 44

Certain breeds have fallen in popularity over time due to changes in farming practices (more intensive these days) and in eating habits (less fatty animals are required) It is important to preserve these rare breeds because they may have genes which will be of use to us to breed from in the future

Question 45

How to approach, move and transport farm livestock safely

Answer 45

Let the animal know you are there by talking quietly, - Avoid sudden movements and noise, - Approach from the front or side so they can see you,
- Use the flight zone and point of balance to move the livestock without hitting them or frightening them.

Question 46

weigh an animal

Answer 46

guide them into a crush (a small enclosed metal framed box where they can’t move much) with an electronic balance underneath. With small animals they can be weighed by putting them into a sack and using a scale. With large animals an estimation of weight can be made by calculating using a tape measure to gauge their length and girth and reading their approximate weight from a table.

Question 47

Hazards of poor handling

Answer 47

disease (tetanus is a bacterial disease which caused muscle spasm, salmonella is another bacterial disease which causes vomiting and diarrhoea), parasites (e.g. lice, fleas, worms, blowfly maggots).

Animal handlers can be hurt by being crushed, bitten or stepped on.

Question 48

Control of hazards

Answer 48

These hazards may be reduced by carefully planning the movement of animals and good hygiene (washing hands with soap and water, wearing overalls and boots, regular cleaning of bedding etc.)

Question 49

Legislation regarding keeping animals

Answer 49

To keep livestock you must register with DEFRA and have a registered county parish holding number (CPH) and record births, deaths and when animals move onto or off the holding. This is so that movements can be traced in case of disease, food poisoning etc. Animals must be identified by an ear tag which has the holding number and the flock or herd number on it.

Cruelty to animals ( the five freedoms - from hunger and thirst, from discomfort, from pain, injury and disease, from fear and distress, and the freedom to normal behaviour) The RSPCA enforce the regulation which go along with these. There are also some diseases you have to tell the authorities about if you get them on your farm e.g. foot and mouth.

Question 50

Moving animals

Answer 50

If you are moving animals you need to comply with regulations as to how long they can travel without food or water, how far they can go without rest.

There are movement licences which have to be filled in. This is to avoid the animals suffering.