L7 + L8 - Herbivore Husbandry

Question 1

What are the 3 types of Herbivores?

Answer 1

Browsers - feed on leaves, shoots and twigs

Grazers - feed on grasses and plants close to the ground

Intermediates

Question 2

What are Ungulates?

Answer 2

hoofed animals where their body weight is on their toes

Question 3

What are Perissodactyla and Artiodactyla?

Answer 3

Perissodactyla - odd toed ungulates - weight bearing on 3rd and 4th toes

Artiodactyla - even toed ungulates - weight bearing on 3rd toe

Question 4

Give examples of Perissodactyla and Artiodactyla

Answer 4

Perissodactyla - Cattle, antelope, deer, camels, llamas, giraffe, hippo, pigs

Artiodactyla - rhinos, tapirs, equidae (have an elongated snout)

Question 5

What are the 2 sections of a hoof?

Answer 5

1. the unguis - scale like plate (our finger and toe nails

2. the subunguis - a softer layer connecting the unguis to the pad of the digit

Question 6

Why did hooves develop?

Answer 6

the development of the hoof illustrated major innovation in the evo9lution of cursorial (running) lifestyle - pushed by faster running predators

Question 7

How did having hooves increase ungulates speed?

Answer 7

Since only the hooves touch the ground, the rest the foot essentially become part of the leg, substantially increasing the length of stride

• the metapodials are often as long as the other parts in the leg
• raised heel and digits off the ground also increase the number of joints which move the legs forward - increases the rate of the stride

Coupled together, these two factors have given modern ungulates the speed needed to survive

Question 8

What is each section of the gut like in a grazer compared to a browser:

a) foregut
b) stomach
c) mouth

Answer 8

Browser:

a) large, subdivided
b) smaller
c) Wider muzzle and incisor row

Grazer

a) small and simple
b) larger
c) Narrow muzzle and incisor row

Question 9

Describe the nutritional value of carnivorous diet compared to a herbivorous diet

Answer 9

Herbivores: Low protein, low digestibility, high fibre in cell walls, quality varies among plants and plant parts

Carnivores: high protein, high digestible intake, no cell wall/fibre, quality uniform among prey

Question 10

Give examples of herbivores that are:

a) grazers
b) intermediates
c) browsers

Answer 10

a) grazers - cattle, buffalo, sheep
b) intermediates - goats, white tailed deer
c) browsers - dik dik, moose, mules deer

Question 11

How many times a day do grazers eat compared to browsers?

Answer 11

grazers - 3 times a day

browsers - 18 times a day

Question 12

What is browse?

Answer 12

The young twigs, shoots, leaves, etc., on which certain animals feed

Question 13

Give 5 benefits of browse

Answer 13

1. part of their natural diet
2. supplement to grazing
3. suppliers of protein
4. requires less resources than compound feeds (money, CO2, H2O)
5. Security of food source

Question 14

Describe how thermal imaging can be used to monitor the health of animals

Answer 14

Often when animals are hurt or in pain an inflammation occurs creating heat

In wild animals this may not show any change to their behaviour as to not appear weak, and also they cannot be measured physically so thermal imaging can be used

Question 15

Apart from thermal imaging what other kinds of tests are done to assess an animals health?

Answer 15

• faecal
• blood
• body conditioning
• tb
• foot testing

Question 16

Describe important stages you need to be aware of for body conditioning

Answer 16

1. pre birth - fit not fat - prepare dams for lactation
2. partition - animals should not give birth in an excessively fat condition
3. early lactation - animals are under considerable nutritional stress and adequate feeding is essential to avoid excessive weight loss. Excessively thin dams can suffer discomfort in a housing environment such as hard standing and concrete floored housing systems