Livestock Systems I: Deer, Camelids, Goats & Fish

Question 1

Camelids - Alpacas

Answer 1

• The 1990’s saw commercial quantities of alpacas imported into the UK.
• The UK leads Europe with around 40,000 alpacas.
• The UK has exported many 1000’s of alpacas into Europe to boost their herd numbers.

Question 2

On farm advantages of alpacas

Answer 2

• Hardy animals who do well on native and improved pasture. • Efficient feed converters.
• Easy birthing
• No foot rot and fly strike is minimal.

Question 3

Breeding- alpaca

Answer 3

• The gestation period is 11 to 11.5 months.
• Cria would be born in late spring/early summer.
• Crias are weaned between 5 and 6 months of age
• Females are ready to be put to a stud male when 14 months old.
• A female should be in a fit condition to return to a male from 10-14 days post-partum.

Question 4

Vaccinations alpacas

Answer 4

5-in-1 vaccine - protects against 5 different but related bacteria known collectively as clostridial diseases.

• Tetanus
• Pulpy kidney/enterotoxaemia
• Black leg
• Black disease/Infectious necrotic hepatitis - Malignant oedema

Question 5

alpacas Foot care

Answer 5

Toenail trimming should ideally be done about 4 times a year – possibly less alpacas have access to hard standing.

Question 6

Alpaca teeth care

Answer 6

Alpacas have teeth in their lower jaw at the front of their mouths – which bite onto a hard palate in the upper jaw.
• Trimming/grinding is done at shearing time.
• In males, these should be blunted to prevent injuries from fighting

Question 7

Care of the newborn cria alpaca

Answer 7

Should weigh at least 5.5kg, but usually weigh 7-9kg at birth.
• The navel should be dipped or sprayed with 2-3% iodine tincture to prevent
infections.
• Should receive 250–500 ml of colostrum in the first 8 hours of life.
• Hypothermia is a big problem in wet environment. Unlike cattle and sheep, alpacas do not lick off the birthing fluids from their cria.
• Dry off new cria with clean towel

Question 8

Stocking rates alpaca

Answer 8

• Rough grazing land: 4 to 5 alpacas per acre.
• Permanent pasture which is over five years old: 5 to
6 per acre.
• Temporary pasture which is less than five years old: 6 to 8 per acre.
• 2 alpacas can be kept on 1/2 an acre of pasture if well maintained.

Question 9

Alpaca Nutrition

Answer 9

I
• Adult alpacas will voluntarily ingest around 1.5% of their body weight as dry matter (DM) daily when non-pregnant and non-lactating.
• 70kg alpaca will consume ~1kg DM daily
• Could take the form of ~5kg of lush pasture (~20% DM) or 1.2kg of pasture hay (~90% DM)

Question 10

UK deer farming

Answer 10

Steadily growing demand for venison is fuelling a significant rise in farmed deer numbers.
• An increase of over 400% in UK venison sales has been reported. • Farmed venison provides the opportunity to increase supply.

Question 11

Deer Breeding

Answer 11

Autumn rutting season and an average 233-day gestation length.
• Stags should be removed from the hinds in November to prevent late
calves.
• Hinds are seasonally polyoestrous, cycling at around 20 days with oestrus lasting 12 to 24 hours.

Question 12

Deer Calving

Answer 12

• Occurs early summer, from May to Mid June.
• Complete calving within a 3-week period.
• Peri-natal (around the time of birth) and post-natal (>24 hours after birth) mortality of calves is the single biggest source of reproductive wastage occurring on deer farms

Question 13

Deer Weaning

Answer 13

Pre-rut weaning is when calves and hinds are separated before the rut, usually in late August –Mid September, when the calves are 3-4 months of age.
Post-rut weaning is when calves and hinds are separated after the rut, usually in November-December, when the calves are 6-7 months of age.

Question 14

Deer feeding

Answer 14

Feed requirements differ depending on their age, stage of growth, the season, feed quality, environment and management.
• In the UK, pasture is the basis of the majority of deer feeding systems
• Highest quality pasture is a major priority from as early as late March when growth spurt starts.
16

• Ryegrass/white clover pastures produce high quality feed in spring.
• Winter or summer crops (swedes, rape, turnips and fodder beet), lucerne, silage or grain

Question 15

Management practices for Goats

Answer 15

Not well adapted to the cold and humid conditions of the country, most of them are housed indoors.
• Breeds - Saanen, Toggenburg and British Alpine, and in some cases Anglo-Nubian
• Breeding is done by natural mating in 99% of the cases, and only 1% of the farmers use AI

Question 16

Goat breeding

Answer 16

Breeding is done by natural mating in 99% of the cases, and only 1% of the farmers use AI
• First breeding of females occurring at approximately 12 months of age.

Question 17

Goat feeding

Answer 17

Feeding is based on the use of maize silage and concentrates

Question 18

Management of kids

Answer 18

• On most farms, kids remain with their mothers for at least the first hours of life to get colostrum.
• Very few farms feed colostrum replacers.

Question 19

Goats Routine Health Care

Answer 19

• Vaccination - mainly Johne’s disease, clostridial enterotoxamia, pasteurella infection, caseous lymphadenitis
• Feet trimming every 6-8 weeks
• Monitoring worm burdens by means of faecal egg counts.
• Coccidiosis can be a problem in kids.
• Lice are external parasites that commonly prevalent.

Question 20

Fish farm feeding

Answer 20

Fertiliser or manure may be added to promote the growth of simple plants and a natural food supply and, in some systems, quantities of supplementary feed are added to the water. Feed often includes fish caught from the wild.

In intensive systems, stocking densities are high, the fish are dependent on feed

The cost of inputs per unit of fish weight is higher than in extensive farming, especially because of the high cost of fish feed. It must contain a much higher level of protein (up to 60%) than cattle feed and a balanced amino acid composition, as well. These higher protein-level requirements are a consequence of the higher feed efficiency of aquatic animals

carnivorous fish species, such as salmon and trout, are highly dependent on feeds made from wild-caught fish.

Question 21

Some key welfare issues concerning rearing conditions for farmed fish are

Answer 21

High stocking density (leading to poor water quality (lack of oxygen, build up of ammonia), crowding, increased susceptibility to disease and parasites)
Social stresses (aggression leading to chronic stress and injury such as fin erosion, competition for food, cannibalism)
Other environmental stresses (inappropriate temperature/salinity, insufficient hiding places/cover/protection, cage noise).

Besides cannibalism and parasites, farmed fish can also be attacked by external predators (such as birds, seals, jellyfish).

Question 22

Parasites in fish farms are controlled by

Answer 22

chemical treatments

Question 23

Fish breeding processes

Answer 23

Many species of farmed carp do not breed naturally in captive conditions and in consequence, it is common practice to induce production of sperm or eggs by injecting hormones. While natural spawning is sometimes allowed for breeding fish, many species are commonly stripped by hand to remove eggs and sperm. Welfare certification schemes, such as the Soil Association, require salmonid broodstock to be anaesthetized or humanely slaughtered before stripping them6 in order to mitigate the welfare impact of removing eggs artificially.

Fertilised salmon eggs are usually grown in trays. The eggs hatch into ‘alevins’ or ‘yolk sac fry’ and they spend time on the bottom of their trays until their yolk sac has been absorbed. They then start to rise up into the water column as ‘first feeding fry’.
Freshwater stage
As ‘first feeding fry’ they are transferred to larger tanks or freshwater lochs. They spend a significant period of time in freshwater before they are ready to go to sea.
Seawater stage
Eventually, certain physiological and external signals, trigger a transformation in the appearance and behaviour of the young salmon. These changes result in the young fish being ready to go to sea - a process called ‘smoltification’. The fish will then be reared in seawater enclosures for the next one to two years.

Question 24

Fish. Farming

Answer 24

UK aquaculture applies to three main strands of species; finfish (salmon, trout, carp etc), shellfish (mussels, oyster, lobster etc) and marine algae (seaweed).

They are produced in a wide variety of systems, which range from closed systems, where the water is artificially re-circulated, to open systems where the fish are contained in more natural bodies of water, such as a pond or sea enclosure.

Question 25

Parasites in fish farming

Answer 25

The risk of infections by parasites such as fish lice, fungi (Saprolegnia spp.), intestinal worms (such as nematodes or trematodes), bacteria (e.g., Yersinia spp., Pseudomonas spp.), and protozoa (such as dinoflagellates) is similar to that in animal husbandry, especially at high population densities. However, animal husbandry is a larger and more technologically mature area of human agriculture and has developed better solutions to pathogen problems

Question 26

Environmental needs for farmed fish

Answer 26

Intensive aquaculture has to provide adequate water quality (oxygen, ammonia, nitrite, etc.) levels to minimize stress on the fish. This requirement makes control of the pathogen problem more difficult. Intensive aquaculture requires tight monitoring and a high level of expertise of the fish farmer.