Unit 1 - Basic Concepts

Question 1

What are the two components of the transversal plane?

Answer 1

Anterior, Posterior, transversal plane sits vertically

Question 2

What are the components of the longitudinal plane?

Answer 2

Longitudinal plane sits horizontally, Dorsal and Ventral

Question 3

What is anterior?

Answer 3

Towards the head, referred to as cranial

Question 4

What is posterior?

Answer 4

Towards the tail. Also referred to as caudal

Question 5

What is dorsal?

Answer 5

Towards the backbone or vertebral column, away from ground

Question 6

What is ventral?

Answer 6

Away from the vertebral column, towards the belly

Question 7

What is the medial plane?

Answer 7

Cut vertically through the face

Question 8

What is medial?

Answer 8

Close or towards the median plane

Question 9

What is lateral?

Answer 9

Away from the medial plane

Question 10

What is proximal?

Answer 10

Towards the bod in the limb of an animal

Question 11

What is distal?

Answer 11

Away from the body in a limb of an animal

Question 12

What are the adjectives that describe the species?

Answer 12

Cattle - bovine
Sheep - ovine
Pigs - porcine
Horses - equine
Goats - caprine

Question 13

What are the male vs female for the breeding heard of each breed?

Answer 13

Cattle - Bull, Cow
Sheep - Ram, Ewe
Pigs - Boar, Sow
Chicken - Cock, Hen
Turkey - Tom, Hen

Question 14

What is the terms for the newborns?

Answer 14

Cattle - calves, Heifer (F), bull/steer (M)
Sheep - Lambs Ram (M), ewe (F)
Pigs - piglets, Gilt (F), Boar/barrow (M)
Chickens/turkeys - chicks, cockerels (M), pulleys (F)
Ducks/geese - ducklings, goslings

Question 15

What is the breed terms for castrates?

Answer 15

Cattle - steer
Pigs - barrow
Sheep - wether
Chicken - Capon

Question 16

How are intact males castrated?

Answer 16

Surgical removal
Crushing of spermatic cords to disrupt blood supply
Chemical

Question 17

Why do we have castrates for beef cattle?

Answer 17

• stop the production of male hormones
• prevent unplanned mating in the herd
• decrease aggression to enhance on-farm safety for handlers and animals
• decrease costs of managing bulls
• meat quality - intact bulls have less fat - which slows the growth rate and impacts time on production - castrating them improves the colour, tenderness and juiciness of the beef
• decrease the rate of skeletal muscle growth

Question 18

What occurs with hormone implants in castrates to increase muscle growth with sufficient fat cover?

Answer 18

100 days before slaughter, increase testosterone to increase weight and speed up growth, only happens in North America, slower growth can increase production costs because it takes longer to increase muscle mass w out testosterone

Question 19

What causes the darker meat colour in beef?

Answer 19

Testosterone uses different energy metabolism that causes colou difference in the meat, marbling is also increased in castrates

Question 20

Why do we have castrates in pigs?

Answer 20

• avoid aggressive behaviour that would injure other pigs
• avoid the boar taint from non-castrated males - causes unpleasant taste in meat

Question 21

Why do we have castrates in sheep?

Answer 21

• lamb quality is not affected by castration but it is applied for better managing practices such as preventing inbreeding, avoiding unwanted pregnancies, and the manipulation of carcass traits depending on the production strategy

Question 22

Why do we have castrates in broiler production?

Answer 22

• they would be castrated so that the sexes can be managed together, but males are not usually castrated

Question 23

What are the major structures of the pig?

Answer 23

Snout - consists of the nose, mouth and jaw
Jowl - flabby, lateroventral part of the neck (can be used to make a type of bacon)
Flank - refers to part of the under belly, where the outer abdominal muscles are located
Belly - used to make traditional bacon
Hock - refers to the tarsus or a bone in the hindlimb similar to human ankle
Shoulder - located on the dorsal surface, heavily involved in locomotion
Loin - one of the most valuable parts of the carcass, fabricated into pork chips
Rump - located dorsally and psoteriorly on the pig, is the site of muscle associated with the hip

Question 24

What are the carcass cuts of the hog?

Answer 24

Back fat, loin, clear plate, pork shoulder/Boston butt, pork belly, ham hocks, ham, spare ribs, jowl, pigs feet, pork shoulder, picnic, shoulder hocks

Question 25

What are the major structure of cattle?

Answer 25

Muzzle - consists of the nose, mouth and jaw
Dewlap - large median skin fold at the caudal end of the neck, large floppy dewlap in tropical cattle breeds help to get rid of body heat
Brisket - lower part of the chest cranial and the forelimb, very fatty/desirable
Carpus - analogous to the human wrist
Paunch - noted centrally on the diagram, can be found both dorsally and ventrally and refers to the rumen
Head pool - the top of the head and the site where horns will emerge in horned cattle, there are polled breeds of cattle which are born hornless
Crest - refers to the uncle in the neck, can be extensively developed and pronounced in mature breeeds
Loin/forerib - middle meats in the beef carcass, this is the site for the highest cost beef cuts
Hook/pins - two of the 3 bones which make up the pelvis, hook bone is the palpable prominence on the ilium

Question 26

What is the rumen?

Answer 26

Large fermentation vat, it can be palpated on the left-side of the animal, houses bacteria, Protozoa and fungi, it’s function is to aid the animal by digesting feedstuffs that animal enzymes can not

Question 27

What are the 4 sub-stomachs of the rumen?

Answer 27

Omasum, reticulum, rumen, abomasum

Question 28

What is the hook vs the pin bones?

Answer 28

Hook - palpable preeminence on the ilium
Pin bones - ischiatic tuberosity of the ischium

Question 29

What are the major structures of the pelvis?

Answer 29

Illium, Pubis, Ischium

Question 30

What is the illium bone?

Answer 30

Largest and most dorsal of the pelvis bones, forms lateral walls of the pelvis, tuber coxae (point of hip hook bones)

Question 31

What is the pubis?

Answer 31

smallest of the three bones, forms cranial part of the floor pelvis

Question 32

What is ischium?

Answer 32

Projects ventrally and caudally, caudal prominence (pin bone)

Question 33

what is the structure of the limbs in cows?

Answer 33

Knee (carpus), foreshank (metacarpus), hindshank (metatarsus), shank (ankle bones)

Question 34

What is the carpus equivalent to in humans?

Answer 34

No knee in farm animals but the carpus in the forelimb equivalent to human wrist, bends posteriorly

Question 35

What is the equivalent in human to the hock joints?

Answer 35

No knee in farm animals, hock joint in the hindlimb refers to the tarsus, flexes anteriorly

Question 36

What is the major structure of a lamb?

Answer 36

Dock - site of the tail (some tails may be docked)
Breast - analogous to the brisket in cattle

Question 37

How to determine future sires and dams?

Answer 37

Assessing body condition score

Question 38

What is the three main body condition scores to know?

Answer 38

1 - emaciated
6 - adequate fat cover
9 - obese

Question 39

What is the part of the carcass that determines the amount of muscle in cattle?

Answer 39

Between the 12th adn 13th rib is the gizmos, the size of this muscle determines the amount of muscle attained from the carcass

Question 40

What is the part of the carcass that determines the degree of finishing (fat cover)/marbling in cattle?

Answer 40

3 last ribs determine the amount of marbling

Question 41

What is the part of the carcass that determines the amount of back fat fat cover in cattle?

Answer 41

Part of the rump