S3 Agriculture Notes: Livestock Management and Animal Breeding

These Senior 3 Agriculture notes deal with animal production. They begin with cattle management and list the qualities of a good stockman. Next they explain routine practices such as dehorning, castration, branding, ear tagging, restraining, grooming, culling, vaccination, drenching and housing. For each operation the notes give the reasons for doing it, the different methods and step-by-step procedures, and some advantages and disadvantages. The section on livestock breeding sets out the aims of breeding and defines key genetic terms such as allele, hybrid vigour, inbreeding and linkage. It then contrasts natural and artificial selection and describes individual, pedigree and other selection methods. Learners can use the notes for classwork and revision.