What is animal husbandry and why is it important?
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture that deals with the breeding, feeding, housing and health care of domestic animals. Animals raised on farms are called livestock.
Why livestock matters
- Food: milk, eggs, meat, ghee, cheese — rich in protein.
- Fibre and skin: wool, hair, leather.
- Draught power: bullocks, camels and horses pull ploughs and carts.
- Manure and fuel: dung improves soil and gives biogas.
- Income and security: animals are a living savings account for small and landless farmers; income comes daily, not only at harvest.
- Mixed farming: crop waste feeds animals, animal waste feeds crops.
Branches include dairy (cattle, buffalo), poultry (chickens, ducks), piggery, sheep and goat rearing, fisheries and apiculture (bees).
Breeds and breed improvement
- Indigenous (local) breeds, e.g. Sahiwal, Gir, Red Sindhi cows; Murrah buffalo: hardy, resist heat and local diseases, but give less milk.
- Exotic breeds, e.g. Holstein Friesian, Jersey, Brown Swiss: very high milk yield and long lactation, but need cool sheds and more care.
- Cross-breeds: a local breed crossed with an exotic one, usually by artificial insemination, to get both high yield and hardiness.
Poultry has layers (bred for eggs) and broilers (bred for fast meat growth).
Care and management: housing, feed and water
Housing
- A raised, dry, well-drained floor with a slope for urine to flow out.
- Roof to protect from sun and rain; good ventilation and light.
- Enough space for each animal; clean daily; separate areas for calves and sick animals.
Feeding
A balanced ration gives all nutrients in the right amount:
- Roughage (fibre-rich): green fodder (berseem, maize, grasses) and dry fodder (straw, hay).
- Concentrates (protein and energy): oil cakes, grains, bran.
- Mineral mixture and salt; vitamins.
- Plenty of clean drinking water (a milking cow may drink 50–80 L a day).
A milking animal needs extra concentrate for every litre of milk. Milk at regular times, with clean hands and udders, to keep milk safe.
Health care and disease prevention
- Vaccination on a fixed schedule against diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, haemorrhagic septicaemia, black quarter, anthrax and brucellosis; poultry against Ranikhet (Newcastle) disease and bird flu where advised.
- Deworming every few months; control ticks and flies.
- Hygiene: clean sheds, feed troughs and water; remove dung daily.
- Signs of illness: dullness, not eating or chewing cud, fever, runny nose or eyes, diarrhoea, sudden fall in milk.
- Isolate sick animals and call a veterinarian; quarantine new animals before mixing them with the herd.
Bio-waste management
A cow can produce 10–15 kg of dung a day. Left in heaps, it smells, breeds flies and pollutes water. Managed well, it is valuable:
- Biogas plant: dung mixed with water is broken down by bacteria without air (anaerobic digestion). It gives biogas (mostly methane) for cooking and lighting, and the leftover slurry is excellent manure.
- Compost and vermicompost: dung and crop waste are decomposed, with earthworms in vermicompost, into rich organic manure.
- Farmyard manure pits: covered pits stop nutrients washing away.
- Poultry litter and animal urine are also nutrient-rich fertilisers.
- Dead animals and hospital waste from vets must be buried or disposed of safely to stop disease.
Government support schemes
Many countries help livestock farmers in similar ways:
- Breed improvement: free or cheap artificial insemination and better bulls (in India, e.g. the Rashtriya Gokul Mission for native breeds).
- Animal health: free vaccination drives and mobile veterinary units (e.g. India's National Animal Disease Control Programme for foot-and-mouth disease and brucellosis).
- Credit: low-interest loans for buying animals and feed (e.g. Kisan Credit Card extended to animal husbandry).
- Insurance: compensation if an insured animal dies.
- Dairy and poultry development: cooperatives, chilling centres, training and subsidies for sheds and biogas plants.
Farmers can ask at the local veterinary hospital or agriculture office to find schemes in their area.
Try it
Use the dairy slider in the last 3D step. With 2 cows giving 10 L each at ₹40 per litre, daily income is ₹800; feed costs ₹440, so profit is ₹360. Change the number of cows and see how milk, dung and profit change. If you live near a farm, ask the farmer what the cows eat in a day and compare it with a balanced ration.
Key formulas and definitions
- Animal husbandry = breeding + feeding + housing + health care of livestock
- Breeds: indigenous (hardy) | exotic (high yield) | cross-bred (both)
- Balanced ration = roughage (green + dry) + concentrate + minerals + water
- Profit = income from products − cost (feed, care, labour)
- Dung → biogas plant (anaerobic) → biogas (methane) + slurry (manure)
Worked examples
1. A farmer has 3 cows, each giving 12 L of milk a day. Milk sells for ₹45 per litre. What is the daily income?
Milk = 3 × 12 = 36 L. Income = 36 × 45 = ₹1,620 per day.
2. Why might a farmer in a hot, dry region prefer a Sahiwal cow to a Holstein Friesian?
Sahiwal is a local breed that tolerates heat and local diseases and needs less costly care. A Holstein gives more milk but suffers in heat and needs cool sheds.
3. A biogas plant gets 25 kg of dung a day. If 1 kg of dung gives about 0.04 m³ of gas, how much gas is produced daily?
25 × 0.04 = 1 m³ of biogas a day, roughly enough for a small family's cooking for a few hours.
4. A cow stops eating, has a fever and a runny nose. What should the farmer do?
Separate it from the herd at once, give clean water and shade, and call a veterinarian. Check that the other animals are vaccinated.
Common mistakes
- Feeding only dry straw. Animals need green fodder, concentrate, minerals and water too.
- Thinking exotic breeds are always better. They need more care and may suffer in hot climates.
- Skipping vaccinations because the animals look healthy. Vaccines prevent disease before it starts.
- Treating dung as waste. It gives biogas, compost and manure.