AGRICULTURE G-11
UNIT 7
Significance of animal housing
• Proper housing system protect animals from health issues and enhance
performance
• Good housing provides adequate comfort and protection from climatic stress and
potential disease
• Enviromental controls in animal housing
•Good housing improves the enviroment, allowing farmers to control the inside
environment better.
• Changes in the enviroment can affect animal behaviour and productivity.
• High temperature can reduce feed intake affecting milk, meat, egg and
productivity
The use of animal housing
Control of disease amd external parasites
Effficient use of feed and external parasites
Efficient use of feed and labour; careful planning of buildings are equipment
arrangements improves feeding efficiency and reduces feed wastage and
labour costs.
Safeguard against predators
Farm Animal Housing in Ethiopia
Types of Farm Animal Housing
• Conventional barns: These are fully roofed houses with windows or ventilators,
providing comfort and hygiene. They are suitable for heavy rainfall and temperate
climates. They are suitable for dairy cattle and deep litter poultry housing.
• Loose housing: Animal houses where animals can move freely and have free access
to the entire building or pen. This improves productivity and welfare. It is suitable for
tropical climates and all types of livestock.
• Free range system: This system allows farm animals to run free in a large area
throughout the year. It is suited to animals that are not handled daily, such as beef
cattle and fattening sheep.
• Modern farms: Animals can be kept in full or half walled houses in a separate
pen/enclosure depending on the weather condition. The main feed source is cut and
carry or prepared feed.
Farm Animal Welfare Issues
• Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. It requires disease
prevention, veterinary treatment, appropriate shelter, management, nutrition,
humane handling, and humane slaughter.
• Five freedoms of animal welfare are: freedom from thirst and hunger, discomfort
by providing adequate shelter, freedom from disease, pain, or injury, distress and
fear, and freedom to exhibit natural behaviors.
Guidelines for Site Selection and House Construction for Farm Animal Housing
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Site Selection Considerations:
• Topography and drainage: The site should be elevated but level with no abrupt
slopes. The soil should be porous and slope gentle for efficient drainage.
• Feed, water, and veterinary services: The site should be located in areas with
adequate veterinary services and affordable feed.
• Accessibility: The site should be located near a good market outlet, power line, and
all weather road.
• Distance from residences: The site should not be near hospitals, schools,
residential areas, slaughter houses, factories, etc.
• Health of animals: The site should not be located by the side of a national highway
or main market load to reduce disease transmission.
• Size: The farm area should be of adequate size for future expansion.
Guidelines for Construction of Animal House:
• Orientation: The East-West orientation helps avoid direct sunlight, while the North-
South orientation keeps the floor area dry.
• Floor: The floor should be laid on a solid and compact foundation, with good
sanitary control measures. An ideal floor for a livestock house is well drained and
made of cement concrete.
• Walls: The walls should be hard and durable, preferably made with cement
concrete, with a smooth hard finish of cement.
• Roof: A well-designed roof is important in reducing heat and cold stresses. It
should be made with galvanized iron-sheet for durability and comfort.
• Ventilation: A smooth air movement is essential for the animal's breathing and to
remove noxious and toxic gases. Adequate ventilation system is a must in all farm
animal houses to avoid dampness.
UNIT 8
BASIC ANIMAL HEALTH AND DISEASE CONTROL
8.1 INTRODUCTION TO ANIMAL HEALTH AND DISEASE CONTROLL
• Health is the state of wellbeing of an animal, and any deviation from this state is
termed disease.
• A healthy animal can achieve acceptable production levels within the farming
system.
• Animal diseases can lead to loss of appetite, weight, slow growth, reduced
production, reproduction loss, and death.
Routes of Transmission of Pathogens
• Pathogens are disease-causing microorganisms that can be infected through direct
contact, ingestion, mating or pre-birth, inhalation, or vectors.
Symptoms of Sick Animals
• Symptoms include loss of appetite, weight loss, coughing, slow movement,
lameness, and isolation.
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• Other signs include discharges from body openings, sunken eyes, raised hair coat,
rough skin, dry muzzle, swelling in joints, variation in body temperature, pulse rate,
and respiration rate.
• Disease may also lead to death.
8.2 Major Diseases of Farm Animals in Ethiopia
Infectious Diseases:
• Caused by pathogenic organisms like viruses, bacteria, and protozoa.
• Communicable from one animal to another or a human. Communicable means it
can be transferred easily
• Examples include anthrax, foot and mouth disease (FMD), and Newcastle disease.
Non-infectious Diseases:
• Not caused by pathogens or passed from one animal to another.
• Caused by hereditary factors or the environment.
• Examples include ketosis, rickets, and poisoning.
Major Animal Diseases in Ethiopia:
• FMD: Highly contagious, acute viral disease affecting cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs.
• CBPP: A respiratory disease of cattle, goats, sheep, and pigs.
• Symptoms include fever, rough hair coat, salivation, foaming, difficulty feeding,
weakness, lameness, and death.
• Brucellosis: Infectious bacterial disease causing abortion and infertility.
• Anthrax: Infects ruminant animals and humans.
• Newcastle disease (NCD): A viral disease of poultry.
• Taeniasis: Also known as tapeworm infection disease.
• Symptoms include anemia, vomiting, and discomfort.
• Regular deworming and good sanitation are recommended.
8.3 Parasites of Farm Animals: Internal and External
Internal Parasites
• Over 1,000 species of parasites affect domestic animals.
• Internal parasites (Endoparasites) interfere with digestion and assimilation of food,
leading to diarrhea, anemia, and loss of condition.
• External parasites (Ectoparasites) annoy hosts by biting, embedding, or irritating
the skin.
• External parasites can cause serious diseases (e.g., mange and scabies) or transmit
diseases (e.g., red water and trypanosomiasis).
8.4 Effects of Diseases and Parasites on Animal Production
• Diseases and parasites are significant constraints in animal production.
• Sick animals result in loss of productivity and mortality, resulting in financial loss
for farmers.
• Economic loss arises from reduced product sales, reduced export of live animals,
and high costs of control, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
• Disease and parasite outbreaks also affect food and job security, resulting in
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economic loss to farmers and the nation.
• Public health concerns arise as some animal diseases are transmittable to humans,
such as brucellosis, anthrax, salmonellosis, and taeniasis.
8.5 Prevention and Control of Common Farm Animal Diseases
Prevention and Control of Diseases and Parasites
• Proper hygiene or sanitation: Washing feed and water troughs well, separating sick
animals from healthy ones, and burning or burying dead animals are effective
strategies.
• Good management: Animals with essential nutrients can resist disease and
parasite attacks. Keep animals' houses well-ventilated and dry.
• Quarantine and isolation: Purchase only healthy-looking animals from reputable
farms and quarantine new animals for two weeks. Isolate any sick animals to prevent
illness spread.
• Medicine: Timely vaccination against diseases and quarantining diseased animals
are crucial. Use of drugs in the form of powder, liquid, or solids.
• Spraying or dipping: Control external parasites like flies, lice, mites, and ticks by
spraying animals with chemical solutions or dipping them in solutions.
• Deworming: Give appropriate drugs to expel internal parasites from animals.
Control internal parasites with drugs, antibiotics, or drenches.
• Biosecurity: Measures taken to prevent the introduction and/or spread of harmful
organisms to animals and plants.
Indigenous Knowledge in Livestock Disease Treatment
• Plant-based remedies are the most important and sometimes the only method of
managing livestock diseases in Ethiopia.
• Traditional veterinary practices include mechanical, physical, pharmacological,
surgical, ritual, and managerial methods of treatment.
• Traditional medicines are administered to livestock in different ways, with the oral
route being the most common mechanism of application.
• A large number of livestock diseases and parasite syndromes are treated using
traditional practitioners.
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