Modern Livestock and Poultry Production

Description

Modern Livestock and Poultry Production gives the reader a very true sense of the world of the livestock industry. It sets the scene for work in the field with an overview of the industry. Livestock convert feed grains and roughages into food for human consumption. There is some controversy over the use of feed grains as livestock feed. In the face of world food shortages, it has been suggested that this is not the most efficient use of limited resources. Ruminants are important because they have the ability to convert large quantities of materials that cannot be used directly for human food into human food. Meat chickens, commonly called broilers, are floor-raised on litter such as wood shavings or rice hulls, indoors in climate-controlled housing. Poultry producers routinely use nationally approved medications, such as antibiotics, in feed or drinking water, to treat disease or to prevent disease outbreaks arising from overcrowded or unsanitary conditions. This book has been aimed at those involved in animal husbandry as a guide into the production techniques involved in livestock and poultry. The traditional curriculum for the study of animal husbandry deals with the technology of cattle, horse, pig, swine, sheep, goat and poultry production, and the book undertakes a detailed look into the breeding, rearing and feeding techniques that have a telling effect on the growth or shrinkage of livestock numbers not ignoring the effect of natural conditions.