ANIMAL FEEDINGS Lesson note

PROPOSED LESSON PLAN/NOTE FOR THE NINEHT WEEK ENDING 11^th NOVEMBER, 2022

2022/2023 ACADEMIC SESSION

SUBJECT: AGRIC SCIENCE

TOPIC: ANIMAL FEEDING

CLASS: GRADE 8

NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 25

AVERAGE AGE: 11+ YEARS

GENDER: MIXED

PERIOD: 7^th AND 8^th PERIOD ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY RESPECTIVELY

TIME: 1:20-2:00

DURATION: 40 MINUTES

DATE: 07/11/2022

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson the students should be able to;

1. explain supplement;

2. describe animal feeding;

3. mention feeding tools.

ENTRY BEHAVIOUR: The students are familiar with some feeding tools like shovel and spade.

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS: feeding trough, bowl, bucket, shovel, spade.

DEVELOPMENT:

STEP1: SUPPLEMENTS

The supplements for livestock include the following:

(a) Concentrate: Concentrate are feedstuff that are rich in both energy giving and body-building substances. On the other hand, a concentrate may be a high energy feed that is highly digestible which is fed to cattle, sheep or goats after grazing or being fed on grass. A meal is a mixture of crushed grain and oil cake. For example, to provide cattle with a suitable meal as a supplement, we can make a mixture of 100 kg by adding 35 kg groundnut cake to 62 kg crushed sorghum and 3 kg mineral supplement.

(b) Mineral Supplements: This gives the animals mineral salts in order to allow their bones to develop well. When an animal lacks mineral salts, it often limps and its legs become weak. Mineral salts include substances like lime, common salt and bone-ash. Animals can be given these substances by putting them into their feed or in their drinking water. Mineral salts can also be supplied in the form of a salt lick. This is usually made in the shape of a brick or block of mineral mixture which is available to animals for licking. Concentrates are usually fed with some other life promoting substances known as vitamins. Birds usually get enough vitamins from eating grass or from pecking around the village dumps.

STEP2: ANIMAL FEEDING

(a) Calf Feeding: After birth, the calf should be fed with its mother's milk for at least the first four days. Under traditional ways of raising calves, the calf should be allowed to suckle the mother for two months. If the milk production by the cow is not enough, the calf can be given artificial milk. This can be produced by the farmer or be bought in the local market. In a few cases, when the cow dies during delivery the calf can bellowed to suckle another cow that has enough milk for two calves. One should never feed two calves with the milk of only one cow if the cow has little milk. After two months, the farmer should start to give a little grass to the calf. As the calf gets older, it begins to ruminate. The cow needs to graze for about eight hours in the day to fill its first stomach. When it finishes filling its first stomach it often lies down in a cool area under shade and begins to move its jaws. It is ruminating. During this process, it brings up a little grass from its first stomach into its mouth. The cow then chews it for some time with its large teeth (or molars) that are set in the lower jaws. The grass is well chewed and broken down into bits before the cow swallows it again and sends it down into its second stomach. Calves do not ruminate when they are born because it takes some time for them to develop the first stomach. A cow needs several hours to ruminate. The broken down grass can then be digested and absorbed for body use. After six months, the calf can be weaned from its mother's milk and the cow's milk can now be sold. In order to help a calf survive following weaning, it should be given extra feed or supplement in addition to grass and fodder.

(b) Water Needs of Cattle: It is important for the farmer to give every animal all the water it needs every day. The animal should be taken to the brook, dam or well or supplied with water on a continuous basis in its grazing ground. The water should be clean and free from diseases. Animals should not be left standing in water after they have drunk as this makes the water dirty. It is a good practice to add a little salt to the water as a source of mineral salts for the animal. Water can be supplied in calf pens as well as in cow sheds by using water troughs. An adult cow needs to drink thirty to forty litres of water a day when the weather is hot and the grass is dry. When the food contains a lot of water like green grass or silage, the animal can do with less water.

(c) Feeding of Poultry: In domestic production of poultry, the farmer prepares most of the feed himself. This is usually cereals like maize, millet and sorghum or broken grains of rice. When birds are produced under a modern poultry system, the farmer may not be able to produce and prepare his own feed. He may have to buy already mixed feed from a local supplier or in some cases, buy in concentrates and then mix it himself in proportions which are recommended by the producers of these concentrates. Whichever system the farmer uses, he has to give all the birds their complete food and this means different feeds to birds of different ages. From the time of hatching till the birds are eight weeks old, they should be provided with water and a feed containing for instance, in every 100 kg meal, 60 kg of crushed yellow maize or other grains, 25 kg of groundnut cake, 9 kg of fishmeal and 5.5 kg of a mixture consisting of remains of oil or vegetable, bones and crushed shells, or termites and 0.5 kg salts. More food should be given from eight to fourteen weeks. The feed should have 70 kg of crushed maize or other grains, 16 kg of groundnut cake, 4 kg of fishmeal, 9.0 kg of a mixture of oil or vegetables, bones and crushed shells, or termites and 1 kg of salt in every 100 kg. After fourteen weeks, the birds can survive mainly on grain or a mixture of maize with other grains. If they are kept in a yard, the grain feed should be supplemented with grass or vegetable meals as well as termites, meat and fish scraps. From about eighteen weeks, the birds begin to lay eggs. They require plenty of mineral salts to make good egg shells and plenty of proteins to make the reserves in the eggs. In every 100 kg, the feed must contain 55 kg crushed maize or any other grain, 20 kg of groundnut cake, 6 kg of fishmeal, 9 kg of mixture of oyster shells mixed with bone flour or limestone, 9 kg of vegetable meal mixture (rice bran plus grass or legume meal), and 1 kg of salt. When the farmer wants to buy feed, he must ask for advice from the local agricultural expert as to what kind of feeds to buy and how to mix the feed for his birds. Poultry feed must be well mixed before being given, and must be freshly made before giving it to the poultry. Bad or spoilt food makes poultry sick and causes death. The feeding and drinking troughs and founts must always be kept clean.

STEP3: FEEDING TOOLS

(a) Feeding trough: This is the container or a cavity where the feed of the animals is placed for them to consume. It may be made of metal, plastic or with cement as a concrete cavity.

(b) Bowl: It is used to pack feedstuffs into the trough or container.

(c) Bucket: It is mostly used to fetch water. It could also be used for packing feed stuffs.

(d) Spade/shovel: This is used to mix feed ingredients together

EVALUATION:

1. Write short note on (a) concentrate (b) mineral supplement

2. What is animal feeding?

SUMMARY/CONCLUSSION:

The process of looking after animals also includes correct feeding of different types of animals at various stages of their lives.

ASSIGNMENT:

1. Explain how to feed a calf.

2. Explain water need of cattle.

3. Explain how to feed poultry.

4. List four feeding tools.