Page 141 - Agriculture_Form_Three

Agriculture for Secondary Schools

Vices in livestock

A vice is a bad, undesirable or unnatural habit of an animal. Most vices in livestock are
a result of poor management, mostly poor nutrition, housing and handling practices.
The common vices include cannibalism, feather pecking and egg eating in poultry,
milk suckling by adults, inter-suckling by calves, coprophagy, ear rolling, tongue
rolling, licking and eating own hair, suckling and eating solid objects, licking of
solid objects, self suckling and over-eating in cattle as well as tail, ear, flank biting,
navel or penis sucking and piglet eating in pigs. These vices are further elaborated
here.

Cannibalism and feather pecking: These vices are commonly caused by stress

factor. Birds peck each other and can even lead to death. Stress situation happens with
deviation from good management and whenever birds are subjected to conditions
outside their routine management practices. Figures 6.5 and 6.6 show cannibalism
and feather pecking, respectively.

Figure 6.5: Cannibalism Figure 6.6: Feather pecking

Stress factors causing cannibalism and feather pecking in poultry
The following are factors that can influence feather pecking and cannibalism in
poultry:

(a) Overcrowding resulting from limited floor space especially in intensive systems
of rearing.
(b) Provision of insufficient number of laying nests.

(c) Provision of few feeders and drinkers that can force birds to scramble for feeds
and water.

(d) Provision of excessive or too bright light in the poultry house.

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