Page 149 - Agriculture_Form_Three

Agriculture for Secondary Schools

Exercise 6.1

1. Define the term health.
2. Explain what you understand about the following:
(a) Management of animal health
(b) Livestock vices
(c) Vaccination
3. Discuss how animal nutrition can be used to control poor health in livestock.
4. Discuss good livestock management as a tool of diseases and parasites control.
5. List five livestock bad behaviour (vices) and their causes.

Parasites in livestock
A parasite is an organism that lives in or on the host organism and gets its food
nutrients from it. The relationship between the two is termed as parasitism whereby
the parasite benefits at the expense of the host. Livestock parasites are categorised
as internal and external parasites.

External parasites

These are the parasites which live and feed on the body of the host temporarily
or permanently. External livestock parasites include tick, tsetse fly, mite, flea, ked,
stable fly, nasal botfly and louse. These parasites are most prevalent during the rainy
season. However, the changing weather conditions may permit many parasites to
survive year-round and this calls for a well-coordinated parasites control programme
among livestock farmers. Figures 6.9 (a) to (h) depict some common parasites in the
country while Table 6.2 gives types of parasites, their effects on the animal body and
control measures.

Figure 6.9 (a): Tick Figure 6.9 (b): Tsetse fly

Student’s Book Form Three
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10/01/2025 12:31
AGRICULTURE FORM 3 9.11.2022.indd 138
AGRICULTURE FORM 3 9.11.2022.indd 138 10/01/2025 12:31