Page 165 - Agriculture_Form_Three

Agriculture for Secondary Schools

(f) Milk yield in lactating animals drops suddenly.
(g) Loss of appetite.
(h) Slight rise of body temperature.
(i) Frequent urination.
(j) Licking or sniffing other animals and allowing being sniffed or licked.

Activity 7.2
Perform the following tasks:
1. In groups, arrange to visit the school or any nearby school farm frequently
and notice any signs/behaviours that you think are heat signs while noting any
differences among types of animals.
2. Record all observations in your portfolio and in a practical session, discuss
them in class.
3. Outline the lessons you have learnt from this activity.

Techniques of breeding of farm animals

Breeding of farm animals involves identification and selection of the animal to be bred
to produce the next generation whether male or female. Once a good quality stock
has been identified, the next step will be to determine the mating method that will be
used and proper season to breed. The method can be natural, that is, breeding using
a male animal or by artificial insemination. The approaches employed in breeding
farm animals essentially focus on enabling successful mating for conception. The
technique should also consider the following factors:

(a) Availability of the service
(b) Accuracy of the method
(c) Cost implication of the service
(d) Type or class of the breed to mate
(e) Type of farming or production system used

Natural mating

In this method, a breeding male is used directly to mate the breeding female. This is
done by allowing the male to detect and mate the female in the field in most cases
while grazing or by detecting the heat and bringing in the male to mate. The former
is termed as pasture mating while the latter is called controlled mating. Figure 7.5
shows natural mating in cattle.

Student’s Book Form Three
154

10/01/2025 12:31
AGRICULTURE FORM 3 9.11.2022.indd 154
AGRICULTURE FORM 3 9.11.2022.indd 154 10/01/2025 12:31