ANSC - Animal Husbandry Science

Replacement rearing is an important enterprise on the modern dairy farm, with the greatest investment of time and money occurring during the first three months of the heifer calf's life.  This course will provide the student with a basic understanding of the nutritional, environmental and health challenges a calf must go through during this period.  Lab sesions will focus on mastering basic calf care skills including care for the newborn calf, feeding neo-natal calves, weaning practices, diagnostic procedures and biosecurity protocols to address calf health as well as economic comparisons for alternative feeding and housing systems.

Using computers to manage dairy herds is essential to maintain and improve herd production and profitability.  Today's dairy farmer needs to understand and utilize the powerful computer programs available to organize herd information.  This course takes the student through the commonly used computer programs and utilizes actual herd information to allow students to practice using the management tools.

Survey of the dairy cattle and livestock industry, including beef, sheep, swine, and horses. Topics include breeding and feeding systems, disease control measures, housing and basic management practices; selection of animals for production, market, and breeding; characteristics of the major breeds, economic importance and marketing trends.

Management of the transition dairy cow involves care of the pregnant cow from approximately one month pre-partum until about 60 days post-partum when the cow is at or near peak production in the lactation cycle.  This course addresses management and monitoring at the herd level as well as at the individual cow level.  Recognizing dystocias and abnormalities, calving procedures, fresh cow physical examinations and post calving metabolic disorders and infectious diseases will be discussed.  Labs will allow students to perform routine tasks including physical exams, body condition scoring, udder evaluations, collection of milk and blood samples, administration of supportive medications via oral, intramuscular, subcutaneous and intravenous routes.  The use of record-keeping systems, protocols and tracking tools will also be included in lectures and labs.

This course provides theoretical and hands-on experiences related to the production of quality milk.  Emphasis will be placed on the basics of milk production by the cow, assessment of udder health, milking routines and parlor supplies, mastitis and mastitis treatment protocols, milking equipment operation and maintenance, milk inspections, and milk pricing.

This course will provide the student with a basic understanding of reproduction and artificial insemination (A.I.) techniques in dairy cattle. The student will gain an understanding of the anatomy of the bovine reproductive tract through examination and palpation of both slaughterhouse specimens and live palpations. The student will learn to read sire summaries, use linear scoring, recordkeeping approaches and analysis of herd reproductive performance. Common reproductive diseases will be discussed as well as the latest information on heat detection and synchronization programs. The labs and two required field trips provide individual student A.I. training and practice sessions needed for the National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB) certification.

This course is a systems approach to the study of anatomy and physiology of common domestic animals, emphasizing Ruminant, Equine, Swine, Canine and Feline as the animal models. The online course materials will provide the student with a complete overview of how each body system functions in the maintenance of a normal healthy animal. The online course materials will be reinforced in the laboratory where skeletons, models and prosected specimen will allow the student to gain applied perspectives of the gross anatomy and normal physiology. Histologic slides, kodachromes, radiographs and live animals will also be used to enhance student understanding. Computer simulated dissection materials will also be used to provide the opportunity for the students to refine their understanding of the required information.

This course provides the student with an understanding of animal nutrition. Students will learn feeding farm animals for growth, production, and profit, nutrient content and physiological value of feeds; nutrient requirements of farm livestock; physiology of digestion and developing and evaluating rations.

Fundamental information on the nature of disease and its control and prevention are studied. Students are introduced to the causes, symptoms, prevention and treatment of common diseases as well as to the life cycles, damage, diagnosis, control and treatment of various internal and external parasites.

Dairy Cattle Production I is an introduction to specific subject matter which influences cattle production units today. Subject matter includes: on-farm disease control and biosecurity, calf and heifer management, milk letdown and physiology of lactation, udder health, basic herdsmanship skills and introduction to Dairy Comp 305 record keeping software.