Principles of Animal Production (General Overview)

Principles of Animal Production, offers the basic concepts and the principles underlying the techniques and methods for raising farm animals for improved productivity and profitability. It provide sufficiently equipped knowledge on concepts of the subject matter, interrelationship between traditional scientific methods of producing livestock, roles, constraints and strategies associated with animal production, the overbearing influence of the environment, systems of animal management, breeding and genetics and the application to replacement stock, general principles of management to livestock species commonly found and management tips for animal farm enterprise.

Animal production both in concept and practice is rooted in scientific principles upon which it has made substantial growth and development. The traditional methods of production, though still persistent and possibly played some roles in the past, are gradually fading out. The significance of livestock production is daily increasing with greater implications for human survival, economic and social advancement in the face of challenging constraints that need pro-active efforts to resolve.

Animal production is defined as an aspect of agriculture which in itself is the science and art of producing crop, animal and fibre products for human use. Just as in wider agricultural activities, animal production depends on art (or traditional) and scientific principles in practice and theory. Current level of progress has indicated that scientific applications tend to be more amenable to meet present and future targets for animal products. The demand and usefulness of animal products for human health and survival economic and industrial growth as well as provision of other social services are ever increasing. Yet, challenges and constraints limiting developing nations in fulfilling these demands for animal products are manifest. Perhaps, solutions lie in developing strategies around value and attitudinal orientation of the majority of producers, selection and upgrading of genetic pool for various desirable traits, and exploitation of the farming systems and feed resources for greater animal productivity while curtailing incidence of animal pests and diseases through a virile animal health management system.