Characteristics of Selected Farm Animals – JSS1 Agricultural Science Lesson Note (Second Term)

Farm animals are animals kept by farmers for food, clothing, work, manure, pleasure and protection.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. state the main characteristics of cattle, goats, sheep and pigs;
2. give the gestation period of each of these animals;
3. name the products obtained from sheep and goats;
4. list the importance of farm animals to people.

What are the key terms used for farm animals?

These words appear often in this topic and each one has a fixed meaning.

• Gestation period: the length of time from mating (conception) to birth of the young.
• Parturition: the act of giving birth.
• Ruminant: an animal that chews the cud and has a stomach with four parts, such as cattle, goats and sheep.
• Monogastric: an animal with a simple stomach of one part, such as the pig.
• Omnivore: an animal that eats both plants and animal matter.
• Prolific: able to produce many young at a time or many times in a year.
• Polled: naturally without horns.
• Puberty: the age at which an animal becomes able to breed.

What are the characteristics of selected farm animals?

The selected farm animals are cattle, goats, sheep and pigs, and each has its own features.

What are the characteristics of cattle?

Cattle are large, horned ruminants kept for meat, milk and farm work.

1. Body size: large.
2. Feeding: a ruminant that grazes on herbs and pasture.
3. Feet: a pair of hoofs on each limb.
4. Horns: both male and female have horns.
5. Calving: the cow calves once in a year.
6. Young: one calf is produced in one parturition.
7. Udder: the udder has four glands.
8. Ears: well-formed earlobes.
9. Gestation period: between 283 and 305 days.
10. Puberty age: ranges between 8 and 12 months.

What are the characteristics of goats?

Goats are hardy, medium-sized, prolific animals reared for meat, skin, milk and fibre.

1. Hardiness: goats survive unfavourable environmental conditions.
2. Body size: medium.
3. Horns: both male and female have horns.
4. Prolificacy: they can produce kids three times in two years.
5. Tail: upturned.
6. Uses: reared mostly for meat, skin, milk and fibre.
7. Acceptance: goats are widely accepted among farm animals.
8. Beard: the male often has a beard.
9. Gestation period: between 145 and 154 days, or 4 to 5 months.
10. System of rearing: mostly reared on the extensive system.

What are the characteristics of sheep?

Sheep are medium-sized grazing animals kept for meat, wool, fleece and milk.

1. Body size: medium, with long legs.
2. Tail: long, thin and hanging down.
3. Ears: the earlobes are long and drooping.
4. Feeding: grazers that can also scavenge on roadside relish.
5. Uses: kept mostly for meat, wool, fleece and milk.
6. Leather: sheep hides are used to make shoes, gloves and jackets.
7. Behaviour: they appear unintelligent in looks and behaviour.
8. Gestation period: between 151 and 154 days, or about 5 months.
9. Horns: only the males have horns, and the females are polled (hornless).
10. Twinning: delivery of twins is very common.

What are the characteristics of pigs?

Pigs are prolific, monogastric animals with a very short gestation period.

1. Fat and sweating: pigs have a high deposit of fat and sweat very little, so they cool their bodies in ponds or water.
2. Litter size: very prolific, producing 8 to 16 piglets at a time.
3. Farrowing: a sow can farrow twice in a year.
4. Gestation period: very short, at 114 days (3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days).
5. Feed conversion: pigs turn feed into body weight very well.
6. Breeding season: they can breed at any time of the year.
7. Digestion: monogastric animals that are mostly omnivores.
8. Neck: short and fixed, that is, immovable.
9. Tail: short and coiled.

How do cattle, goats, sheep and pigs compare?

The table sets the main features of the four animals side by side.

What products are obtained from sheep and goats?

Sheep and goats give meat, milk, skin or hides and hair or wool.

Products from goats

• Meat: goat meat is called chevon.
• Milk: used as food.
• Skin: used to make leather goods.
• Fibre: hair used in making some materials.

Products from sheep

• Meat: sheep meat is called mutton.
• Wool and fleece: cut from the body and sold to textile industries.
• Milk: used as food.
• Leather: sheep hides are used to make shoes, gloves and jackets.

Why are farm animals important?

Farm animals give people food, jobs, clothing, power for work, manure, pleasure and protection.

1. Food: the major importance of farm animals is food protein, which is essential to good health.
2. Employment: livestock production is a full-time occupation for some farmers.
3. Products for sale: these farmers get all their income from products such as milk, eggs and wool.
4. Clothing: wool from sheep is sold to the textile industry.
5. Shearing: farmers remove the wool with shears at the beginning of the hot weather every year.
6. Woollen goods: wool is used to make dresses, cardigans, pullovers, socks and hats.
7. Work: in Northern Nigeria, large animals like cattle (e.g. Red Bororo) are used for ploughing the field.
8. Transport: donkeys and camels carry heavy loads from place to place.
9. Manure: faeces dropped by grazing animals such as cattle make farmyard manure, which enriches the soil for later crops.
10. Pleasure: cats are kept as pets, and zoo animals give recreation to visitors.
11. Racing and riding: horses are kept for racing and for riding during ceremonies and occasions.
12. Protection: the dog guards its owner against thieves and invaders, and hunters use it to hunt small wild animals.

Evaluation

1. State five characteristics of cattle.
2. Give the gestation period of the pig, the goat and the sheep.
3. Which of these animals have horns on both male and female: sheep, goat, cattle or pig?
4. Name three products obtained from sheep.
5. Explain how farm animals help to improve the soil.

Assignment

Write any four characteristics of pigs. Then list four importance of farm animals and explain any two of them.