Special Husbandry and Animal Breeding

The course provides knowledge on the characteristics of the animal production and husbandry systems (cattle, pigs, small ruminants, poultry) that provide the most relevant products of animal origin: meat, milk and eggs. Housing, behaviour and productive traits of different domestic animals (cattle, pigs, small ruminants, chickens) will be considered.  
The student must build up knowledge on the organization of the animal production sectors, the husbandry systems and management guidelines according to the different animal physiological periods, the morphological and productive traits of different breeds/genetic lines within species reared for milk, meat and egg production. In particular, the student must know the cattle, pigs, small ruminants and poultry sectors, and understand the most important factors affecting productive performance. Furthermore, the student has to be conscious of the relevance to use appropriate terminology, fundamental for the correct professional communication.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: the student must be able to apply the theoretical knowledge for the identification of breeds within species and for the assessment of different factors according to the different productive systems: facilities, environment, critical/strength points.  
Judgement autonomy: the student must acquire ability of critical analysis of the information studied and be able to relate different factors to provide correct assessments. 
Communication skill: the student must have communication ability using the correct terminology peculiar to each animal productive sector, according to the information provided in lectures and practices.