Alternative Farming of Poultry and Aquaculture

The course aims to illustrate the alternative systems of production applied to domestic birds and rabbit. The following major subjects will be described: - economic and productive relevance of alternative systems; - husbandry technique in alternative systems and related problems; - organization and management of alternative farming; - productive performance in different breeds/genetic lines of poultry and rabbits. Moreover, the basic principles and practices of freshwater and marine fish farming are treated. Water quality, site selection, health management practices, nutrition and feeding and business decision-making are covered.

1. Knowledge and understanding - The student must build up knowledge on the following subjects: organization of the poultry and rabbit alternative system production, husbandry and management guidelines in alternative farming, productive performance in different breeds/genetic lines of poultry and rabbits.
2. Applying knowledge and understanding - The student must communicate the acquired knowledge using the adequate technical-scientific terminology. At the end of the course the student will know the properties of the aquatic environment, the methods of reproduction and farming of the main fish species of commercial interest, the basics of fish feed composition and feeding techniques.
3. Making judgments: The student will have acquired the ability to distinguish among the different types of farms, to recognize the main species being farmed and to assess the water quality parameters.
4. Communication: The student will developed the ability to use the appropriate terminology, according to the information provided in lectures and practices.
5. Lifelong learning skills: the reasoning skills and the notions and methodologies acquired during the classes should allow the student to continue autonomously the study and the lifelong updating the knowledge in the field.