About Lesson
Introduction
- Draught animals play an important role in areas of less than four hectares.
- People provide 80% of the power used in land cultivation, while draught animals supplied only 20%.
- Draft animal management include adequate feeding, health care and appropriate use of animals to ensure their sustained use on-farm.
Strategies for Improvement of Draught Animal Power Supply
1.Time and Duration of Work:
- Day temperature is important if so, hot animal can’t work properly due t heat stress.
- To avoid heat stress, animal use on coolest times of the day i.e. early morning (from 6-10:00 AM) and late afternoon (4:00-6:00 PM)
- Average working time is 5-6 hr a days
2.Avoid Seasonal Use of Working Animals:
- Bullocks use in maximum in cropping season which is the peak period of work
- Idle in other time cause stress at working time
- Increased susceptibility to various infectious agents
- Bullocks use throughout the year, keep on exercise.
- Care and Management:
- Supply required food
- Training or Teaching animal before use on draft purpose.
- Provide regular cleaning grooming that cause blockage of sweating gland.
- Should not be made to work or plough on hard surfaces since predisposes to hoof injury.
- Bullocks should be trained for work at early ages and should not be brought to full work until they are 3 years of age.
- Check and remove pack clay between the claws regularly.
- Weight estimation should be done correctly for proper dosing, feeding and for determination of draft capability.
- Castration of working bulls is important because it avoids undesired behavior