Ruminants Production Systems

Code: ZOO13900L

6 ECTS

Duration: 15 weeks/156 hours

Scientific Area: Animal Science

Teaching languages: Portuguese

Languages of tutoring support: Portuguese

Regime de Frequência: Presencial

Sustainable Development Goals

Erradicar a fome - Acabar com a fome, alcançar a segurança alimentar e melhoria da nutrição e promover a agricultura sustentável.

Educação de qualidade - Assegurar a educação inclusiva, e equitativa e de qualidade, e promover oportunidades de aprendizagem ao longo da vida para todos.

Água potável e saneamento - Garantir disponibilidade e manejo sustentável da água e saneamento para todos.

Produção e consumo sustentáveis - Assegurar padrões de produção e de consumo sustentáveis.

Proteger a vida terrestre - Proteger, recuperar e promover o uso sustentável dos ecossistemas terrestres, gerir de forma sustentável as florestas, combater a desertificação, deter e reverter a degradação da Terra e deter a perda da biodiversidade.

Learning Goals

The skills to be acquired are developed in two areas: scientific and professional. On the scientific view, it is intended to provide the student with the concepts and knowledge for the elaboration of alternative critical thinking about modern animal production. The aim is to create conditions for the student to be able to identify and understand less efficient productive situations and to elaborate working hypotheses that study possible inefficiency's factors. On the professional view, it is intended that the student can perform more everyday tasks in animal husbandry according to low-stress handling procedures. Also, to evaluate productive realities, and to develop critical thinking that nurtures different approaches and promotes alternative productive responses.

Origin and domestication. Most common breeds of cattle, sheep and goats. Applied ethology. Handling, Facilities and Welfare-Animal. Breeds and growth curves. Abiotic and biotic factors conditioning the organisation of beef and small ruminants production systems. Characterisation of the production cycle of ruminants. The energy and protein balance and the influence on reproductive management and productivity. Reproductive management and biotechnologies. Energetic, protein and mineral strategies supplementation. Particularities in the feeding of breeding, replacement and fattening animals. Crossbreeding in ruminant production systems. Measures of productive efficiency and prospects for genetic improvement. Milk production systems and modalities, feeding strategies and particularities of dairy cow nutrition. Integration of food and reproductive management. Milking: equipment and good practices. Particularities of calf and heifer replacement management.

Teaching Methods

Conditioned by the time limits of the CU., it has opted for distribution of the programmatic contents that would accomplish the double objective of presenting the subjects and later consolidating them, revisiting them throughout the program. In this way, it is possible to highlight the importance of functional interdependencies and a better understanding of the subjects. Some of the themes explained in other CU, are also recovered to consolidate the new topics.
Two tests carry out the evaluation, each covering half of the subjects taught and with a relative weight of 50% in the overall classification. The student needs to obtain a minimum of 9.5 values in both tests to approval the UC. The student also has the option to take a final exam, taking all the subjects.