For easy production of ruminant (ruminant production) or any farm animal certain equipment have been designed and are used to facilitate management operation. In ruminant animals, these equipment appear to be common and work with the same principle. Virtually all of these equipment are imported but could also be fabricated locally.
Equipment Used in Ruminant Production
The following equipment are used in ruminant animal production;
1. Weighing Scale
This is used to know the weight of the animal. There are different types viz; the walk-in type for the animal (both young and adult depending on their capacity) e.g. weigh bridge where the animal walks on the scale or is transported on it and hanging scale.
2. Burdizzo Castrator
This is used to castrate unwanted males on the farm. Castration is the act of making a male animal impotent by open or a surgical removal of its scrotum.
3. Elastrator
It is a bloodless castrator that use the ring method.
4. Eartag Forceps/Puncher
Used for fixing ear tag to the ear of the animal for identification.
Figure: Ear Puncher
5. Tattooing Machine
Tattoing is making durable marks, design or patterns on the skin of an animal by pricking the skin and rubbing dyes or stains.
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Tattoing machine is an equipment similar to pliers as shown in Fig. 4.6 with set of letters arranged and well fitted to the tongue of the pliers. It then rubbed with an indelible ink to give a permanent marking.
6. Nipple Feeders
For feeding young cattle with milk replacers.
7. Drenching Gun
This is made of a long tube or rubber hose long enough to enter the mouth of ruminants. It is used for oral administration of liquid drug especially during de-worming exercise
Management Practices in Ruminant Production
Certain management operations are performed on ruminant animals for effective production of the herd or the individual animal itself. Some of these shall be discussed hereafter.
1. Debudding
This is the act of removing the horn at its budding stage in cattle, sheep and goats. Most breeds of these animals carry horn which when fully grown may become source of injury to the other animals in the flock/herd.
This operation is carried out at about age 3 to 4 weeks of age on any of the animals. The young ruminant is haltered (i.e. using a rope to restrain it) to a pole, held down by the stockman and the base of the horn is felt with bare hand of the operator.
The hair around it is shaved and local anesthesia is injected at the base of the eyelid or forehead to minimize pain. A hot iron cauterizer is then plugged into electricity. The hotness of the iron is determined by its ability to burn a piece of dry wood.
The hot iron is then applied to the horn bud and carefully twisted to remove the bud. A scar is then left over the tissue at this point. This operation is commonly done in ruminant production especially in the temperate region and most local experimental stations.
The alternative that is common here is the use of handsaw to remove pointed and dangerous horns of adult cattle.
2. Castration
Castration is the act of removing the testicles of a male animal to render them ineffective. This operation is carried out on all unwanted males in ruminant production.
This management operation prevents unwanted breeding and improves the carcass quality of the animal. It can be carried out by surgically operation or bloodlessly by the use of a burdizzo or rubber ring elastrator after the animal must have been haltered.
Surgical operation is done within the first week of the animal’s life while the bloodless one could be done within the first two weeks of life.
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3. Identification
Ear Tagging: This is done for identification purposes. The animal is haltered and the tag is placed in the applicator then clamped to the pina of the ear. Caution must be taken not to damage the blood vessels on the pina. Other operations for identification includes
Tattooing, ear notching, skin branding, horn branding and the use of neck chains or tags- either plastic or metals.
4. Tattoing
Ear notching is cutting the ears in a particular shape and coding the shape. It involves the use of razor or scissors to cut a “V” shape on the tip of the pina. The position of the cut indicate numbers.
If it is at the top of the pina it denotes 1, if at the tip, 5 and if under, it is 3. The right ear represent tens while the left represent units. The two is added to give the animal an identification number in the herd.
Skin and horn branding are very common in our local setting. Hot iron is used to write numbers and at times names of owners of the animal on their skin or horn. This practice is very common with cattle.
5. Drenching
This is giving the animal medicine to drink. Usually a drenching gun is used. However, it can be improvised by the use of a long-necked bottle on which is fastened a short piece of plastic or rubber tubing.
The animal is held in standing position and the bottle put at the back of the mouth so that the content can run into the oesaphagus. This process is used for deworming.
6. De-worming
The animals are de-wormed regularly at least two times in a year corresponding to seasons and time of turning them to pasture.
7. Hoof Trimming
This carried out by the use of hoof trimming knife. Overgrown hooves are trimmed to ensure it does nor harbour germs or disease and allow the animal to walk well.
The debris in the hoof must be removed before carefully cutting the hoof in slices to ensure the tissue is not cut.
8. Docking
The tails of ruminants are cut in a process called docking. This is practiced especially in sheep within one week of life. Long tails in sheep at times do not make for good mating at adult age.
An elastrator could be used at times to dock the animal and the wound treated. At this age the pain is minimized.
In summary, the different equipment used in the rearing of ruminant animals were discussed and found to be very important in the management practices carried out on the animals for efficient production.
Equipment used in the ruminant production includes, weighing scale, burdizzo, tattoing machine, feeders, elastrator, ear tag forcep etc. These equipment are used in management operations such as castration, debudding, identification, hoof trimming, ear tagging, ear notching, de- worming and drenching.
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