Sof Contest: Animal husbandry."

Good morning dear Steemians of Steem of animals, how are you all doing? I'm glad to be participating in this contest on animal husbandry by @solaymann. Animals are part of us and they contribute a lot whether financially or in terms of labour and even transportation and resources, so I'll be talking about animal husbandry in my country, Nigeria and I hope you will learn from it.

Animal husbandry is the production of poultry, sheep and goats, fish farming, piggery, snailery and grass cutter.

In Nigeria, the animals that make up animal husbandry are Poultry birds (Chicken, Turkey, Quail, Duck), Cattle, Small ruminants (Goats, Sheep), Pigs, Rabbits, and in some parts of the northern region of the country, Donkeys, Camels, and Horses. The most commonly reared ones are Chickens, Cattle, Goats, and Sheep.

The animals that seem to be more in my country are the poultry birds made mainly of chicken and for the ruminants, mainly of goats and cows. Goats can be seen in almost every household as they are used for meat.

The chicken are raised based on battery or intensive system. In the intensive system, the chickens are kept inside and the intensive poultry housing system requires you to keep birds together in a house either on the ground or in cages. They are free to move around there and everything provided for them there.

In the battery cage system, birds are kept in small compartments or cages. The battery cage system is good because it prevents disease from spreading but it is very expensive to run and only farmers who do farming at the professional level can run the battery cage system.

The Intensive system

The battery cage system

I believe the animal that is more profitable to raise is poultry and fish farming. This is because after buying the day old chick, it is kept and raised or fed for at least six weeks and then sold and the owner gets back his money with the profit. Besides, chicken is raised for many things. So apart from bring sold for money, the farmer gets eggs in crates which is sold and can also sell the chicken parts to people who do not need a whole chicken.

Also fish farming is profitable in that, four months after raising the fish, you can get your profits. You can start with fingerlings and most farmers in Nigeria start with this, and as the fishes grow, they tend to eat more, and as they eat more, they grow more which attracts more profits.

The typical Nigerian fish pond

Another animal that is profitable in Nigeria is cattle rearing. The cattle can be bought at a low price, fed and sold at a price of at least 500,000 which is equivalent to the price of 1724 Steem.

There are many methods to apply in animal husbandry though some methods are more successful than others. It also depends on the animals involved.

• The animals should have a clean place where they stay and we'll ventilated space and should be kept in such a way that infection doesn't spread or they don't die due to heat.

There should be enough space for moving around

•Adequate facilities should be provided for the animals. This way, they will be comfortable and will not suffer due to lack of food or water.

• They should be vaccinated and quarantined when necessary. This can prevent losses as one infected animal can lead to the infection of many others, even resulting in death.

• For you to make enough profit in animal husbandry, the animals must eat the right quantity of food. They must never be starved so that they can grow well. The bigger and healthier they are, the more profit they bring.

• Starting small if you are new to livestock husbandry will help curtail losses as you have to study the system and get to understand it before moving into a larger scale.

• Animal housing should be made or built in such a way that there should be enough ventilation and space to move around.

• There should be lighting in the animal's house.

• There should be adequate food and water. Connecting a water source would be preferable.

• Good facilities should be provided in the house.

• The house should be built in such a way that there is protection from predators, heat, rain and theft.

• There should be. Provision of natural bedding material where animals are kept clean by avoiding direct contact with the wet ground or floor. The bedding will also absorb urine and faecal material, making it easy to collect.