O Level Notes : Agriculture - Small Livestock Production

The slaughtered animal has to be properly dressed and killing weight percentage should be calculated before marketing. Some products such as pelts from rabbits should be processed so that they can be used to make products like handbags, wallets, and leather jackets. In the case of layers, eggs are collected every day and laying percentage is calculated to determine whether the hen is still productive or not. All the collected eggs pass through process of cleaning, grading and packaging before marketing. Record keeping in livestock production is more important as it assists the farmer in decision making, checking daily farming activities and to access loans.

Slaughtering of rabbits

Animals for slaughter should be kept without food for 12 hours before killing them in order to enable the intestines to empty. They must be given plenty of water during this time to prevent dehydration. There are different methods of killing rabbits, but which ever method is employed, it should be quick and without causing suffering

Method 1. Hitting the back of the head

Lift the ears of a rabbit with the left hand and apply a sharp blow with a heavy stick or

iron on the head behind the ears. In this way the brain is injured and death is instantaneous. After death cut the throat and hang the rabbit by its legs for efficient bleeding.

Method 2. Use of electronic shock

In this method the rabbit is shocked by electric current flow which is put to the rabbit on

its fore head. A sharp knife is used to cut the jugular vein on the neck and the throat of the rabbit should be cut off completely then the rabbit should be hang by its back legs with its neck downwards so that blood drains out

 Dressing a rabbit

Skin the carcass immediately before it cools, in most cases the skin pulls off quite easily.

Two light cuts are made just above the hock joint on the inside of each hind leg and the skin is peeled off beginning at the rear legs. Skin should then be hung up individually. They must not be thrown on a heap where they will stain one another. Washing is not necessary but stains on the carcass must be wiped off with a clean cloth. To eviscerate, the cut is made about 10cm-12.5cm long in the skin on the belly just below the vent. When the cutting is in progress, ensure that the viscera are not involved as this causes mess and tainting. The viscera which include liver,intestines and heart are separated from the carcass to avoid rapid deterioration and spoilage of the carcass.  Hanging the carcass in cold weather over night is done. In hot weather cooling may be done by immersing the carcass in clean cold water or water with ice. Cooling is most successful if a freezer or dry process is available and once the carcass is cooled and firm it may be packed in a polythene bag for marketing or placed in a deep freeze.

Weighting of the carcass

The carcass is weighed to get the killing out percentage. This is the difference between the live weight of the animal and the weight of the carcass. It is calculated as follows;

The killing out percentage is 60 - 63% depending on age, breed and management. The loss in weight is about 12% for the skin and 25% for viscera. A rabbit that has been badly fed can have a killing out percentage of 50% or less. A good size of carcass for sale is from 1,2 kg to 1.6 coming from rabbits of 2kg to 2.5kg live weight. This weight can be reached with the giant breeds at 12 - 14 weeks old and with the medium breeds at 20 - 25 weeks. 

Marketing

Rabbit meat is sold to butcheries, retail shops and even to individual consumers. Viscera can be sold separately or together with the carcass. However successful marketing depends on the presentation of the product. This is enhanced by ensuring that some factors are observed such as grading and packing.

Grading

The rabbits are graded according to the following factors;

• Uniformity of carcass
• Size of mass
• Glossiness or colour of meat
• Cleanliness
• Freshness

Packing

The first stage is folding which should be followed by selecting properly marked plastic

bags which should be of the appropriate size to fit the carcass to be packed. The parcel is then sealed and properly stored in a cold room before being taken to the market. 

Preparation of pelts for marketing

A pelt is a rabbit skin. Rabbit skin should be processed so that they can be used to make products such as jackets, wallets and handbags.

Tanning the pelts

The processing of the animal skin is known as tanning.Pelts should be soaked in several lots of clean water for at list 3 hours but thick old skins will need more hours. When softened, the skin should be laid over a roller above which a blunt knife is fixed to scrape off excess tissue and fat. Sufficient skin however must be left to avoid tearing. Pelts should never be twisted and a little benzene should be used to remove the remaining dirt or strains. Use 50gm of washing soda and 230gm of dextrin per skin. Each of these materials has to be dissolved in a separate container using about 80ml of water in each case. To make the tanning liquid take about 150ml of each of the liquids and add one to the other slowly stirring all the time. Half of this liquid is tipped in to a bowl with another quarter of water. Put the skin in the liquid and work it for about a while and then leave it for three hours occasionally moving the skin in the liquid. Add the other half of the mixture and leave the pelt overnight. By the morning the pelt should be tanned and will have acquired a bluish colour. It will have to be washed and soaked for half an hour in chalk and water and then washed in clean water again. To soften the pelt make up an emulsion using 15gm of liquid soap and 15gm of neat's foot oil to a half litre of hot water, when this is cool put the pelt in and work it about well. The pelt can be left in this emulsion for approximately 12 hours after which it is washed under the tap. When it has thoroughly rinsed, it can be hanged up in a warm place to dry.The pelt must then be worked backward and forward over the blunt object like a tree log once the skin side is partially dry but the fur side is still damp. The blue green colour will disappear as this process is done and the pelt will be ready for market. They are sold to companies which make bags, jackets as well as wallets.

Slaughtering and dressing of indigenous chickens

Slaughtering and dressing in chickens is a process that involves stunning, killing, evisceration, cleaning and packaging of the carcass

Stunning

This involves the striking of the bird on the back of the head with an iron rod, twisting and electrocution. This is done to induce unconsciousness and painless death. After stunning the bird, cut off the neck to allow bleeding to occur.

Method 1: Stunning a chicken by hitting the back of the head

The bird is held by the legs upside down firmly or placed in a cone that exposes the head at the bottom. A strong iron rod is then used to hit the back of the head to kill the bird.

Stunning of a bird by hitting the back of the head with iron rod

Method 2: Twisting of the neck

When killing a chicken by twisting its neck, hold the feet and take hold of the neck firmly. Pull the neck down as you twist simultaneously.

You'll feel a snap, then the chicken will begin flapping its wings. Once the chicken is dead, cut its jugular vein with a sharp knife and hang it upside down in the container to drain the blood. Then you can start to pluck and dress the bird.

Dressing chickens

Plucking feathers

• The slaughtered birds are dipped in hot water of about 50-700c for a few seconds
• Feathers are plucked off by hand or by plucking machine.
• Cut slightly near the vent and remove the viscera (inside parts). The removal of viscera/giblets is called evisceration. The viscera includes liver, colon, gizzard, small intestines and heart.
• Rinse the carcass both inside and outside with clean water.
• Viscera can be cleaned and sold separately and in some cases can be put inside the carcass.
• The carcass is wrapped in a plastic paper and put in a refridgerator before marketing.

Marketing

Weigh  the  carcass  and  grade  them  according  to  their  weight  for  delivery  to supermarkets, restaurants or individuals in the community

Preparation of eggs for marketing

Collection of eggs - Collect all laid eggs and put them into buckets with dry chopped grass inside. Calculate the laying percentage to see if it is profitable to keep the layers or to cull them.

The formula used to calculate laying percentage is;

Number of collected eggs      x  100

Total number of laying birds          1

Cleaning of eggs: Clean the eggs to remove the droppings using a damp piece of cloth. Do not wash eggs in water because they can go bad quickly.

Grading eggs

• Remove cracked eggs from good eggs
• Grade the eggs according to size- small 40g-44g, medium 45g-54g, standard 55g-60g and large 62.5g

• Grade according to colour: They are in two colours that is white or brown eggs

Packaging

• Pack the eggs in crates with the pointed end of the eggs facing down for free air circulation
• Care should be taken when transporting eggs to the market since they can easily break.
• Put egg crates inside cardboard boxes to reduce risk of breakages.

Marketing

The price of the eggs is determined by size of the egg and colour.

• Large eggs fetch more money at the market as compared to small ones.
• Brown eggs cost slightly less than white eggs at the market.

Record keeping for small livestock production

There are two main types of records namely physical and financial records. Physical records (production records) gives information about farm daily activities and quantities involved. Financial records are records of money inflow and outflow into the farming business.

Production records

They are concerned about farm activities and quantities involved. Examples include mating dates of livestock, litter size and quantity of feeds consumed per day. Production records are specific to each and every enterprise.

Production record for rabbits

Each doe should have a breeding record card. This should show the date of mating, date litters are born, the buck used, mortality, date of weaning and litter weights.

 A doe’s production record card

Breeding card. Date of birth…..

Hutch number……               doe number…..     Buck number…..

Egg production record

Eggs laid should be recorded daily and a total kept for each month. The laying

percentage should be over 65% if it drops below 50% it means birds are laying poorly and may need to be culled. Laying percentage is calculated as follows

Number of eggs laid     x   100

Number of birds                 1

 Egg production record card

Financial records

These are records that show money which is used on the farm and money obtained at the

farm after selling products. Examples of financial records are; income and expenditure account, cash book, cash flow statements, whole farm gross margin, purchases records and sales records. If the total cost is greater than the total income then the enterprise has made a loss and the reverse is true.

 Showing income and expenditure record

Profit    = total income - total expenditure

= $448 - $188

= $260

Here is what we discussed in this topic

• Rabbit pelts are processed so that they can be used to make products such as jackets, hand bags, and wallets.
• Animals should be withdrawn from feed 12 hours before slaughtering.

• Eggs are graded according to size and colour, before marketing.
• The first stage when slaughtering small livestock is stunning. This is done to induce unconsciousness and cause painless death.
• Stunning is also important as the blood of the animal will floor to the stricken position before cutting the jugular vein with a sharp knife thereby having good carcass meat since most of the blood will drain out.

Definitions

• Viscera - the inside organs of slaughtered livestock.
• Pelt - the skin of a rabbit.
• Stunning - the striking of a livestock on the back of the head with iron rod, by twisting the neck or electrocution that causes unconsciousness.