Animal Husbandry

PART 1: ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS (4 ECTS)

The module aims to provide students with the necessary knowledge to understand how to provide domestic animals with the optimal conditions for its well-being and health in the context of sustainable husbandry. The teaching is divided into 28 hours of frontal lectures equivalent to 3.5 ECTS and 8 hours of practical exercises equivalent to 0.5 ECTS, as follows:

LECTURES (3.5 ECTS, 28 hours)
Course introduction, anatomical nomenclature, and general body organization (2 hours)
Cell biology (2 hours) - Structure of different cellular components (membrane, nucleus, cytoskeleton, organelles) and mechanisms of cell-to-cell communication, energy production, absorption, and synthesis.
Histology (4 hours) - Overview of animal tissues (types and functions of epithelial, connective, muscular, and nervous tissues).
Digestive system (5 hours) - Anatomy: oral cavity, salivary glands, esophagus, stomach in monogastric animals, stomach and pre-stomachs in polygastric animals, intestines, pancreas, and liver. Physiology: food mastication, salivary secretion, swallowing, stomach and pre-stomach motility, ruminal fermentations, gastric, pancreatic, and enteric juice secretion, bile, intestinal motility, digestion, and absorption.
Urinary system (1.5 hours) - Anatomy: kidney, ureter, bladder, urethra, renal circulation. Physiology: glomerular filtration, reabsorption and secretion, endocrine regulation, renal hormones, water-salt homeostasis, urine composition.
Male reproductive system (1.5 hours) - Anatomy: testis and spermatic ducts, accessory sex glands. Physiology: spermatogenesis, male reproductive hormones, accessory glands and their functions.
Female reproductive system (3 hours) - Anatomy: ovary, oviducts, uterus. Physiology: oogenesis, estrous cycle, female reproductive hormones. Pregnancy and parturition.
Tegumentary system and accessory glands (2 hours).
Lactation (3 hours) - Mammary gland morphology, lactogenesis overview (milk and colostrum), lactation endocrinology, and milk synthesis.
Circulatory system (1 hour) - Anatomy: heart, arteries, veins, and capillaries. Physiology of myocardium, cardiac cycle, regulation of cardiovascular functions. Blood components and hemopoiesis. Plasma and serum. Lymph and lymphatic pathways.
Respiratory system (1 hour) - Anatomy of respiratory pathways, lungs, pleura. Physiology: respiratory cycle, gas transport, neural control of respiration.

PRACTICAL EXERCISES (0.5 ECTS, 8 hours)
The practical exercises are divided into sessions of:
4 hours: Exercise on anatomical models, both physical and virtual.
4 hours: Exercise on histological preparations.
The practical exercises will allow students to personally apply the acquired knowledge to describe and evaluate the physiological processes discussed during the lectures.

PART 2 - ANIMAL NUTRITION AND FEEDING (4 ECTS)

This part of the course aims to provide knowledge of nutrition through the study of the use of nutrients in the animal organism, and of animal feeding, through the characterization of the feeds, the main nutritional requirements of cattle and pigs and the criteria basis for the diet formulation, respecting environmental and economic sustainability and animal welfare.
The teaching is divided into lectures (3 ECTS), classroom exercises (0.5 ECTS) and exercises at livestock farms (0.5 ECTS).

Lectures (3 credits, 24 hours)
- Nutrients and their functions. Chemical composition of feeds (water, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nitrogenous substances, minerals and vitamins). Chemical analyses and Near InfraRed Spectroscopy (NIRS) for the determination of dry matter, ash, proteins, lipids and fibrous fractions (4 hours).
- Energy and protein metabolism (4 hours).
- Notes on biological analyses of foods and determination of in vivo, in vitro, in situ digestibility and ruminal fermentability. Potential degradability and effective degradability in the rumen (2 hours).
- The energy and protein value of feeds (4 hours).
- Feeds for livestock: fundamental analytical and nutritional characteristics and main methods of use of forages (grass, hay, silages and straw), concentrates (cereals, bran, protein feeds of vegetable and animal origin, oilseeds, liquid feeds and by-products of the various industrial processes). Supplements, additives and enzymes (4 hours).
- Voluntary feed intake and the main factors that regulate it (2 hours).
- Nutritional requirements of dairy and beef cattle and pigs in different growth and physiological stages (2 hours).
-The main nutritional metabolic disorders in cattle (2 hours).

Classroom exercises (0.5 ECTS, 8 hours)
- Recognition of some forages and the most important concentrated feeds (4 hours).
- Examples of rationing for dairy and beef cattle and for pigs (4 hours).

Field exercises (0.5 ECTS, 8 hours)
- Visit to 2 livestock farms to verify in the field the theoretical notions acquired during the course.

PART 3 - LIVESTOCK FARMING TECHNIQUES (4 ECTS)
The course aims to provide students with both theoretical and practical knowledge of the farming techniques used for the main animal species of zootechnical interest. An additional goal is to introduce students to the evaluation of how farming techniques affect the production and quality of animal-derived products, environmental impact, and animal welfare.
The course includes lectures and practical sessions carried out at livestock farms.

Course structure:
Lectures (3 ECTS):
· From domestication to modern livestock farming: domestication; evolution of Italian animal farming over the past century; statistics and market trends: livestock numbers, production and consumption of animal-derived products; current challenges and future perspectives.
· Milk production: overview of the chemical and nutritional properties of milk; factors influencing milk production and quality; physiology of lactation and milk let-down; milking; breeding and feeding techniques for dairy cows; reproduction and fertility; rearing of replacement animals.
· Beef production: chemical, physical, and nutritional characteristics of meat; growth and development; main factors influencing meat production and quality; carcass evaluation; farming and feeding techniques for the main beef cattle categories (white veal, light and heavy young bulls); meat production within the cow-calf system.
· Pork production: sow rearing and reproduction; rearing of replacement gilts; farming and feeding techniques for light and heavy pigs.
Classroom practical sessions (0.5 ECTS):
· Identification of the main cattle and pig breeds
· Seminars with group discussions on current topics and issues related to animal farming
Field practical sessions (0.5 ECTS):
· Visits to two livestock farms to observe and apply the theoretical knowledge acquired during the course