GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF

ANIMAL PRODUCTION:
INTRODUCTION TO
LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY
PRODUCTION

Joseph F. dela Cruz, DVM, MSc, PhD

 What is Animal Science?

• Refers to the total store of knowledge relative to

the breeding, feeding, health, care and
management of animals and the marketing and
processing of animals and their products as
gained through practical experience and
research methods.
The beginning of Animal Science

Human beings during the Old Stone Age made no attempts to domesticate animals,
as some were regarded with superstition, and they ate only those that were not
lucky enough to be hunted down.

In the New Stone Age, these hunters became husbanders of animals (animal
husbandry) by domestication.
IMPORTANCE OF LIVESTOCK AND
POULTRY PRODUCTION

LIVESTOCK- common mammalian farm animals

such as cattle, buffalo, hog, goat, sheep and
horse.

POULTRY- domestic avian species or birds

such as chicken, duck, turkey, goose, quail
etc.
MICROLIVESTOCK- term used to refer to smaller creatures
of becoming conventional livestock ( rabbit, guinea pig,
honey bees, snails, rodents insects, earthworms etc.)

Importance and benefits:

• Can be an important subsystem where land is scarce, lack
adequate income and nutrition.
• Costs little to buy, a relatively small financial risk and
produce rapid return in investment.
• Provides a steady source of income/food, generates
employment, easily transportable.
WILD ANIMALS are also being raised commercially. Ex.
Crocodile farming, ostrich, wild buffaloes, deer, bison and
mountain goat.

Importance: represents important genetic resources (gene

pool) for potential use in animal production or agriculture.

AQUACULTURE / Marine or aquatic intensive production

involving propagation, rearing and marketing of fish, sea
foods and other marine products (oyster, shrimp, tilapia)
in selected or controlled/modified environments.
 Importance of Animal Science in Animal
Production and Agriculture

• People initially raise and breed animals to ensure

steady supply of food
• What will happen if problems arise?
- increase in population
- lack of feeds and feeding
- diseases
• Production must be efficient and sustainable
 Importance of Animals
• Food • Clothing
• Work • Recreation
• Medicine • Companionship
• Research • Security
ANIMAL HEALTH AND ROLE OF
VETERINARIANS

The main objective of animal production is to produce

animal products that are of high quality and quantity. In
order to attain that objective, animals should be healthy
or must have normal functioning body systems.
Furthermore, animal disease has been an important
concern as it influences a number of issues such as food
security for the ever-increasing population and access to
international trade. Also, many animal disease agents are
zoonotic, therefore, their management and prevention is
critical in improving animal health.
Healthy animals are likely to produce safer meat, milk
and eggs. Therefore, animal health should be a
farmer’s foremost concern. In attaining this goal,
intervention by a veterinarian for this purpose is very
crucial.

Control of diseases/problems of livestock and poultry

can be avoided through:
• Prompt and accurate disease diagnosis
• Appropriate treatment/cure if disease is present, and
• Planned measures and programs for disease
prevention and management
 Domestication

• Humans began domesticating animals more than

10,000 years ago beginning with dogs.
• Ruminants (cattle, sheep and goats) were the first
food animals to be domesticated followed by pigs,
possibly to dispose of table scraps and waste
products.
• Horses and cattle were domesticated primarily
for transportation and draft work purposes.

• Early people found animals that form large

herds or flocks and eat a wide variety of feeds
are easier to domesticate.
Domestication involves more than simply taming.
Animals are considered to be domesticated when:

• they are kept for a distinct purpose

• humans control their breeding
• their survival depends on humans
• they develop traits that are not found in the wild
• Domestic animals supplied a steady
source of food and clothing resulting to a
more settled way of life.
 Sheep (Ovis aries)
Domesticated 11,000-15,000 years ago
• Domesticated in the mountains of Southeast
Europe and Central/Southwest Asia.
• Favorable because of their wool and meat for
which they are still used and bred today.
• Because of selective breeding for traits and other
results of domestication, sheep are the only
species of livestock that would be unable to
return to the wild.
 Cattle:
Domesticated 10,000-15,000 years ago

• Modern cattle are descendants of Bos taurus and Bos

indicus.
• Bos indicus are the humped cattle found in tropical
countries. They are more resistant to diseases,
parasites, and heat than the cattle that came from
the Bos taurus.
 Horses (Equus caballus)
Domesticated approx. 5,000 years ago

• The horse evolved from a tiny four-toed ancestor called

Eohippus (dawn horse).

• Originally, horses were used for meat and milk, but

eventually became useful as pack and draft animals.
 Swine (Sus scrofa domesticus)
Domesticated 5,000 - 9,000 years ago

• The modern breeds of swine came from two wild stocks: the
European wild boar (Sus scrofa) and the East Indian pig (Sus
vittatus). Some wild type of piglike animals (descendants of
the European wild boar), which have never been tamed, still
exists in certain parts of the world.

• Pigs were utilized more in settled farming communities than

in nomadic groups because they are difficult to move for
long distances.
 Goats (Capra hircus)
Domesticated around 6000 - 7000 B.C.

Goats are closely related to sheep. The following are the

major differences between the two species:

• Sheep have stockier bodies than goats

• Goats have shorter tails than sheep
• Goat horns are long and grow upward, backward, and
outward; sheep horns are spirally twisted
• Male goats have beards; male sheep do not
• Male goats give off a strong odor in the rutting (breeding)
season; male sheep do not
• Goats do not have scent glands in the face and feet; sheep
do have these scent glands ( scent glands are specialized
organs that secrete pheromones that attract females)
• Goats are more intelligent than sheep and have a greater
ability to fight and fend for themselves than the sheep.
• Goats can easily return to the wild state; sheep cannot.
Poultry

• Chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) were being raised by

the Chinese about 1400 BC, but were domesticated in India
in at least 1000 BC. Although poultry and eggs were used
for food early in history, poultry raising have only recently
become a major commercial enterprise as they were raised
on an individual family basis in the past.

• The wild jungle fowl of India (Gallus gallus) may have been
the early ancestor of most tame chickens.
• Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) descended from two
wild species: one from Mexico and one from the US.

• The wild mallard duck (Anas bochas) is thought to be

the ancestor of all domestic breeds of ducks. Ducks
were tamed at an early date. China has probably raised
ducks on a commercial basis longer than other parts of
the world. In the country we have the mallard duck (itik)
Anas platyrnchus and muscovy duck (bibi) Cairina
moschata

• The goose (Anser anser) was probably tamed shortly

after the chicken. It was regarded as a sacred bird in
Egypt 4000 years ago.
 STATUS, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF
LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY INDUSTRY
Swine
• Swine industry represents about 79% of the total
value of production of livestock in the country
• Represents more than 55% of the total daily animal
meat consumption of Filipinos
• In 2011,per capita pork consumption was estimated
at 18.31 kg, which amounts to 57.07% of the total
animal meat consumed by Filipinos, in 2015 the per
capita pork consumption was 20.35kg
Per capita consumption of meat in the
Philippines (kg/year)
 In 2021, the pork consumption per capita in the
Philippines was about 10.66 kilograms per person

while 14.05 kilograms of poultry meat per capita were

consumed per person.
 Status of local pig farming
• Hog production grew at an average annual rate of 3.02
percent. The production level ranged from 2,012,173
metric tons in 2013 to 2,265,015 metric tons in 2017.
• On a year-on-year comparison, production accelerated
by 5.25 percent in 2016 compared to annual
performance in 2015. In 2017, hog production posted an
increase but at a slower growth of 1.49 percent
compared with its level of production in 2016.
 Status of local Pig Farming
• In 1993, backyard farms represented 83.77% and large
commercial farms constituted 16.23% of the total
population

• In 2002, backyard pig farming decreased to only

76.68% while commercial farming increased to 23.32%

• About 71 % of the swine population are raised in

backyard farms while 29 % are in commercial farms in
2007.
 Backyard

• From 2013 to 2017, farmgate price of Hog for slaughter in

backyard farms increased at an average rate of 2.96
percent.
• During this period, price level ranged from 95.71 pesos
per kilogram, liveweight in 2013 to 106.73 pesos per
kilogram, liveweight in 2017.
• Decreases in prices were recorded in 2015 and 2016 with
2.94 percent and 2.96 percent, respectively. However, in
2017, the farmgate price bounced back to 106.73 peso per
kilogram, liveweight, or a 12.77 percent increase from its
2016 level.
Commercial
• The annual average farmgate price of hog for
slaughter in commercial farms grew by1.33 percent
during the 2014 to 2017 trading.
• In 2016, farmgate price was quoted at 104.30 peso
per kilogram, liveweight. The price was down by 5.81
percent compared with its previous year’s price.
• However, in 2017, the farmgate price improved at
120.48 pesos per kilogram, liveweight, or an increase
of 15.52 percent relative to its 2016 price.
Problems:
• Unabated spread of diseases
• Limited availability and high cost of biologics, antibiotics and
medicaments
• Importation of breeding stocks
• Importation of feed ingredients and feed supplements
• Inefficient marketing systems and structures
• Flooding/dumping of cheap pork and other meat products from
other countries
• Increasing control of traders and butchers on pricing live
slaughter hogs
• Industrialization and urbanization of current swine-producing
areas
 Competitive advantages:

• Sure domestic market for swine products

• Increased demand for pork with the growing
population
• Shorter production cycle therefore faster
return of investment
• Advanced technologies and inputs increasing
production efficiency
 Weakness
• Low purchasing power of pork consumers
• High overhead cost in production and feed milling
• Heavy dependence on imported ingredients
• Inadequate national program for disease
prevention and control
Trends in the industry
• Preference for lean meat with less fat
• Preference for pork with minimal or no antibiotic
residues
• Preference for fresh and fresh-chilled pork
• Preference for Parts-ham,belly, pata, ears, tails,
offal
• Emergence of small enterprises type of swine
production systems
 STATUS, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

Beef cattle

• Considered one of the least developed industries in our

country. There is a declining local cattle population and a
high slaughter rate, making the local beef unable to meet
the demands of the growing population. To respond to the
problem, the government imports beef.
• During the period 2013 to 2017, the volume of Cattle
production increased from 258,454 metric tons in 2013 to
266,301 metric tons in 2017.

• The highest production level during the reference period was

recorded in 2016 with 270,415 metric tons while the lowest
was in 2013 with 258,454 metric tons.

• On a year-on-year comparison, the highest growth rate was

2.13 percent in 2015. However, cattle production went down
by 1.52 percent in 2017 compared with its previous year’s
level.
• In the last five years, Cattle inventory increased at an
average annual rate of 0.49 percent. Inventory level ranged
from 2.50 million heads in 2013 to 2.55 million heads in
2017.
• During these years, majority of the country’s total cattle
inventory was in backyard farms. Of the 2,547,614 inventory
of cattle in 2017, 93.78 percent were raised in backyard
farms.
• In 2013 to 2017, annual average farmgate price of Cattle
for slaughter in backyard farms exhibited an increasing
trend with an average annual rate of 3.42 percent.
• Highest farmgate price in backyard farms during the
period was recorded in 2017 at 99.66 pesos per
kilogram, liveweight, or 4.30 percent increase compared
to its price level in 2016.
• Meanwhile, farmgate price of cattle for slaughter in
commercial farms grew annually by 5.45 percent from
2014 to 2017. No available data was reported in 2013.
• In 2016, farmgate price was at 110.75 pesos per kilogram,
liveweight. It increased by 10.84 percent compared with
the 2015 price level of 99.92 pesos per kilogram,
liveweight. The price was even higher in 2017. It was up
by 4.07 percent from the 2016 price.
 STATUS, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS
BEEF CATTLE
Problems:

• Low breeding base

• Absence of an organized beef cattle development and
breeding program
• Poor quality feeds
• Non-adoption of improved husbandry practices
• Lack of ranching areas, squatter encroachment and land
tenure problems in grazing areas.
• Inefficient marketing system and structure
• Inadequate farm to market roads and processing facilities
• Inadequate veterinary and extension services.
 STATUS, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS
BEEF CATTLE
Competitive advantages:

• Increasing demand for beef

• Income elasticity of demand for beef higher than other meat
• Ability to transform low-quality and fibrous feed materials
into high value protein food product
• Abundant supply of crop residues, especially in small farms
and favorable climate for fodder production
• Availability of cattle production and meat processing
technologies for small farmer.
 STATUS, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS
Buffalo

• The Philippine water buffalo (carabao) is an indigenous livestock

resource that plays a vital role as an excellent animal in farm
activities.

• Carabeef is used in the manufacture of some meat products like

sausages, luncheon meat, meat loaf and corned beef. It is also passed
in the wet market as beef.

Carabeef produces red meat containing 30% more protein, 70%

less fat and 50% less cholesterol than beef.
• Carabao production from 2013 to 2017 increased at an
average annual rate of 0.52 percent, or from 141,478
metric tons in 2013 to 144,409 metric tons in 2017.
• During the five-year period, carabao production was at
its peak in 2016 with output of 144,685 metric tons or an
increase of 1.86 percent compared to the production
level in 2015 of 142,042 metric tons.
• However in 2017, production tapered off by 0.19
percent compared to its 2016 level.
• Carabao inventory declined during the five-year reference
period at an average annual rate of 0.26 percent.
• Highest inventory was recorded in 2013 with 2.91 million
heads while lowest in 2014 with 2.85 million heads.
• On a year-on-year comparison, growth rate increased by
0.78 percent in 2016 with 2.88 million heads compared to the
inventory in 2015 with 2.85 million heads.
• As of January 1, 2017, 2.87 million carabaos or 99.62
percent of the total carabao inventory came from
backyard farms.
• The remaining 0.38 percent came from commercial
farms. The percent shares in backyard and
commercial farms to carabao inventory were
consistent from 2013 to 2017.
• The annual average farmgate price of Carabao for slaughter
in backyard farms grew at a rate of 4.52 percent, that is,
from 72.98 pesos per kilogram, liveweight in 2013, to 86.84
pesos per kilogram, liveweight in 2017.
• The annual average farmgate price of carabao for slaughter
in 2017 increased by 11.28 percent from the 2016 average
farmgate price.
• On the other hand, annual average farmgate price of
carabao for slaughter in commercial farms ranged from
91.93 pesos per kilogram, liveweight in 2014 to 110.78
pesos per kilogram, liveweight in 2017.
• Farmgate price of carabao from the commercial farms
in 2017 was 11.36 percent higher than the 2016 farmgate
price at 99.48 peso per kilogram, liveweight.
Constraints to Carabao Production
• Biological characteristics
• Socio economic factors
• Credit facility
 STATUS, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

Local Dairy Production

• One of the early purposes of domesticating cattle and other

livestock was for milk as much or more so than meat.
• The local dairy herd increased to 7000 heads or 17% more
compared to the previous year. In spite of this increase, our
country still needs to improve its dairy farm industry. Local milk
production is still not enough to meet local demands. Our
country allows continuous import of dairy cattle and buffaloes
from Australia, New Zealand, India and some pacific Island
states to cope with the demand.
• Low milk production, high cost of imports and dependency on
other countries for local milk needs poses serious problems in
our local cattle industry. This can be minimized through the
development of the dairy industry.
• The country’s Milk production came from dairy carabao,
dairy cattle and dairy goat. Overall, the trend in milk
production was increasing from 2013 to 2017 at an
average annual rate of 3.93 percent.
• Production level ranged from 19,526 metric tons in 2013
to 22,755 metric tons in liquid milk equivalent in 2017.
• Highest volume of milk production was noted in 2017
with 22,756 metric tons. This was an increment of 7.56
percent from the volume of milk production in 2016.
Major constraints of the dairy sector
• Intermittent support from government
• Shortage of dairy stocks
• Limited industry entrants
• Competition with cheap imported milk powders
• Trained technicians and farmers leaving the
country to work in dairy farms in New Zealand
and Australia.
 STATUS, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

GOAT
• Majority of goats are kept by farmers, which
supplements 99.5% of the household income

• Commonly known as the “poor man’s cow” because

of small initial investment. It occupies a small housing
space, thrives on browse and survives on vegetation
unpalatable to other ruminants.
 STATUS, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS
GOAT
Competitive advantages:

• Early maturity
• High fertility
• Short gestation period
• Could yield milk 5 months after conception.
• Goat’s milk has various advantages over cow’s milk and has long been
recognized by doctors for use by people with digestive disorders.
• Meat (chevon) is a delicacy especially in Northern
Luzon
• Efficient feed utilizers and controllers
• Angora goat’s hair (mohair) is smoother than wool.
• Goat production increased annually at an average rate
of 0.63 percent. The volume of production was 75,416
metric tons in 2013 and grew to 77,338 metric tons in
2017. During this period, the country’s goat production
peaked in 2015 at 77,480 metric tons but slowed down
to 77,338 metric tons in 2017.
• Goat inventory grew in 2013 to 2017 at an average annual
rate of 0.11 percent. Inventory level was at 3.69 million
heads in 2013 or 0.57 percent decrease from 2012 level.
• It can be observed that inventory of 3.66 million heads in
2016 was the lowest during the 5-year period.
• However, the inventory peaked up in 2017 at 3.71 million
heads, or an equivalent increase of 1.29 percent from the
2016 inventory.
• The annual average farmgate price of Goat for
slaughter in backyard farms ranged from 106.74
pesos per kilogram, liveweight in 2013 to 125.13 pesos
per kilogram, liveweight in 2017.

• The farmgate price of goat in 2017 was 6.28 percent

which was higher than the 2016 price.
• In commercial farms, the annual average farmgate price
of goat for slaughter in 2014 to 2017 ranged from 131.53
pesos per kilogram, liveweight to 140.95 pesos per
kilogram, liveweight.

• The farmgate price of live goat from commercial farms

in 2017 increased by 2.22 percent compared to the 2016
price level.