Livestock Production Management- ICAR JRF/SRF 2024

• Statement (I) is True: Behavioral traits that facilitate domestication include promiscuous mating (lack of strict monogamy), clear behavioral indicators of estrus (lordosis, standing heat), lack of complex courtship rituals, and flexible social hierarchy.
• Statement (II) is True: In modern intensive livestock production (e.g., dairy cattle where calves are separated at birth for artificial rearing, or poultry where eggs are artificially incubated), excessively fierce maternal defense or bonding causes handling difficulties, milk letdown inhibition, and stress during weaning.

Correct option: (1) Both Statement (I) and Statement (II) are true.

• Calving Pen Requirements in Dairy Farms:
• Calving pens (maternity pens) provide isolated, hygienic, well-bedded individual accommodation for cows during late gestation (last 2–3 weeks) and parturition.
• According to standard dairy farm design and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS: 12237):

• For a herd with uniform year-round calvings, $5\%$ of breedable females is the standard minimum provision ($10\%$ in herds with seasonal calving concentrations).

Correct option: (1) 5%

• Buck to Doe Mating Ratio in Goat Breeding:
• For optimum flock conception and fertility under natural pasture or paddock mating, the recommended breeding male-to-female ratio is 1 buck for every 20 to 25 breeding does ($1:20\text{--}1:25$).
• For a young, vigorous buck (under 18 months), a conservative ratio of $1:15\text{--}1:20$ is maintained; for a mature active buck, up to $1:25\text{--}1:30$.
• Ratios wider than $1:40\text{--}1:50$ lead to buck exhaustion, missed estrus cycles, and depressed twinning rates.

Correct option: (2) 1:25