Animal Science: Production and Management of Farm Animals

Animal science is the science concerned with the production and management of animals with potential human benefit. Farm animals like livestock and poultry are raised for milk, meat, eggs and other items. Modern animal production systems rely on animal breeding techniques. Breeding seldom occurs spontaneously. It is initiated to encourage the appearance of desirable traits, such as prolificness, fast growth rates, hardiness, low feed consumption per unit of growth, higher yields, improved fiber qualities, etc. Selective breeding has increased productivity immensely. Purebred breeding is achieved through inbreeding and culling. The advent of transgenic animals and better ways to control gene expression has resulted in significant developments in animal science. This book outlines the processes and applications of biotechnology for agricultural production in detail. It traces the progress in the field of animal science and highlights some of its key concepts and applications. This book is a resource guide for experts as well as students.