Practical Journal

(20% of total CA)

Overview

The objective of this assignment is to help you understand the importance of maintaining animal nutrition and designing feeding regimes according to the lactation phase. Additionally, this assignment aims to teach you how to conduct proximate analysis of different feeds/ fodders and evaluate the nutrient composition of the same. A major component of this assignment will involve students to grow fodder oat and maize under hydroponic system and subsequent nutrient analysis.

Instructions

Body weight and Body condition Scoring (BCS)

  • Visit the college dairy farm and record the body weight, BCS, for heifers, pregnant cows and lactating cows (including their lactation stage) . The record should be maintained monthly and with relevant analysis (eg. in ration formulation) in the report.
  • For body weight measurement, students will have to maintain a monthly record of body weight using at least one method described in the article. Each group will use different method after discussing.
  • The method and guidelines for the BCS will be shared by the tutor. Rubrics of assessment should be presented along with relevant images and qualitative analysis and discussion.

Hydroponics Fodder Development

  • Students will grow fodder maize and oat under hydroponic conditions and use their harvest for nutrient analysis which can be included in their ration formulation assignment. This part of the assignment should be undertaken as a learning process and students can adopt various ideas for optimum usage of the available resources and propose a feasibility of continued production of hydroponic fodder in the campus.

Proximate Analysis of Feed and Feed Stuffs

  • Students will use their hydroponic fodder for nutrient analysis. The proximate analysis should include the following parameters: Crude Protein (CP), Crude Fiber (CF), Ether Extract (EE), Ash, Dry Matter (DM) and Moisture and Nitrogen Free Extract (NFE). The report should contain at least two separate analysis of the samples. This results should be be reported in the same report and can be used for the ration formulation part as well. The report should also consist of brief background/review of literature on the process, sample and methods. The review should also include comparisons and relevant discussions.

Feeding regime & Ration formulation

  • Choose three lactating cow at different lactation stage and design a feeding regime. Record the current feeding regime followed, analyse if the requirement is met and propose a new regime regime considering the nutrient requirement of the animals in that lactation stage, body weight and also production. You can include how the nutrient composition of the feed/ fodder commonly available in the locality relates to the nutrient requirement of animals in the particular lactation stage. This should involve calculating the amount of that particular feed/fodder to meet the daily requirement of the individual animal (ration formulation using method thaught).

Note: The tutor may inform the students to include additional component in the report as the semester progresses.

General guidelines

Here are the guidelines for the final report:

  • The document should be typed with 1-inch margins on all sides.
  • All written parts of the assignment should be well formatted For example, Title should be in bold. The use of font style should be consistent (12 – point Times New Roman with 1.5” line spacing). Page numbering and Table of content should be automatic and can have subheadings.
  • Include a title page with the title of the assignment, names of the group members, program name, module name, tutor’s name, and date. Use college and university logo (those from official correspondences )
  • Use in-text citations for all sources used in the report. All citations must follow APA 7th format.
  • Include a reference page with all sources used in the report. The reference page must follow APA 7th format.
  • Images and tables should stand alone with appropriate numbering and captions (See samples for figures and tables)
  • Use consistent and clear formatting throughout the report. Careless formatting will seriously affect grading.

Submission

VLE: A MS word document and PDF version of the report should be submitted. File should be named strictly as Group_number (e.g. Group_1)

Dateline:

20th May

Grading Criteria

Grades will be given based on the following criteria. Grading is broadly divided into four components. All the component should be reported in a single document.

Evaluation Criteria Score Allocated Score Achieved
Body Weight and Body Condition Scoring (BCS) Analysis 15
1.      Accuracy and consistency in recording body weight and BCS 4
2.      Quality of analysis and interpretation of data 4
3.      Depth of discussion regarding relevance in ration formulation 4
4.      Integration of images and qualitative analysis 3
Hydroponics Fodder Development 30
1.      Yield 8
2.      Creativity and resourcefulness in optimization 8
3.      Feasibility assessment and proposal for continuation 8
4.      Integration into ration formulation assignment 6
Proximate Analysis 25
1.      Conducting proximate analysis with accuracy 10
2.      Presentation and interpretation of analysis results 5
3.      literature review and relevant discussion 10
Feeding Regime & Ration Formulation 20
1.      Evaluation of the existing feeding regime 5
2.      Clear and accurate calculations 12
3.      Utilization of local feed resources 3
Formatting and referencing 10
1.      Follows guideline 3
2.      Overall Presentation 2
3.      In-text citations and references (correct format, relevancy and number) 5

Group formation

Note that names with the same corresponding number will form groups. A detailed report on the Individual contribution to the report should be produced in the document (preferably as appendix)

Student.ID Name Group
1210041 ANITA RAI 1
1210042 BIKASH RAI 4
1210043 CHENCHO YOEBUM LHADEN 2
1210044 CHIMI OM 3
1210045 DEKI YANGZOM 1
1210048 JAMYANG PELDEN 2
1210049 JANITA MAJHI 2
1210051 JIGME YOEZER NORBU 6
1210054 KESHAB GHIMERY 2
1210057 KEZANG WANGMO 1
1210059 KUENGA TSHOMO 4
1210061 PHUNTSHO WANGMO 5
1210062 PRERNA RAI 3
1210063 PRIYA SUBBA 3
1210064 RIGZEN CHODEN GYALTSHEN 6
1210066 SANGAY NORBU 5
1210069 SANJU GIRI 6
1210070 SHERAB CHODEN 3
1210072 SONAM PELDON 6
1210074 SONAM PELDEN 4
1210075 SONAM ZAM 5
1210077 TASHI WANGMO 4
1210078 TILA SANYASI 1
1210079 TSHERING LHAMO 5
1210080 TSHERING YANGZOM TAMANG 5