AD2PNW: Livestock Production, Nutrition and Welfare

Module code: AD2PNW

Module provider: School of Agriculture, Policy and Development

Credits: 20

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Professor Christopher Reynolds, email: c.k.reynolds@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Dr Caroline Rymer, email: c.rymer@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 20 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

Livestock production accounts for over half of UK Agriculture income, highlighting its importance in the food production chain. Consumers require that their food is of high quality, but low-cost, and produced in an ethical and sustainable way. In this module, you will develop a detailed understanding of underlying factors that will ultimately influence the management of food producing animals. This module, through a series of lectures and farm visits, will explore a range of livestock production systems (dairy and beef cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry), and investigate how nutrition and management interact with welfare and other factors to determine the long-term sustainability of animal production.  

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Describe, discuss and evaluate the principles of managing and feeding ruminant animals (dairy cattle, beef cattle and sheep)
2. Describe, discuss and evaluate the principles of managing and feeding non-ruminant animals (pigs and poultry)
3. Discuss and evaluate factors affecting the sustainability of livestock production systems, including their impact on the welfare of farmed animals

Module content

The module topics include: 

• Calf and heifer rearing  
• Feeding dairy cows for milk yield and composition  
• Managing dairy cows throughout the lactation cycle  
• Factors affecting yield and quality of pig meat  
• Management and feeding of dry and lactating sows, weaned and finishing pigs  
• Factors affecting meat yield and quality from cattle and sheep.  
• Management and feeding of beef suckler herds and ewe flocks  
• Management and feeding of finishing beef cattle and lambs  
• Management, housing and feeding of poultry for breeding, egg and meat production  
• Mitigating environmental impacts of animal production systems, including land use change and sustainability of feed supply, reactive nitrogen emissions, greenhouse gasses, and eutrophication  
• Animal health and welfare considerations for animal production systems  

The primary focus is on UK livestock production, but systems of production used in the UK are compared with systems used in other countries throughout the module and sustainability issues introduced are of global importance. 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

There will be a series of weekly lectures and guided reading/study tasks, supported by study visits to livestock enterprises.  

Study hours

At least 44 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Discussions in class and quizzes on Blackboard will provide the basis of formative work.  

Reassessment

Additional costs