2020-2021 / ANIM0017-1

Biotechnology aspects of livestock systems

Duration

33h Th, 3h FT

Number of credits

 Master in agricultural bioengineering (120 ECTS)4 crédits 

Lecturer

Yves Beckers, Jérôme Bindelle, Nadia Everaert, Nicolas Gengler, Martine Schroyen

Coordinator

Nadia Everaert

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

BEEF CATTLE Global considerations Organisation, stakeholders and prosepctives Technical itinerary of the Belgian WHite and Bleu beef
PIG AND POULTRY PRODUCTION Rearing techniques
Comparison of different rearing systems
The accent lies on the visits that should give an idea on the advantages and disadvantages of each rearing system.

STUDY OF HERD DYNAMICS Why are herd dynamics important? Systems approach to livestock production Manage the complexity arising from the dynamics of the organic system combined with the natural and socio-economic environment and farmer decision making understand how the herd functions as a system

VISITS OF FARMS, SEMINARS

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

In depth study of beef cattle, swine and poutlry production systems and their diversity, meat quality. At the end of this course, the student will be able to undersatnd, criticize and possibly solve common problems related to monogastrics and beef cattle production and the quality of their products.
This course contributes to the acquisition of the following skills:


  • Assess qualitatively and quantitatively the internal components of a livetsock system
  • Evaluate the impact of external components, taken individually, on an agronomic system within its sector
  • Apply an optimization strategy to a component of a known system
  • Evaluate the impact of each stage of an existing technical route on the characteristics of the expected deliverables
  • Design or identify integrated solutions in response to demand in the field of agronomic sciences

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

 BIOL2011-1 Comparative animal anatomy and physiology
BIOL2018-1 Animal nutrition

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

STUDY OF HERD DYNAMICS

After an introductory session, students will work in groups to model the dynamics of a beef, dairy or swine herd according to the proposed tours. They will develop the flow chart and equations showing the dynamics of the herds under consideration and will prepare a spreadsheet on excel that models this.
Then, the groups will take advantage of the visits to collect crucial data on the farm in order to run their model on the farm under consideration. They will look for missing elements in the literature and courses taught by other teachers and finally will apply their models in scenarios to prepare a report on the visited farm including suggestions to improve farm management.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face lectures Seminars Field trips and farm visits: the presence of the students is mandatory
A part of the course is taught in English

Organisational adjustments related to the current health context

The students can follow the course on collaborate.
A recording of these collaborate lectures is put available on ecampus.

Recommended or required readings

- Commercial chicken meat and egg production (by D.D. Bell) - Muscle development of livestock animals: physiology, genetics and meat quality (by te Pas & al) - Principles of pig science, 1994, ed. by V.D.J.A. Cole, J. Wiseman, M.A. Varley, J.P. Chadwick; Nottingham University Press, 472 p. - Progress in pig science, 1998, ed. by J. Wiseman, M.A. Varley, J.P. Chadwick; Nottingham University Press, 617 p. - Alimentation des animaux monogastriques, 1989 (2e ed), INRA, Paris, 282 p. - Memento de l'éleveur de porc, 2000, JTP, Paris, 374 p. - Weaning the pig, 2003, ed by J.R. Pluske, J. Le Dividich, M.W.A. Verstegen, Wageningen Academic Publishers, 432 p. - The poultry production guide, 2000, Ed. Naheeda Khan, Elsevier international. - La production de poulets de chair en climat chaud, 2003, ITAVI, Paris, 110 p. - Commercial chicken meat and egg production (by D.D. Bell) - Muscle development of livestock animals: physiology, genetics and meat quality (by te Pas & al) - Payne WJA, Wilson RT. 1999. An introduction to animal husbandry in the tropics. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Science. - Coulon JB, Lecomte P, Boval M, Perez JM (coord.). 2011. Elevage en régions chaudes. Numéro Spécial. INRA Productions animales. 24(1). http://www.inra.fr/productions-animales/spip.php?rubrique157

Assessment methods and criteria

Below you will find information on the evaluation methods planned for in-person and remote exams as well as those planned for hybrid sessions. Depending on how the health crisis evolves, the chosen method will be communicated to you no later than one month before the start of the exam session.

Any session :

- In-person

oral exam

- Remote

oral exam AND written work

- If evaluation in "hybrid"

preferred remote


Additional information:

PART on PIG and Poultry production:
The students are given an assessment, which will be evaluated.  
STUDY OF HERD DYNAMICS
Students will be evaluated based on the written report of their modelling exercice.

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

A part of the course is taught in english

Contacts

Nadia Everaert (nadia.everaert@ulg.ac.be, +32 81 62 24 48), Jérôme Bindelle (jerome.bindelle@ulg.ac.be, +32 81 62 26 09), Yves Beckers (yves.beckers@ulg.ac.be, +32 81 62 21 19), Nicolas Gengler (nicolas.gengler@ulg.ac.be, +32 81 62 22 06), Martine Schroyen (martine.schroyen@uliege.be)