Farm Animal Behaviour - Diploma

As this course covers such a large subject there are more modules than normal, module 1 and any five further modules are required for a diploma to be issued. It is designed to be helpful to the farming community as well as those who may be considering taking up a smallholding or even keeping domesticated animals for their own enjoyment.

Course Modules

• Introduction to Farm Animals
• Domestication of Farm Animals
• Intense Farming
• Evolution of Behaviour and Learning
• Effects of domestication on farm animals
• Body systems and the senses
• The nervous system
• The endocrine system
• The senses: sight, Smell, Hearing, Touch and Taste
• Stereotypic Behaviour

• The Bovidae family
• The Chillingham Herd of Cattle
• Natural Cattle Behaviour
• The Digestive System of Cattle - how rumination works
• Sexual behaviour and mating
• Parturition
• Nursing
• Play Behaviour
• Sleep and Rest
• Grooming
• Behaviour of the Dairy and Meat Herd
• The dairy cow
• Table of some comparisons between a wild cow and a domestic cow
• Beef cattle
• Diseases and disorders of domestic cattle
• Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB)

• Introduction to the rest of the Bovidae family
• Sheep
• Wild relatives of the Sheep
• Seasonal cycles of behaviour
• Social organization and communication
• Grazing behaviour, feeding and drinking
• Cud chewing and rumination
• Sheltering behaviour
• Camping behaviour
• Reproduction
• Mating
• Parturition
• Care of the lamb
• Diseases
• Blue Tongue Disease
• Goats
• Domestic Goats
• Keeping Goats
• Wild relatives of the domestic goat
• The Mountain Goat
• The Tahr
• Chamois
• Social organization
• Communication
• Feeding behaviour
• Mating behaviour
• Parturition and kid care
• Diseases

• The Suidae family
• The pig industry pyramid
• Wild relatives
• A pig's senses
• Social organisation
• Huddling behaviour
• Wallowing
• Feeding behaviour
• Courtship behaviour
• Parturition
• Care of the piglets
• Diseases of the pig

• The Equidae family
• History of horses
• Horses today
• Anatomy of the horse
• Wild relatives
• History of the Working Horse
• Horses as a food source
• Feeding and grazing behaviour
• Elimination
• Herd behaviour
• Grooming
• Rest and sleep
• Communication
• Other horse sounds and what they mean
• Reproduction
• Parturition
• Foal behaviour
• Equine diseases and disorders
• Contagious Equine Metritis
• Tetanus

• Introduction to Gamebirds and Waterfowls
• Chickens
• Sexual behaviour
• Care of offspring
• Abnormal behaviour
• Turkeys
• Ducks
• Geese
• Gamebirds
• Game Act 1831
• Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
• Quail
• Pheasant
• Partridge
• Grouse

• Introduction to Fish farming
• Commercial fishing
• Why do we farm fish?
• Types of fish farm
• Extensive pond aquaculture
• Intensive closed circulation aquaculture
• Cage systems
• Fry farming
• The organic fish farm
• Halibut
• Atlantic Cod
• Atlantic Salmon
• Barramundi - the alternative to cod?
• Trout
• Brown Trout
• Shellfish farming
• Is it a prawn or a shrimp?
• Shrimp farming
• Prawns
• Oysters

• Introduction to Exotics
• Ostrich
• Ostrich farming
• Deer
• Red Deer
• Fallow Deer
• Farming Red and Fallow Deer
• Grazing Behaviour
• Sexual Behaviour
• Rearing the young
• Wild Boar
• Reproduction
• Llamas
• Reproduction
• Communication
• Bee keeping
• Bee hierarchy
• Mating Behaviour
• Swarming Behaviour
• Supersedure