Livestock Health and Production
Syllabuses
Compulsory c ore courses
Animal disease (Current concepts) [Course code 667 0001]
This course will enable the student to
appreciate the external and internal
components of health, agents of
disease and how animals respond to
them, at an individual and population level. Subject areas: immunology;
parasitology; microbiology; introduction
to veterinary epidemiology; principles
of veterinary pathology.
Developing and monitoring of
livestock production systems [Course code 667 0003]
This course will adopt a farming systems approach to permit the student to place livestock production within the context of the utilisation of resources. This will allow a critical consideration of appropriate husbandry for different animals in diverse environmental and socio-economic conditions. Subject areas: An introduction to farming systems; Details of major livestock production systems; Developing and monitoring of functioning livestock systems with farmers, including organic farming; Environmental, welfare and breeding issues in sustainable livestock husbandry.
Principles of livestock production [Course code 667 0002]
This course will enable the student to
understand how feeding, breeding,
management and interaction with
the environment influence animal
production and disease. Subject
areas: general principles of nutrition;
specialised areas of nutrition (students
will select three of the following
options which must include at least
one ruminant and one non-ruminant
choice: feeding dairy cows; feeding
dual-purpose, beef and draught cattle;
feeding sheep and goats; pig nutrition;
poultry nutrition; nutrition of horses,
camelids and rabbits. In all the above
cases, consideration will be given to
the different resources available in
temperate and tropical/subtropical
regions); environmental studies,
including climatic effects and housing;
genetics; the physiology of growth and
lactation; the relevance of reproduction to livestock production.
Optional courses
Animal welfare [Course code 667 0016]
This course will provide a comprehensive appreciation of welfare and ethical issues connected with farm animal practice, animal breeding, transport and slaughter, companion animals, laboratory animals, animals used in competition and wildlife. Subject areas: An introduction to veterinary ethics; the physiology of pain, distress, fear and anxiety; the effects of genetics on animal welfare; welfare issues in animal husbandry systems; transport and slaughter; and specific welfare issues in companion, farmed, laboratory, wild and competitive animals.
Epidemiology and animal health economics [Course code 667 0004]
This course will enable students to understand the role of epidemiology and economics in the design
and delivery of effective veterinary services aimed at improved animal health and productivity. Subject
areas: introduction to statistics; introduction to veterinary epidemiology – basic principles,
descriptive epidemiology, study design, sampling, quantitative aspects of diagnostic testing; animal
health economics – principles, partial budgets, decision tree analysis, cost-benefit ratio, economics
and project planning.
Economics for livestock
development and policy [Course code 667 0011]
The objectives of this course are to stimulate awareness of the socio-economic, political and environmental issues that will affect future livestock development and to provide the tools to analyse the issues confronting producers, their advisers, planners and policy makers. Subject areas: Basic concepts of the economics of livestock production; Extensive, medium intensity and intensive systems of livestock production; Marketing and policy; Further economics for the analysis of livestock development; Tools for livestock economists.
Management of infectious disease outbreaks in animal
populations
[Course code 667 0017]
This course is designed to teach both the theoretical and practical information required for the management of a major infectious disease outbreak of farm
animals. Topics will include
epidemiology of infectious viral
diseases, risk and cost-benefit analysis, surveillance, diagnosis and vaccination
strategies before and during an outbreak, contingency planning and
case studies to illustrate how disease outbreaks could be better managed.
Reproduction and fertility — a species approach [Course code 667 0009]
This course will enable students to gain a comprehensive insight into the physiology of reproduction
and the management and manipulation of fertility to optimise animal productivity. Subject areas: general
principles of reproduction; introduction to reproductive anatomy and physiology; control of breeding;
fertilisation, conception and pregnancy; reproductive disorders and disease; embryo transfer and assisted
reproduction; reproduction management. Students will be required to specialise in three of the following:
cattle; small ruminants; pigs; camelids, rabbits and poultry; equids.
Research design, management and grant application writing
[Course code 667 0014]
This course will enable students to
undertake a research project, with an
appropriate study design to validate
a hypothesis and analyse the data,
including the presentation of results
and writing a grant application. Subject
areas: introduction to scientific research
and how to formulate a hypothesis;
literature search, critical analysis of
papers and writing a scientific review;
experimental and statistical design in
project planning; project management;
preparing data for analysis – qualitative
data, quantitative data; statistical analysis
and analysing the validity of findings;
report writing, presentation of data and
writing a scientific paper; introduction
to grant application writing, planning the
project and budget; guidelines to writing a good grant proposal.
Sustainable livestock farming in the environment [Course code 667 0020]
This new course aims to provide an understanding of the threats presented by changes in the environment on livestock production and wildlife population, and explains the ways in which global and regional environmental change can impact on sustainability of farming systems, conservation of ecosystems and animal health. It will outline approaches that can used to minimize unwanted environmental impacts of modern farming and land use systems, as well as consider the values academics, researchers, veterinarians and livestock specialists attach to the environment and to conservation issues. The course will also guide students in the approach they take in future when considering animal–environment interactions.
Veterinary public health [Course code 667 0006]
The course will examine the role of veterinarians and other related professionals in the protection
of human health through the safe production of foods of animal origin, control of zoonotic disease and
environmental contamination. Subject areas: disease surveillance and risk analysis; zoonoses and their
control; disseminating information on veterinary public health; quality and safety assurance in food
production (meat, milk and eggs); development of disease control programmes.
Research project in livestock health and production [Course code 667 0200]
The research project is an optional component and it is strongly recommended that you complete the optional course Research design, management and grant application writing before undertaking a research project as part of your MSc. In choosing to carry out a research project you take the opportunity to conduct an investigation on a subject of your own choice, within the topics of the MSc. This option will provide an important, qualitatively different addition to your academic experience as a postgraduate student.
The overall objectives of the project are:
- to introduce you to methods of scientific investigation
- to train you in the critical evaluation of the scientific literature
- to enable you to acquire experience in the preparation of a scientific report.
Please email DLP@rvc.ac.uk if you have any specific enquiries with regard to this optional course.