(a) Define the following terms: hay silage. (b)(i) Name two types of pasture. (ii) State four advantages of establishing a grass-legume pasture. (iii) State...

Answer Details

(a) Definitions

Hay: Hay is grass or other forage (usually including legumes) that is cut while still green and dried to a low moisture content of about 15 to 20 percent so that it can be safely stored and fed to farm animals during the dry season or any period of feed scarcity.

Silage: Silage is green, succulent forage that is cut and preserved by fermentation under airtight (anaerobic) conditions in a silo, so that its nutritive and feeding value is retained for later use.

(b)(i) Two types of pasture

1. Natural (native) pasture.
2. Artificial (established or cultivated) pasture.

(b)(ii) Four advantages of establishing a grass-legume pasture

1. The legume fixes atmospheric nitrogen, which fertilises the soil and improves the growth of the grass.
2. It provides a balanced diet, the grass supplying energy (carbohydrate) and the legume supplying protein.
3. It gives a higher yield of more nutritious and more palatable herbage that is readily acceptable to livestock.
4. The dense cover protects the soil, reduces erosion and leaching, and prolongs the grazing season.

(b)(iii) Three advantages of rotational grazing

1. It allows grazed paddocks to rest, regenerate and regrow before they are grazed again.
2. It helps to control internal parasites, pests and diseases by breaking their life cycle.
3. It ensures even and efficient utilisation of the pasture and prevents overgrazing and soil compaction.

(c) The digestive tract of a hen

The digestive tract of a hen (fowl) is drawn and labelled below. Food passes from the beak through the oesophagus into the crop, where it is stored and softened. It then moves to the proventriculus (true stomach), where gastric juices act on it, and into the muscular gizzard, where it is ground with the aid of swallowed grit. The paste passes into the small intestine (duodenum, jejunum and ileum), where digestion is completed and nutrients are absorbed. The two caeca ferment fibre, and undigested matter passes through the large intestine (rectum) into the cloaca (vent), from which faeces and urine are voided together.