Commercial Small Stock Farming Course

Description

Why take a commercial small stock farming course?

Running small stock commercially means choosing the right production system for your land, your market, and your management capacity — and that’s exactly what this commercial small stock farming course is built to teach. Because feeding and breeding decisions are so closely linked, the course covers both grazing/browsing and zero-grazing systems in full, so that you can farm with a clear strategy rather than by default.

Two small stock production systems, covered in full

• Grazing and browsing systems — working with the veld, seasonal feed availability, and lower input costs
• Zero-grazing (intensive feeding) systems — controlled feeding for faster, more predictable production

Why intensive small stock feeding demands intensive breeding

However, feeding small stock intensively costs money — and the course makes clear that this only makes economic sense if your breeding programme keeps pace. You’ll learn why moving to zero-grazing means you also need to intensify your breeding management, so your reproductive output justifies the higher feed input costs. Get this balance wrong, and intensive feeding becomes a cost you can’t recover.

24-week course outline

Topic 1 — Reproduction and Breeding (Weeks 1–7)

Week 1 — Reproduction:

Info about class organization · Male & Female Reproductive System

Week 2 — Reproduction:

The effect of hormones on reproduction · Manipulating them for oestrus synchronization, AI, and egg transplantation

Week 3 — Reproduction:

Heat spotting and management aids · Pregnancy scanning

Week 4 — Breeding:

Common breeds used in commercial production · Cross-breeding and hybrid vigour

Week 5 — Breeding:

Extensive farming with the seasons · Intensive breeding for intensive feeding situations

Week 6 — Breeding:

Selection and culling of breeding stock · Physical evaluation

Week 7 — Breeding:

Genotype vs phenotype · Heritability of the most important production traits

Topic 2 — Welfare, Health, Handling & Diseases (Weeks 8–15)

Week 8:

The 5 duties of care in animal welfare · Temperature management strategies · Stocking rates in grazing/browsing situations · Using stocking rates to control invasive species/weeds

Week 9:

Space requirements in feedlots/zero-grazing situations · Trough space · Design principles of intensive stocking facilities

Week 10 — Health & Diseases:

Internal parasite control · Resistance to oral drenches · Biological control methods · Signs & symptoms, prevention & control · New technologies

Week 11 — Health & Diseases:

External parasite control · “Blocking” and natural immunity building · Signs, symptoms, post-mortem, and what to look for

Week 12 — Health & Diseases:

Vaccinations & immunity theory · Zoonotic diseases affecting reproduction · Notifiable diseases · Common routinely vaccinated-for diseases

Week 13 — Health & Diseases:

Metabolic disorders · Poison plants

Week 14 — Handling & Stockmanship:

Routine husbandry procedures

Week 15 — Handling & Stockmanship:

Herd dynamics · Low-stress handling and moving of livestock

Topic 3 — Nutrition, Digestion, Feeds & Feeding (Weeks 16–21)

Week 16 — Digestion (The Ruminant Digestive System):

Why do ruminants have 4 stomachs? · Organs and functions

Week 17 — Nutrition & Digestion:

What nutrients does the body need? · What does each nutrient do in the body? · Where and how is each nutrient digested?

Week 18 — Nutrition & Digestion:

Energy digestion · Energy requirements of different classes of small stock

Week 19 — Nutrition & Digestion:

Protein digestion · Protein requirements of different classes of small stock · Supplementing protein (when, how, and pitfalls)

Week 20 — Feeds and Their Nutritional Value:

Nutritional values of some grasses and trees/bushes · Feed ingredients for supplementation or zero-grazing systems

Week 21 — Feeding Systems:

Basic ration balancing

Topic 4 — Managing the Breeding Flock & Marketing Offspring (Weeks 22–24)

Week 22 — Mating and Early/Mid Gestation:

Deciding when to lamb/kid · Natural mating season length variance between breeds · Preparation of rams/bucks for mating season · Fertility & STD check-ups · Use of “teasers” · Use of harnesses with crayon markers

Enroll today

Learn to run a commercial small stock operation that matches production system to economics — enroll in the course today.