2.1 Breeds of Livestock

• The meaning of a breed
• Classification of breeds by use
• Breeds of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and rabbits
• Distinguishing breeds by their characteristics
• Comparative productivity of breeds

• describe breeds of livestock based on their uses
• distinguish common livestock breeds based on their characteristics
• appreciate the diversity of productivity from different livestock breeds

“How do livestock breeds affect the productivity of animals?”

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1. Breeds of livestock and their uses
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   What a breed is, how breeds are classified by use, the main breeds of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and rabbits, and how breed choice affects productivity.
2. Dairy cattle breeds in Kenya
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   How to recognise a dairy body, the four exotic dairy breeds kept in Kenyan highlands, and why litres collapse without feed, shade and a milk market.
3. Beef cattle breeds in Kenya
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   The blocky beef body, exotic meat breeds, and the Boran as Kenya's hardy ranch animal.
4. Indigenous and dual-purpose cattle
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Zebu type, the Sahiwal as a dual-purpose animal, and why Kenyan smallholders cross Friesian with hardy blood.
5. Sheep breeds: meat, wool and dual-purpose
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Dorper and Red Maasai as Kenyan meat sheep, Merino for wool, Corriedale for both, and why hair and fat-tailed types fit ASAL.
6. Goat breeds: dairy, meat and hardy local types
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Toggenburg, Saanen and Alpine as dairy goats; Boer and Galla as meat goats; the Small East African goat and KDPG on Kenyan farms.
7. Pig breeds kept for meat in Kenya
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Large White, Landrace, Hampshire and Duroc as meat pigs, how to tell ears and belts apart, and why pigs belong in cool, well-fed counties, not ASAL rangelands.
8. Rabbit breeds for meat and fur
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   New Zealand White, California, Flemish Giant and Chinchilla: how to tell them apart and how peri-urban Kenyan units use them.
9. Distinguishing breeds in the field
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   A six-point observation checklist - body shape, colour, size, horns, ears or hump, and known productivity - used on Kenyan animals and crosses.
10. Comparative productivity and choosing a breed
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    How breeds set the ceiling of yield, how to choose by purpose, place, feed and market, and when a hardy lower-yielder is the more productive animal.