Animal Husbandry

Animal Husbandry is one of the major industries within the City of Birdencaster. While the city does keep bees this will not be addressed in this article for beekeeping, take a look at the Beekeeping.

General Animal Husbandry

The Animals kept are Sheep, Cattle, Pigs, Turkeys and Deer. These are kept separately so that their feed and therefore diet are not accounted for. The animals are free-range apart from turkeys because of the attraction these animals have to predators. Animals that are kept free-range are in fenced areas so that they don't go too far as to wander onto the premises of either of the two power plants or into the woods if they are not allowed.

Feed

All animals require feed and have different requirements for such. The table below shows goes into detail about these requirements.

Animal’s Gender	The Amount of Feed
Sheep:	Mainly Grass, Leafy Plants and Hay
Females	4% of live weight per day which is around 1 kg of grass dry matter, increasing by 0.1 kg /week due to weight gain.
Males	Eat about 3% of body weight/day
Lambs	A rough idea is to divide the age of the lamb in weeks by 10 (over the range birth to weaning) to get lamb grass intake in kg/day.
Cattle:	Depends If They Are A Dairy Cow Or A Beef Cow
Dairy Cow	100 pounds (45.36 kg) of rations a day, made up of a balanced combination of forage, grain, mineral supplements and protein-rich feeds such as soybean meal. A quarter of a bail of hay.
Beef Cow	Fattening cattle are usually fed from 2.2 to 3.0 per cent of their live weight per day, depending on the number of concentrates in the ration and the rate at which they are being fattened. Such cattle gain from 2.2 to 3.0 pounds (1.0 to 1.4 kilograms) per day and require from 1.3 to 3.0 pounds (0.6 to 1.4 kilograms) of crude protein, according to their weight and stage of fattening.
Pigs:	Kitchen Scraps, Skim Milk and Apple Cider Vinegar
All Pigs	12lb (5.44kg) kitchen scraps, 6.82 litres of skim milk and dash of apple cider vinegar a day for each pig.
Turkeys:	Grass and Grain
Males	100 pounds (45.36 kg) of feed
Females	60 pounds (27.22 kg) of feed
Deer:	Natural Growths Of A Forest, They Will Almost Eat Anything And Grain
All Deer	12lb (5.44kg) Grain and Foraging

Water

Water is kept in troughs while these have water in them they have a ball valve enabling the war to replenish when required this is analogue so doesn’t require electricity to run on a bi-weekly basis it is checked to make sure it is still working properly and no repairs are needed. The table below shows water requirements for each animal for a day.

Animal’s Gender	Minimum	Maximum
Sheep
Female with Lamb	9 litres	10.5 litres
Pregnant Ewes or Males	4 litres	6.5 litres
Cattle
Cow with calf		50 litres
Dairy cow	68 litres	155 litres
Cows 1 - 2 years old	24 litres	50 litres
Males	3.79 litres per 100 pounds of body weight during cold weather	7.57 litres per 100 pounds (45.36 kg) of body during the hottest weather.
Pigs
Lactating Sow	18 litres	23 litres
Pregnant sow or Males	13 litres	18 litres
Fattening pig	3 litres	10 litres
Weaner	1 litres	3 litres
Turkeys
1 - 7 Weeks Old	38 ml	448 ml
8 - 14 Weeks Old	403 ml	1063 ml
15 - 21 Weeks Old	747 ml	1139 ml
Deer
All deer	1.89 litres per day per 100 pounds (45.36 kg) of body weight	2.83 litres per day per 100 pounds (45.36 kg) of body weight and 2.84 litres in summer.

Pastures

Animals need land, of course, to graze on. The table below shows a table of land requirements.

Animal	Land Requirements
Sheep:	A flock of 100 sheep can take 30 acres (0.12 Square Kilometres)
Cattle:	30 acres per cow or chaf 30 acres (0.12 Square Kilometres)
Pigs	8 square feet of space per pig (0.74 Square Metres)
Turkeys
0 - 8 Weeks	2.5 Square feet per Turkey (0.23 Square Metres)
9 - 16 Weeks	4 Square feet per Turkey (0.37 Square Metres)
17 - 20 Weeks	8 Square feet per Turkey (0.74 Square Metres)
20 Weeks to Market Weight	10 Square feet per Turkey (0.92 Square Metres)
Deer	25 acres of native woods or 5 acres of openings (re-growth) to support a single deer in good health. 58 deer per square mile (2.59 Square Kilometer)

Since multiple animals can be kept on a single plot of land the table below shows how many animals can be kept in a single square kilometre.

Animal	Area Needed (From The Table Above)	Animals per Square Kilometer
Sheep	100 per 0.12 Square Kilometre	833
Cattle	1 for every 0.12 Square Kilometre	8
Pig	1 for every 0.74 Square Metres	1.4 Million
Turkey
0 - 8 Weeks	1 for 0.23 Square Metres	4.4 Million
9 - 16 Weeks	1 for 0.37 Square Metres	2.8 Million
17 - 20 Weeks	1 for 0.74 Square Metres	1.4 Million
20 Weeks to Market Weight	1 for 0.92 Square Metres	1.1 Million

Market weight for a turkey is 18.1 kg |Animals Per Square Kilometer[/spoiler]

Shelter

All animals at night are kept in Barns at night, this is not the case for deer as they are kept in sheds

Castration and Slaughter

Some of the male animals are castrated to increase meat production. This is not the case for deer as if they are not castrated they will develop antlers, while they are tame to human beings and prefer to use their antlers, in the rutting season to get a female to mate with.
Once an animal reaches the required weight for slaughter (First Table) they will be slaughtered. As with sheep, cattle and deer, they produce non-meat products while alive. With Turkeys their down are used in pillows and cushions etc as part of the slaughtering process.
Sheep produce wool, Cows milk, Pigs produce a whole range of products (Second Table) and deer antlers when alive.

Animal	Neutering Age (If Applicable)	Slaughter Weight
Sheep	Over three months of age [C1]	18 kg - 19.4 kg [S1]
Cattle	Over 2 months of age without an anaesthetic [C2]	215.42 kg - 281.63 kg[S2]
Pigs	2 - 3 weeks of age.[C3]	120.18 kg [S3]
Turkeys	6 Months[C3]	16 kg - 22 kg for males and 9 kg - 11 kg for females[S4]
Deer	Not Applicable as deer don't produce antlers if Neutered	89.8 kg - 109.75 kg [S5]

Chemical
Adhesives
Floor waxes
Glue
Biofuel
Fabric softener
Antifreeze
Shaving creams
Soaps
Make-up
Food Items
Shampoos
Face masks
As a thickener for fruit gelatins and puddings
Gelatin sweets
Marshmallows
Ice cream
Chewing gum
Baked Goods
Materials
Insulation
Concrete
Wine corks
Rubber
Suede for shoes and clothing
Medical
Insulin
Valves for heart surgery
X-ray film
Drug capsules
Musical
Tamborine skins
Tools
Paintbrushes
Crayons
Chalk
Water Filters

The Cultural Significance Of Animals

Sheep and Cattle

As with Pigs, they are not celebrated when slaughtered but their products are welcomed by the community such as their wool and milk. Wool is made into items needed for winter etc.

Pigs

Pigs are favoured for their bacon and meat, there is no celebration when they are slaughtered.
It is rumoured that the pig farmers are part of the mafia of Birdencaster. As the victims who have been killed will have their gruesome remains feed to the pigs. To get rid of the evidence.

Turkeys

While Turkeys aren’t eaten on a regular basis and would be considered odd to eat roast turkey on a day that is not about celebration such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, they are not eaten on the Great Day of Celebration.

Deer

When a deer is slaughtered it is a cause for celebration as the deer regenerates its antlers and was once a sprightly animal before becoming fully domesticated by humans. The venison is only eaten on a Great Day of Celebration as part of the meal containing pasta, if there are leftovers then it is permissible to eat the leftovers on a Friday onwards.
The Antlers are used in making more decorative buttons, knife handles, anything that is small and should be decorative as well as grinding small offcuts of the antler for the purpose of bone meal fertilizer.
The tips of the antler are often made into a necklace as a status symbol of the important connection they have with the deer.

Article Contents

References

Show References

Water
Water Delivery Device -
The valve
Sheep, Cattle and Pigs -
Water Required for Sheep, Cattle and Pigs, among other animals.
Cattle -
Water Requirements for Cattle.
Turkeys -
Water Requirements for Turkeys
Deer -
Placement of water for Deer
Water Requirements for Deer

Feed
Pigs and Cattle -
What 355 Farm Animals Eat in a Day
Sheep -
fas.com
cloverworksfarm.com
sheep101.com
Cattle -
dairydiscoveryzone.com
britanica.com
Turkeys -
treehugger.com
Deer -
How Much Food Does a Deer Need in a Day?

Pasture
Sheep -
animals.mom.com
Cattle -
Stocking Rates - How Many Cows per Acre
Pigs -
extension.psu.edu
Turkey -
canr.msu.edu
Deer -
northamericanwhitetail.com

Shelter
Wikipedia Article on Barns
Pigs -
mnfarmliving.com
Deer -
Google Image search

Slaughter
Why we castrate animals
Sheep -
[S1] statista.com
[C1] adlib.everysite.co.uk
Cattle -
[S2] beefmagazine.com
[C2] nadis.org.uk
Pigs -
[S3] iamcountryside.com
[C3] britishkunekunesociety.org.uk
Turkeys -
[S4] mdpi.com
[C4] avianstudios.com
Deer -
[S5] deernz.org

General
Sheep -
Wikipedia Article
Slaughter Weight of Sheep
[1a] indiefarmer.com
Cattle -
Wikipedia Article
Slaughter Weight of Cows
Pigs -
Wikipedia Article
Slaughter Weight of Pigs
[3a]accidentalsmallholder.net
Pig Products -
QI Video
animalsmart.org
Gelatin uses - peta.org
Pig Farmers being rumoured as being part of the mafia, was given as an idea by a Writer Greg Stream on Twitch.

Turkey -
Wikipedia Article
Slaughter Weight of Turkeys
Deer -
Wikipedia Article
Wikipedia Article
Slaughter Weight of Deer
Miscellaneous -
Wikipedia Article on Bones
Uses for Antlers

Acknowledgements

Danthenoodleman‌
Twitch

WriterGreg
Twitch
WriterGreg’s Website
WriterGreg First Draft - Twitch VOD Replay Channel
WriterGreg - Primary Channel
WriterGreg’s World Anvil Author Page