Courses
Veterinary applied ethology
Animal hygiene and herd health
I. List and short description of the subjects
A. Veterinary applied ethology
Veterinary applied ethology is the branch of animal science, which on basis of description the innate behaviour of farm animals and pets, studies the behaviour of animals kept in intensive farming systems or (in case of companion animals) kept in the close vicinity of humans. It also studies the effects of housing, nutrition and attendants' care on the establishment of behavioural patterns. This subject also deals with the formation, prevention and treatment of abnormal behaviour (malbehaviour, ethostasis) and describes the aspects of animal
welfare with its complexity with the production environment. Veterinary
applied ethology sets foundation for Animal hygiene.
Year: 3rd
Semester: 6th
Lectures: 30 h
Credits: 4
Examination: oral at the end of the semester
Teaching staff: Prof. Dr. Pál Rafai and Dr. László Jakab
B. Animal
hygiene and herd health
Animal hygiene is the branch of the veterinary science, which relying on knowledge of physiological and ethological demands of animals, describes the preconditions of health preservation and investigates the pathophysiological changes brought about by adverse environmental effects in order to gain information on the aetiology and pathomechanism of multifactorial diseases. On this basis, animal hygiene systematise the preventive veterinary measures with special reference to their economic consequences. Animal hygiene deals primarily with herds and health protection of the herds, therefore the subject is more or less equivalent to the subject "herd health" taught in number of the veterinary colleges of the western hemisphere.
In the 8 lectures given by the staff of Department of Animal Hygiene,
Herd Health and Veterinary Ethology the undergraduates are instructed on
the ethical liabilities of veterinarians. Beside, a survey is given on
the existent animal welfare acts of EU countries with which the
Hungarian Animal Welfare Act is in full harmony. The Hungarian act is
discussed at length (including e.g. welfare rules of keeping calves,
pigs, minimum requests of keeping laying hens, rules of plucking and
force feeding, veterinary interventions permitted with no anaesthesia
etc.). Two times two lectures are devoted to rules of humane slaughter
and transport of animals.
In the teaching curriculum of Animal hygiene 4 h lectures are
devoted to describe the aerial emissions from livestock systems with
special emphasis on the opportunities of reduction. The rest 10 lectures
deal with waste management of livestock operations, including handling
and treatment of high risk materials, classification and further
treatment of rendering materials, and methods of manure handling.
Special reference is paid to public health aspects and sustainability of
animal agriculture. Discussion of these items is in full harmony with
the relevant EU regulations, decisions and directives.
Animal hygiene is an interdisciplinary science that lay bridge over animal husbandry and veterinary medicine. Its curriculum involves the management and nutrition technologies of farm animals. The discipline also describes the multilateral effects of housing and nutrition on the health, on the inherited behavioural characteristics of farm and companion animals, on economy of their production and on the rural environment. Based on these knowledge veterinary undergraduates will be trained to become able for critical analysis of housing systems and nutritional regimes, for understanding the aetiology of management related diseases prevailing at herd level, for the application of methods of herd health management in order to prevent and control of multifactorial diseases of high economic consequences.
Beyond teaching theoretical and practical knowledge of the discipline efforts are made to implement three goals. First of all we try to form an approach by which the veterinary practitioner becomes able to analyse the production decline, abnormal behaviour and animal diseases in their complex interactions with the environment. We also intend to prepare our undergraduates for the analysis of the economic consequences of their preventive and curative measures. And last but not least, in harmony with other disciplines we regard important to teach our students to esteem and acknowledge the work of experts of other branch of agricultural science.
It is seen from the foregoing that the teaching curriculum of Animal
hygiene embraces Animal protection and welfare; environmental
protection and Preventive veterinary medicine.
Theoretical and practical knowledge of animal hygiene is based on animal physiology, husbandry, nutrition, microbiology and immunology. At the same time it contributes to the better understanding of epizootology, state veterinary medicine and food inspection.
Students will be provided with the summary of each lessons and kindly advised to use the suggested literature that may be found at the Central Library and in the library of the Department.
Year: 4th, 5th
Semester: 8th, 9th
Lectures: 68 h
Practicals: 8 plenary practicals
Credits: 4
Examination: oral at the end of the 9th semester
Teaching staff: Prof. Dr. Pál Rafai, Dr. Endre Brydl, Dr. László
Jakab
II. List and description of the extramural practicals
In the 8th and 9th semesters the department provides a
one-day extramural farm visit to large-scale dairy farms to study different
aspects of bovine herd health. The practical work focuses on the main
health and production problems. Participation is obligatory for all
students. The list of the visits is
here. Students may also join to the advisory activity of the staff
in large-scale pig and poultry farms on optional basis.
Admission of students
Successful exam in veterinary applied ethology is the prerequisite of admission to animal hygiene.
