UPSC Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science Syllabus

Candidates preparing for the UPSC main exam should carefully check the syllabus of the compulsory papers as well as optional papers. Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science is of the optional subjects that the candidates will be required to select while applying for the main exam. Those with relevant background can select this paper as their paper VI and Paper VII during the UPSC main. It is important for such candidates to carefully check the UPSC Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science syllabus 2023. Preparation of this paper should be strictly done in accordance with this syllabus, as prescribed by the commission.

Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science Syllabus for UPSC

The syllabus of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science comprises of two papers- Paper I and Paper II. Details of the syllabus for both these papers are provided below. Candidates must no leave any topic while preparing for the exam as all the topics are equally important for scoring good marks.

Syllabus for Paper I

  1. Animal Nutrition:
  • Latest advances in protein nutrition, Energy protein inter-relationships, Evaluation of protein quality, Use of NPN compounds in ruminant diets, etc
  • Direct and indirect calorimetry, Carbon-nitrogen balance and comparative slaughter methods, Partitioning of food energy within the animal, etc
  • Major and trace minerals- Their sources, physiological functions and deficiency symptoms, Toxic minerals, Mineral interactions, etc
  • Feed additives, methane inhibitors, enzymes, antibiotics, hormones, antioxidants, emulsifiers, mould inhibitors, buffers etc
  • Conservation of fodders, Anti-nutritional and toxic factors present in livestock feeds, Storage of feeds and feed ingredients, etc
  • Strategies for feeding milch animals during different stages of lactation cycle, Balanced rations, Advances in ruminant nutrition, etc
  • Poultry nutrition, Special features of poultry nutrition, Nutrient requirements for meat and egg production, etc
  • Swine Nutrition, Nutrient requirements, Creep, starter, grower and finisher rations, feeding of pigs for lean meat production, Low cost rations for swine, etc
  1. Animal Physiology:
  • Blood constituents, Properties and functions-blood cell formation, coagulation of blood, Hemoglobin synthesis and chemistry-plasma proteins production, classification and properties, Hemorrhagic disorders, etc
  • Physiology of blood and its circulation, respiration, excretion, Endocrine glands in health and disease, etc
  • Excretion, Structure and function of kidney-formation of urine-methods of studying renal function-renal regulation of acid-base balance, etc
  • Circulation, Physiology of heart, cardiac cycle, heart sounds, heartbeat, electrocardiograms, Work and efficiency of heart, etc
  • Respiration, Mechanism of respiration, Transport and exchange of gases-neural control of respiration, etc
  • Environmental Physiology, Physiological relations and their regulation, environmental factors and regulatory mechanisms involved in animal behaviour, etc
  • Growth and Animal Production, Prenatal and postnatal growth, maturation, growth curves, measures of growth, factors affecting growth, etc
  • Endocrine glands, Functional disorders- their symptoms and diagnosis, Synthesis of hormones, mechanism and control of secretion, etc
  • Physiology of Milk Production, Reproduction and Digestion, Current status of hormonal control of mammary development, etc
  1. Animal Reproduction:

Semen quality, Preservation and Artificial Insemination, Components of semen, composition of spermatozoa, chemical and physical properties of ejaculated semen, factors affecting semen in vivo and in vitro, Factors affecting semen production and quality, preservation, composition of diluents, sperm concentration, etc

  1. Livestock Production and Management:
  • Commercial Dairy Farming, Comparison of dairy farming in India with advanced countries, Dairying under mixed farming and as specialized farming, economic dairy farming, Starting of a dairy farm, Capital and land requirement, etc
  • Commercial meat, egg and wool production, Development of practical and economic rations for sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits and poultry, Supply of greens, fodder, feeding regimes for young and mature stock, etc
  • Feeding and management of animals under drought, flood and other natural calamities
  1. Genetics and Animal Breeding:
  • History of animal genetics, Mitosis and Meiosis: Mendelian inheritance, Mendelian genetics, deviations to Expression of genes, Linkage and crossing over, Sex determination, sex influenced and sex limited characters, etc
  • Breeding Systems, Breeds of livestock and Poultry, Heritability, repeatability and genetic and phenotypic correlations, their methods of estimation and precision of estimates, Aids to selection and their relative merits, etc
  • Population Genetics applied to Animal Breeding, Quantitative Vs Qualitative traits, Hardy Weinberg Law, Population Vs, Individual, Gene and genotypic frequency, Forces changing gene frequency, Random drift and small populations, etc
  1. Extension:

Basic philosophy, objectives, concept and principles of extension, Different Methods adopted to educate farmers under rural conditions, Generation of technology, its transfer and feedback, Problems and constraints in transfer of technology, etc

Syllabus for Paper II

  1. Anatomy, Pharmacology and Hygiene:
  • Bovine Anatomy,—Regional Anatomy: Paranasal sinuses of Ox, surface anatomy of salivary glands, Regional anatomy of infraorbital, maxillary, etc
  • Histology and Histological Techniques: Paraffin embedding technique of tissue processing and HE staining, Freezing microtomy, etc
  • Embryology, Embryology of vertebrates with special reference to aves and domestic mammals, etc
  • Veterinary Hygiene with reference to water, air and habitation, Assessment of pollution of water, air and soil, Importance of climate in animal health, etc
  • Anatomy of Fowl, Musculo-skeletal system-functional anatomy in relation to respiration and flying, digestion and egg production
  • Pharmacology and therapeutic drugs, Cellular level of pharmaco-dynamics and pharmacokinetics, Drugs acting on fluids and electrolyte balance, Drugs acting on Autonomic nervous system, etc
  1. Animal Diseases:
  • Etiology, epidemiology pathogenesis, symptoms, post-mortem lesions, diagnosis, and control of infectious diseases of cattle, sheep and goat, horses, pigs and poultry
  • Etiology, epidemiology, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment of production diseases of cattle, horse, pig and poultry
  • Deficiency diseases of domestic animals and birds
  • Diagnosis and treatment of non-specific conditions like impaction, Bloat, Diarrhea, Indigestion, dehydration, stroke, poisoning
  • Diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders
  • Principles and methods of immunization of animals against specific diseases, hard immunity, disease free zones, ‘zero’ disease concept, chemoprophylaxis
  • Disease investigation techniques, Materials for laboratory investigation, Establishment, Animal Health Centers, Disease free zone, etc
  1. Veterinary Public Health:
  • Zoonoses, Classification, definition, role of animals and birds in prevalence and transmission of zoonotic diseases—occupational zoonotic diseases
  • Epidemiology, Principle, definition of epidemiological terms, application of epidemiological measures in the study of diseases and disease control, Epidemiological features of air, water and food borne infections, etc
  • Veterinary Jurisprudence, Rules and Regulations for improvement of animal quality and prevention of animal diseases, State and Central Rules for prevention of animal and animal product borne diseases, SPCA, etc
  1. Milk and Milk Products Technology:
  • Quality, testing and grading of raw milk, Processing, packaging, storing, distribution, marketing defects and their control, Preparation of Pasteurized, standardized, toned, double toned, sterilized, homogenized, reconstituted, recombined and flavoured milks, etc
  • Milk Products Technology, Selection of raw materials, processing, storing, distributing and marketing milk products such as Cream, Butter, Ghee, Khoa, Channa, Ice-cream and Kulfi, by-products, whey products, butter milk, lactose and casein, etc
  1. Meat Hygiene and Technology:
  • Meat Hygiene: Ante mortem care and management of food animals, stunning, slaughter and dressing operations, abattoir requirements and designs, Meat inspection procedures and judgment of carcass meat cuts, etc
  • Meat Technology: Physical and chemical characteristics of meat, Meat emulsions, Methods of preservation of meat, curing, etc
  • By-products, Slaughter house by-products and their utilization, Edible and inedible by products, Social and economic implications of proper utilization of slaughter house by-products, etc
  • Poultry Products Technology, Chemical composition and nutritive value of poultry meat, pre- slaughter care and management, Slaughtering techniques, etc
  • Rabbit/Fur Animal farming, Rabbit meat production, Disposal and utilization of fur and wool and recycling of waste by products, Grading of wool
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science

UPSC Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science Syllabus: PDF

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