UPSC Syllabus for Animal Husbandry Optional

UPSC Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science is another optional subject included in the syllabus of the UPSC Civil Service Mains Examination. Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science optional paper has two parts (Paper 1 and Paper 2). Paper 1 covers concepts related to animal nutrition, physiology, reproduction, livestock production and management, Genetics & animal breeding. The topics covered in Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science optional paper 2 include anatomy, pharmacology, hygiene, animal diseases, veterinary public health, milk products and technology associated with it, and meat hygiene & technology connected with it.  

Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science, one of the optional subjects in the UPSC Syllabus, is a popular choice among UPSC Civil service aspirants who come from the dairy/meat business, medicine or veterinary doctor background. The experts in the field opinion that the syllabus of this UPSC optional subject helps in securing high scores in the examination. In other words, it increases the possibility for the candidates to be shortlisted for the UPSC interview. 

UPSC Civil Service Mains: Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science Optional Syllabus – Paper I 

Each paper in this section carries 250 marks, which makes a total of 500 marks. The UPSC has issued a detailed syllabus for Paper I and Paper II on animal husbandry optional.

UPSC Syllabus for Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science Optional: Paper I

1.Animal Nutrition:

1.1 Division of food energy among animals

• Direct and indirect calorimetry
• Carbon – Nitrogen (C-N) Balance
• Comparative slaughter methods
• Structure for expressing energy values of food in ruminants, pigs and poultry
• Necessity of energy for maintenance, growth, pregnancy, lactation, egg, wool, and meat production.

1.2 Innovative advances in protein nutrition

• Inter-relationship of energy protein
• Examination of protein quality
• Utilisation of Non-Protein Nitrogen (NPN) compounds in the diet of ruminants.
• Essential proteins for maintenance, growth, lactation, egg, wool and meat production.

1.3 Major and trace minerals, their sources, physiological functions and deficiency symptoms.

• Toxic minerals
• Interactions of minerals
• Function of fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins in the body, their sources and deficiency symptoms

1.4 Feed Activities

• Methane inhibitors, Probiotics, Enzymes, antibiotics, hormones, oligosaccharides, antioxidants, emulsifiers, mould inhibitors, buffers and so forth.
• Utilisation and misuse of growth promoters like hormones and antibiotics (novel concept)

1.5 Fodder Conservation

• Feed storage and ingredients of feed
• Latest developments in feed technology and feed processing
• Anti-nutritional and toxic elements existing in livestock feeds
• Feed analysis and quality control
• Digestibility Trails (direct, indirect and indicator methods)
• Speculating feed intake in grazing animals

1.6 Developments in ruminant nutrition

• Requirement of nutrients
• Balanced rations
• Feeding of calves, pregnant, work animals and breeding bulls
• Techniques for feeding milch animals in various stages of the lactation cycle
• Effects of feeding on the composition of milk
• Feeding of goats for meat and production of milk
• Feeding of sheep for meat and production of wool

1.7 Swine Nutrition

• Essential nutrient
• Creeper, starter. Grower and finisher rations
• Feeding of pigs for the production of lean meat
• Low-cost rations for swine

1.8 Poultry Nutrition

• Special features of poultry nutrition
• Essential nutrients for the production of meat and egg
• Conceptualisation of rations for different classes of layer and broilers

2. Animal Physiology:

2.1 Physiology of blood and its circulation, respiration and excretion

• Endocrine glands in health and disease

2.2 Constituents of Blood

• Properties and functions in Blood cell formation
• Haemoglobin synthesis and chemistry
• Production of plasma proteins
• Categorisation and characters
• Coagulation of blood
• Haemorrhagic disorders
• Anticoagulants (Blood)
• Blood groups
• Volume of plasma expanders
• Buffer systems in blood
• Biomedical tests and their importance in diagnosing disease

2.3 Circulation

• Physiology of heart, cardiac cycle, heart sounds, heartbeat, electrocardiograms
• Work and efficiency of the heart
• Effects of ions on heart function
• Metabolism of cardiac muscle, nervous and chemical regulation of heart
• Effects of temperature and stress on the heart 
• Blood pressure and Hypertension
• Osmotic regulation
• Arterial pulse
• Vasomotor regulation of circulation, shock
• Coronary and pulmonary circulation
• Blood- Brain barrier cerebrospinal fluid circulation in birds

2.4 Respiration

• Mechanism of respiration
• Transport and exchange of gases
• Neural control of respiration
• Chemo-receptors-hypoxia-respiration in birds

2.5 Excretion

• Structure and function of Kidney
• Formation of urine methods for examining renal function
• Renal regulation of acid-base balance
• Physiological components of urine-renal failure
• Submissive arterial congestion
• Urinary secretion in chicken
• Sweat glands and their role
• Bio-chemical test for urinary dysfunction

2.6 Endocrine Glands

• Functional disorders- their symptoms and diagnosis
• Synthesis of hormones
• Mechanism and control of secretion
• Hormonal receptors, their categorisation and function

2.7 Growth and Animal Production

• Prenatal and postnatal growth
• Maturation
• Growth Curves
• Measures of growth
• Factors affecting growth
• Conformation
• Body composition
• Meat quality

2.8 Physiology of Milk Production, Reproduction and Digestion

• Present status of hormonal control of mammary development
• Milk secretion and milk ejection
• Male and female reproductive organs, their components and functions
• Digestive organs and their functions

2.9 Environmental Physiology

• Physiological relations and their regulation
• Mechanism of adaptation
• Environmental factors and regulatory mechanisms involved in the behaviour of animals
• Climatology: Various parameters and their relevance
• Animal Ecology

• Physiology of behaviour
  • Effect of stress on health and production

3. Animal Reproduction:

• Quality of semen
• 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
• Transport of diluted semen

• Deep freezing techniques in cows, sheep, goats, swine and poultry
• Detection of oestrus and time of insemination for better conception
• Anoestrus and repeat breeding

4. Livestock Production and Management

4.1 Commercial Diary Farming

• Comparison of dairy farming in India with developed countries
• Dairying under mixed farming and specialised farming
• Economic dairy farming

• Starting a dairy farm
  • Requirement of capital and land
  • Arrangements of the Diary Farm
• Opportunities in dairy farming
  • Factors determining the efficiency of dairy animals
  • Heard Recording 
  • Budgeting milk production cost
  • Pricing policy
• Personnel Management
  • Developing practical and economic rations for dairy cattle
  • Distribution of greens throughout the year
  • Requirements for feed and fodder for Diary farm
  • Feeding system for young stock and bulls, heifers and breeding animals
  • Latest trends in feeding young and adult stock
  • Feeding records

4.2 Commercial production of meat, egg and wool

• Development of practical and economic rations for sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits and poultry
• Distribution of greens and fodder
• Feeding structure for young and mature stock
• Latest trends for improving the production and management
• Requirements for capital and land
• Socio-economic concept

4.3 Feeding and management of animals during drought, flood and other natural calamities.

5. Genetics and Animal Breeding

5.1 History of animal genetics

• Mitosis and Meiosis
• Mendelian inheritance
• Deviation from Mendelian genetics
• Expression of genes
• Relationship and crossing over
• Sex determination
• Sex-influenced and sex-limited characters
• Blood Group and Polymorphism
• Chromosome aberration
• Cytoplasmic inheritance
• Gene and its structure
• DNA as Genetic material
• Genetic code and protein synthesis
• Recombinant DNA technology
• Mutations, types of mutations
• Methods for detecting mutations and mutation rate
• Transgenesis

5.2 Population Genetics Applied to Animal Breeding

• Quantitative vs Qualitative traits
• Hardy Weinberg Law
• Population vs Individual
• Gene and genotypic frequency
• Forces changing the frequency of the Gene
• Random Drift and a small population
• Theory of Path Coefficient
• System of inbreeding
• Effective Population size
• Breeding Value
• Estimation of breeding value
• Dominance and epistatic deviation
• Division of variation
• Genotype X environment correlation and genotype X environment interaction
• The function of multiple measurements
• Similarities between relatives.

5.3 Breeding Systems

• Breeds of livestock and Poultry
• Heritability, repeatability and genetic and phenotypic correlations
• Measures of estimation and precision of estimates
• Helps in selection and their relative advantages
• Individual, pedigree, family and within-family selection
• Methods of selection
• Pregnancy testing
• Building guidelines for selection and their uses
• Comparative study of genetic advantages through various selection methods
• Indirect selection and correlated response
• Inbreeding, outbreeding, upgrading, cross-breeding and synthesis of breeds
• Crossing of inbreed lines for commercial production
• Selection for general and specific combining ability
• Breeding for threshold characters
• Sire index

6. Extension

• Basic philosophy, objectives, concept and principles of extension

• Various Methods adopted to train farmers who are residing under rural conditions
• Generation of technology, its transfer and feedback
• Problems and constraints in technology transfer
• Animal husbandry programmes for rural development.

UPSC Syllabus for Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Science Optional: Paper II

1. Anatomy, Pharmacology and Hygiene

1.1 Histology and Histological Techniques

• Paraffin embedding technique of tissue processing
• H.E. staining
• Freezing microtomy

• Microscopy
  • Bright-field microscope
  • electron microscope

• Cytology
  • structure of cell organells 
  • Inclusions

• cell division
  • cell types
    • Tissues and their classification
    • embryonic and adult tissues

• Comparative histology of organs
  • Vascular, Nervous, digestive, respiratory, musculoskeletal and urogenital systems
• Endocrine glands
  • Integuments
  • sense organs

1.2 Embryology

• Embryology of Vertebrates
  • Special reference to aves (birds) and domestic mammals.
• Gametogenesis
• Fertilisation
• Germ Layers
• Foetal Membranes and Placentation
• Types of Placenta in Domestic Mammals
• Teratology
• Twins and Twinning
• Organogenesis
• Germ Layer Derivatives
  • Endodermal Derivatives
  • Mesodermal Derivatives
  • Ectodermal Derivatives

1.3 Bovine Anatomy

• Paranasal sinuses of Ox
• Surface anatomy of salivary glands
• Regional anatomy:
  • Infraorbital nerve block
  • Maxillary nerve block
  • Mandibuloalveolar nerve block
  • Mental nerve block
  • Cornnal nerve block
• Regional anatomy of nerves:
  • Paravertebral nerves
  • Pudendal nerve
  • Median nerve
  • Ulnar nerve
  • Radial nerve
  • Tibial nerve
  • Fibular nerve
  • Digital nerves
• Cranial nerves
• Structures involved in epidural anaesthesia
• Superficial lymph nodes
• Surface anatomy of visceral organs:
  • Thoracic cavity
  • Abdominal cavity
  • Pelvic cavity
• Comparative features of the locomotor apparatus
  • Their application in biomechanics of the mammalian body

1.4 Animal of Fowl

• Musculoskeletal System
• Functional Anatomy
  • Respiration
  • Flying
• Digestion
• Egg Production

1.5 Pharmacology and Therapeutics Drugs

• Cellular level of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics.
• Drugs acting on fluids and electrolyte balance.
• Drugs acting on the autonomic nervous system.
• Modern concepts of anaesthesia and dissociative anaesthetics.
• Autocoids.
• Antimicrobials and principles of chemotherapy in microbial infections.
• Use of hormones in therapeutics.
• Chemotherapy of parasitic infections.
• Drug and economic concerns in the edible tissues of animals.
• Chemotherapy of neoplastic diseases.
• Toxicity due to:
  • Insecticides
  • Plants
  • Metals
  • Non-metals
  • Zootoxins
  • Mycotoxins

1.6 Veterinary Hygiene Considerations

• Water quality assessment
• Air quality assessment
• Habitation conditions

• Pollution Assessment:
  • Water pollution
  • Air pollution
  • Soil pollution
• Climate and Animal Health:
  • Impact of climate on animal health
• Environmental Effects:
  • Influence of environment on animal function
  • Impact on animal performance
• Industrialisation and Animal Agriculture:
  • Relationship between industrialisation and animal farming
• Animal Housing Requirements:
  • Pregnant cows
  • Sows
  • Milking cows
  • Broiler birds
• Stress, Strain, and Productivity:
  • Relationship between habitation conditions and productivity

2. Animal Disease

2.1 Etiology, epidemiology pathogenesis, symptoms, post-moretem lesion, diagnosis, and control of infectious diseases in cattle, sheep and goats, horses, pigs and poultry. 

2.2 Etiology, epidemiology, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment for reproductive diseases in cattle, horses, pigs and poultry

2.3 Deficiency diseases in domestic animals and birds

2.4 Diagnosis and treatments for non-specific diseases including impaction, bloat, diarrhoea, indigestion, stroke and poisoning

2.5 Diagnosis and treatment for neurological disorders

2.6 Principles and Methods of Immunisation of Animals Against Specific Diseases:

• Hard Immunity:

• Disease-Free Zones:

• Zero Disease Concept:

• Chemoprophylaxis:

2.7 Anaesthesia

• Local
• Regional
• General

• Prenesthetic medication
• Symptoms and Surgical Interference:
  • Fractures
  • Dislocations

• Specific Conditions:
  • Hernia
  • Choking
  • Abomasal displacement

• Surgical Procedures:
  • Caesarian operations
  • Rumenotomy
  • Castrations

2.8 Disease Investigation Techniques

• Materials for laboratory investigation
• Establishment of Animal health centers
• Disease free zone

3. Veterinary Public Health

3.1 Zoonoses

• Definition and classification.
• Role of animals and birds in the prevalence and transmission of zoonotic diseases
• Occupational zoonotic diseases.

3.2 Epidemiology

• Principle and definition of epidemiological terms
• Application of epidemiological measures in disease study and control

• Epidemiological Features
  • Airborne infections
  • Waterborne infections
  • Foodborne infections

• Regulations and Measures
  • OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) regulations
  • WTO (World Trade Organization) guidelines
  • Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures

3.3 Veterinary Jurisprudence

• Rules and Regulations for improvement of animal quality
• Prevention of animal diseases

•  State and Central Rules for:
  • Prevention of animal-borne diseases
  • Prevention of animal product-borne diseases

• S.P.C.A. (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)
• Veterolegal cases
  • Certificates
  • Materials and methods of sample collection for veterolegal investigations

4. Milk and Milk Product Technology

4.1 Market Milk

• Quality, Testing, and Grading:
  • Raw milk quality
  • Testing procedures
  • Grading standards

• Processing:
  • Pasteurized milk
  • Standardized milk
  • Toned milk
  • Double toned milk
  • Sterilized milk
  • Homogenized milk
  • Reconstituted milk
  • Recombined milk
  • Flavoured milk

• Cultured Milks:
  • Cultured milk preparation
  • Management of cultures
  • Yoghurt
  • Dahi
  • Lassi
  • Srikhand

• Flavoured and Sterilized Milks:
  • Preparation techniques

• Legal Standards:
  • Compliance requirements

• Sanitation Requirements:
  • Clean and safe milk
  • Milk plant equipment maintenance

4.2 Milk Products Technology

• Selection of Raw Materials
  • Choosing appropriate raw materials for milk products.

• Processing
  • Methods and techniques used in processing milk.

• Storing
  • Storage practices for milk and milk products.

• Distributing
  • Distribution methods and logistics for milk products.

• Marketing
  • Strategies for marketing milk products.

• Milk Products
  • Types: Cream, Butter, Ghee, Khoa, Channa, Cheese, Condensed Milk, Evaporated Milk, Dried Milk, Baby Food, Ice Cream, Kulfi.

• By-Products
  • Types: Whey Products, Butter Milk, Lactose, Casein.

• Testing, Grading and Judging
  • Methods for testing, grading and judging milk products.
    • BIS and Agmark specifications.
    • Legal standards.

• Quality Control
  • Ensuring quality and nutritive properties of milk products.

• Packaging, Processing Control and Operational control

• Costing of dairy products

5. Meat Hygiene and Technology

5.1 Meat Hygiene

5.1.1 Ante Mortem Care and Management of Food Animals

• Stunning, Slaughter, and Dressing Operations

• Methods of stunning (e.g., electrical, captive bolt)
• Abattoir Requirements and Designs
• Meat Inspection Procedures

• Judgement and Grading of Carcass Meat Cuts
• Evaluation of meat quality
• Duties and Functions of Veterinarians in Wholesome Meat Production

5.1.2Hygienic Methods of Handling Production of Meat:

• Spoilage of Meat and Control Measures:
• Post-Slaughter Physicochemical Changes in Meat and Factors Influencing Them:
• Quality Improvement Methods:
• Adulteration of Meat and Detection:
• Regulatory Provisions in Meat Trade and Industry:

5.2 Meat Technology

5.2.1 Physical Characteristics of Meat

• Chemical Characteristics of Meat

• Meat Emulsions

• Methods of Preservation of Meat
  • Curing
  • Canning
  • Irradiation
  • Packaging of meat and meat products
  • Processing and Formulations

5.3 By-products

• Slaughterhouse By-products and their utilisation:
  • Edible by-products
  • Inedible by-products

• Social and Economic Implications of proper utilisation of  slaughterhouse by-products:

• Organ Products:
  • Use in the food industry
  • Use in pharmaceuticals

5.4 Poultry Products Technology

• Chemical Composition and Nutritive Value of Poultry Meat
• Pre-Slaughter Care and Management
• Slaughtering Techniques
• Inspection
• Preservation of Poultry Meat and Products
• Legal and BIS Standards

• Composition of structure and nutritive value of eggs Microbial Spoilage
• Prevention and Maintenance
• Marketing of Poultry meat, eggs and products

5.5 Rabbit / Fur Animal Farming

• Rabbit Meat Production
• Disposal and Utilization of Fur and Wool
• Recycling of Waste By-products
• Grading of Wool