- Docente: Daniele Bigi
- Credits: 6
- SSD: AGR/19
- Language: Italian
- Moduli: Leonardo Nanni Costa (Modulo 1) Daniele Bigi (Modulo 2)
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2)
- Campus: Bologna
- Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Animal production and wildlife management (cod. 8529)
Learning outcomes
Companion animals unit: at the end of the course the student has the basic knowledge on mammals considered as pets, especially on dog and cat. In particular, the student is able to: understand the basic principles of dogs and cats rearing, with special reference to aspects related to the breeding, nutrition and wellness, evaluate the rearing techniques, use the information on genetic values.
Livestock biodiversity unit: at the end of the course the student has the basic knowledge about the management and conservation of the animal genetic resources: cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys. Great emphasis will be placed on the Italian native breeds.
Course contents
Companion animals unit: dog and cat: origin and taxonomy, breeds classification, herd book and breeding schemes. Characteristics of the main dog and cat breeds. Hereditary pathologies, Dog and cat feeding. Basic information on other mammalians included in the pet category.
Livestock biodiversity unit: the meaning of genetic diversity. The value of animal biodiversity. Italian autochthonous breeds: cattle, horses, donkeys, sheep, goats and pigs. Methods and strategies for conservation and utilization of animal genetic resources. National and International projects for animal biodiversity safeguard.
Readings/Bibliography
Companion animals unit: pictures, graphs and tables showed during the lectures are downloaded from the web page of the teacher at this address http://www.unibo.it/docenti/leonardo.nannicosta.
Livestock biodiversity unit: in addition to the pictures, graphs and tables showed during the lectures, given by the teacher, you can consul the following books:
- Daniele Bigi e Alessio Zanon - Atlante delle razze autoctone italiane: bovini, ovicaprini, suini allevati in Italia. Edagricole 2008.
- Kor Oldenbroek - Utilization and conservation of farm animal resources. Wageningen Academic Publishers 2007.
Teaching methods
The course is divided into two teaching units: the “Breeding of pet animals” unit is divided into two teaching parts, the first theoretical, consists of 20 hours of lectures supported by pictures and movies with the aim to provide basic information to assess the main aspects of pets husbandry. The second part consists of classroom activities supported by experts and breeders (4 hours) and visits to conferences or events (6 hours).
The “Management of animal biodiversity” unit is also divided into two teaching parts, the first, theoretical, consists of 20 hours of lectures supported by pictures and movies with the aim to provide information about domestic animal biodiversity management. The second unit consists of classroom activities supported by experts and visits to farms or events, for 10 hours.
Assessment methods
The two units constitute the integrated course “BREEDING OF PET ANIMALS AND MANAGEMENT OF ANIMAL BIODIVERSITY”. The examination committee includes the teachers of the two courses. The final note consists in a synthesis of the evaluations made for each course. The evaluation of the “Husbandry of companion animals” is based on the discussion of a short written paper (max 15 pages) focused on nutrition and hereditary diseases of dog or cat breeds, or other mammal considered as pet chosen by the student. The evaluation of the “Management of animal biodiversity” is based on an oral examination about the teaching program.
Teaching tools
PC with video projector.
Office hours
See the website of Daniele Bigi
See the website of Leonardo Nanni Costa