Livestock
Senior 1 · Agriculture
Livestock
Lesson 1 of 5
20 min
On many small farms in Rwanda, the animals that earn money fastest are not cows. A few hens behind the house give eggs every week, a sow in a small sty gives a litter of piglets twice a year, and a hutch of rabbits can turn kitchen leftovers and sweet potato vines into meat in about three months. These animals need little land, which matters on crowded hillsides where a family may farm less than half a hectare.
Pigs, poultry and rabbits belong to a group called non-ruminants. In this lesson you will learn what makes an animal a non-ruminant, which species are kept in Rwanda, and how to tell the main breeds apart. The rest of this unit then follows one of them, the rabbit, from housing to health.
You may already know that cattle, goats and sheep are ruminants: they have a stomach with four compartments and chew the cud. A non-ruminant is a farm animal with a simple, single stomach. Such animals are also called monogastric animals (mono = one, gastric = of the stomach). They do not chew the cud.
Because they have no rumen full of microbes, most non-ruminants cannot get much energy from tough, fibrous grass. They need feeds that are easier to digest: grain, bran, kitchen waste, tender leaves. The rabbit is a partial exception: it has a very large caecum (a pouch where the small and large intestines meet) in which microbes digest some fibre. You will learn how this works in the lesson on feeding rabbits.
A farmer in Huye keeps a cow, two goats, a sow, ten hens and six rabbits. Sort them.
Notice that eating plants is not the test. Rabbits eat only plants, yet they are non-ruminants.
| Species | Main products | Why farmers keep it |
|---|---|---|
| Pigs (ingurube) | pork, lard, manure | Grow fast; a sow has large litters; eat crop by-products and kitchen waste |
| Chickens (inkoko) | eggs, meat, manure, feathers | Cheap to start; need very little space; eggs give a steady weekly income |
| Other poultry: ducks, turkeys, guinea fowl, quails | meat, eggs | Kept in smaller numbers, often for special markets |
| Rabbits (urukwavu) | meat, skins (pelts), manure and urine | Breed very fast; eat forage that people do not eat; need little capital; quiet and easy for young people to manage |
The word poultry means all domesticated birds kept for meat or eggs.
| Species | Adult male | Adult female | Young | Giving birth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pig | boar (a castrated male is a barrow) | sow (a young female that has not yet given birth is a gilt) | piglet | farrowing |
| Chicken | cock or rooster (a young male is a cockerel) | hen (a young female is a pullet) | chick | hatching (from eggs) |
| Duck | drake | duck | duckling | hatching |
| Rabbit | buck | doe | kit (or kitten) | kindling |
A breed is a group of animals of one species that look alike and pass their special features on to their young. As with cattle, breeds are grouped as local (indigenous, hardy, lower production), exotic (imported, high production, need better care) and crosses of the two.
| Breed | How to recognise it | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Large White | Big and white, with ears that stand up and a slightly dished (curved-in) face | British breed. Sows have large litters and plenty of milk. One of the most common breeds in the world, widely used for crossing |
| Landrace | White, with a long body and large ears that droop forward over the eyes | First developed in Denmark. The long body gives many bacon cuts |
| Duroc | Red-brown, with drooping ears | Hardy and fast-growing; often used as the sire (father) in crosses |
| Local pigs | Small, often black or spotted, with a long snout | Hardy and survive on poor feed, but grow slowly and have small litters |
| Type | Examples | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Local (indigenous) chickens | the village chicken | Many colours; hardy; find much of their own food by scavenging; hens sit on (brood) their eggs and raise chicks well; lay few eggs |
| Layers | commercial brown or white hybrids | Bred to lay many eggs; small bodies; need a balanced layers' feed |
| Broilers | commercial meat hybrids | Bred to grow very fast; sold for meat after a few weeks; poor layers |
| Dual-purpose | Rhode Island Red, Kuroiler, Sasso | Give both eggs and meat; hardier than layers and broilers, so they suit free-range and backyard farms |
The Kuroiler is a hybrid developed in India from crosses that include the Rhode Island Red. It can live largely on kitchen and farm waste, and it lays far more eggs than a typical village hen.
| Breed | How to recognise it | Main use |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand White | All white, with pink eyes; medium size | Meat. Grows quickly; one of the two main commercial meat breeds |
| Californian | White body with dark nose, ears, feet and tail | Meat. The other main commercial meat breed |
| Flemish Giant | Very large, usually grey or fawn | Meat. Large, but it matures later than medium breeds |
| Chinchilla | Soft grey fur with dark tips, like the wild chinchilla | Meat and fur |
| Rex | Short, dense, velvety fur | Fur |
| Angora | Very long, fine hair | Wool |
| Local and crossbred rabbits | Many colours and sizes | Meat. Hardy and cheap, but smaller |
A youth cooperative in Rulindo wants to sell rabbit meat to hotels in Kigali and has little money. Which breed suits it?
Tip
Memory hook: "Pigs, Poultry and Rabbits have ONE stomach". Say it as "PPR, one stomach".
Exam technique: when asked to "identify" a breed from a description or photo, name the feature you used: "Landrace, because it is white with a long body and ears that droop over the eyes." The reason earns the second mark.
Define a non-ruminant and give three examples kept in Rwanda.
Solution: A non-ruminant (monogastric animal) is a farm animal with a simple, single stomach that does not chew the cud. Examples: pig, chicken, rabbit (also ducks, turkeys, guinea fowl).
Give the correct name for: (a) a young female pig that has not yet given birth; (b) a young rabbit; (c) an adult male duck; (d) a young female chicken.
Solution: (a) gilt; (b) kit (or kitten); (c) drake; (d) pullet.
A white pig has a long body and ears that hang forward over its eyes. Name the breed and state one reason farmers keep it.
Solution: Landrace. Its long body gives many bacon cuts (it is also used for crossbreeding).
Why do village chickens produce fewer eggs than commercial layers, yet remain popular with smallholders?
Solution: Village chickens have not been bred for high egg production. They are popular because they are hardy, find much of their own food, resist disease better and hatch and raise their own chicks, so they cost very little to keep.
Explain why a rabbit is a non-ruminant even though it eats only plants.
Solution: The test is the stomach, not the diet. A rabbit has a single simple stomach and does not chew the cud; microbes digest fibre in its large caecum instead of in a rumen.
Summary
Sources and credits
The Rwandan examples, worked examples and practice questions are written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
