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Unit of study_
AVBS2004: Animal Nutrition
2025 unit information
One of the greatest limiting factors to the health and wellbeing of animals under our care is the nutritional value of their feed. Whether provided by nature or manufactured to meet the production and health needs of farmed animals, being able to provide suitable nutrition to animals in our care is fundamental to good animal health management. This Unit is broadly divided into three sections, namely: estimating the nutritive value of feeds; estimating the nutrient requirements of animals and diet formulation. The focus is on building up knowledge on animal nutrition by assessments of nutritional adequacy and solving of nutritional problems, with a particular emphasis on wildlife and animals used in agricultural production systems. The principles discussed in this course will be expanded in third year, in which species-specific systems will be described within the animal production major. In this unit you will develop the skills to create diets based on sound science, to meet animal requirements for a variety of purposes and under a variety of constraints and identify deficiencies, excesses and imbalances in diets and optimising nutritional health and minimising disease risk.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Science
| Study level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Life and Environmental Sciences Academic Operations |
| Credit points | 6 |
|
Prerequisites:
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(BIOL1XX7 or MBLG1XXX) and 6 credit points from AVBS100X |
|---|---|
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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ANSC3101 |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. describe feed types and composition
- LO2. outline factors to consider in the ensiling process of forages
- LO3. describe digestion differences between animals
- LO4. examine the factors that affect the digestibility and metabolisable energy of feeds
- LO5. characterise the microbes organisation in the rumen
- LO6. explain the reasons for differences in nutrient requirements within and among animals
- LO7. design and evaluate animal diets.
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 2 2025
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Normal day | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
Important enrolment information
Additional advice
Access afterhours to IBM-PC compatible computers that have Microsoft Windows XP or later are advisable. Most of the diet formulation software are Windows Compatible only.
