Livestock feeding – ration, housing and feed conversion ratio

Design & TechnologyAgriculture, Forestry & AquacultureAges 12–13

A batch of livestock (broiler chickens, ducks, pigs or beef cattle) is raised from arrival at the pen to market weight. Students set the feeding ration level, choose the housing type and whether to vaccinate, then press Run to watch the mass gain over the days raised, the feed used, and the feed conversion ratio FCR = feed eaten divided by mass gained. During raising you can press Feed extra, Clean pen and Vaccinate; a dirty pen or missing vaccination makes the animals more likely to fall sick, grow slowly and lose numbers from the herd.