Animal Husbandry
Animal Husbandry
Animal Husbandry is commonly defined as a branch of agriculture dealing with the domestication, breeding, and rearing of animals for various purposes including labor (as in the case of large animals), a food source, protection, and companionship (as with dogs, primarily), and a source of material goods such as hides and bones, used for clothing and tools.
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The domestication of animals is dated to the First Agricultural Revolution of c. 10,000 BCE, though probably began much earlier, and significantly changed how people lived. Prior to the domestication of animals, human communities revolved around the hunter-gatherer paradigm in which wild animals were hunted and plant life gathered; afterwards, domesticated animals and plants encouraged the establishment of permanent settlements with resources at hand for the needs of the people.
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The first animals domesticated were dogs, used for hunting, protection, and companionship, with sheep and goats probably next and then other animals such as chickens. Larger animals, like horses and oxen, were likely domesticated after smaller ones. Herbivores were chosen because they could live off the land, and it is for this reason that scholars maintain domestication of plant life must have preceded that of animals - there needed to be a reliable food source in order for the animal population to thrive &#; though this claim has been challenged.
Once established, animal husbandry is understood to have benefited humans in many ways but also to have raised the standard of living of animals who were now protected and cared for. Beginning in the 18th and 19th century (though there are earlier examples), this claim was challenged by animal rights activists, who argue that animal husbandry benefits humans to the detriment of animals and the environment, it has come to be driven by profit without regard for the welfare of animals, and continued commercial animal husbandry in the modern age is ultimately unsustainable.
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Pathways to Domestication
It is thought that the domestication of animals was encouraged by climate change following the last Ice Age
The English word 'domestication' comes from the Latin domesticus referring to the home ("belonging to the house") while husbandry means "to care for" or "manage prudently," and, applied to animals, is the care for, breeding, and management of formerly wild species of animals by human beings. It is thought that the domestication of animals was encouraged by climate change following the last Ice Age c. 21,000 years ago which dispersed game and forced people to travel greater distances to hunt and forage for food. Seeds dropped from plant life they foraged, it is thought, were observed to sprout, encouraging the intentional planting of such seeds and the beginning of agriculture.
Dogs are thought to have already been domesticated in Europe by this time as their dates have been determined at roughly 32,000-18,800 years ago, with the earlier time period favored. Dogs are thought to have developed from the Asian wolf and the European grey wolf, and while which was domesticated first continues to be debated, it is likely that the Asian wolf was first and was then transported to Europe where these now-domesticated animals might have encouraged the European wolves to trust and draw near to human communities &#; though this claim is speculative and has been challenged.
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It is impossible to know for certain how the first animals were domesticated, but geneticists and scholars have developed various theories which have been accepted as reasonably sound. Scholar Melinda A. Zeder, for example, in her Pathways to Animal Domestication, outlines the three routes taken in the domestication of animals which is widely accepted by the academic community:
- Commensal Pathway: Habituation &#; Partnership &#; Directed Breeding
- Prey Pathway: Prey &#; Game Management &#; Herd Management &#; Breeding
- Directed Pathway: Competitor &#; Prey &#; Control &#; Directed Breeding
In the Commensal Pathway, the animal becomes used to humans by association. Wolves, for example, were most likely domesticated through their attraction to the bones or offal of a community's garbage pit or, perhaps, by scraps thrown to them. In time, the wolves were habituated to humans, entered into a mutually beneficial partnership, and were then directly bred for different purposes. Cats would have followed this same pathway to domestication.
Egyptian Cattle Herd
Prey Pathway refers to animals such as horses, cattle, sheep, and goats which were initially human prey. These animals would have been domesticated individually, eventually becoming managed as herds and, again, subject to directed breeding according to human needs. The former prey, after domestication, becomes a partner in the human community and, again, is understood as benefitting as much from the relationship as humans.
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Directed Pathway concerns animals who were formerly competitors for prey or were prey themselves (such as horses, donkeys, camels, and elephants, among others) who are brought under human control and then bred for specific purposes. In the case of the elephant, this would have been for labor, hunting, warfare, or entertainment as evidenced by their use in the arenas of ancient Rome. Zeder comments:
This fast-track to domestication begins when humans use knowledge gained from the management of already domesticated animals to domesticate a wild species that possesses a resource or a set of resources that humans see as desirable. (246)
It is thought that, after the domestication of the dog, humans used the same kinds of approaches in attracting and domesticating other animals.
Ancient Domestication
As Zeder notes, the path to domestication neither did always proceed quickly nor was the sedentary, agrarian lifestyle instantly embraced by hunter-gatherer communities. The evolution from nomadic hunters to sedentary farmers and animal breeders was a slow process. Scholar Marc van de Mieroop comments:
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There was not a sudden change from hunting-gathering to farming, but rather a slow process during which people increased their reliance on resources they managed directly, but still supplemented their diets by hunting wild animals. Agriculture enabled an increase in continuous settlement by people. (12)
In Mesopotamia, the domestication of plants and animals was already established by c. 10,000 BCE. Excavations of refuse dumps outside of Mesopotamian towns and cities have shown a gradual decline in the number of wild gazelle bones after BCE (which, it has been suggested, shows a depletion of wild game) while the number of domesticated sheep and goat bones grows in number. Scholars have determined that these sheep and goats were domesticated, and not wild, based upon the condition of the bones and, of course, on inscriptions and artwork.
Sumerians Milking Scene from Tell al-'Ubaid
It is thought likely that wild sheep and goats came to graze around human settlements in an attempt to escape from natural predators who would have avoided contact with humans. In time, these animals grew increasingly tame and became an easily accessible source of food, following the route of Zeder's Prey Pathway. Wheat was domesticated and in wide use in Mesopotamia by BCE, goats by BCE, sheep by BCE, and pigs by BCE. By the time of the establishment of the city of Eridu in BCE, animal husbandry was widely practiced, and domesticated animals were used in the workforce (such as in plowing), as pets, and as a food source. Horses were tamed by BCE and, in time, became an important component in warfare.
This same basic pattern has been determined in the regions of the Indus Valley Civilization, Egypt, and China. In the Indus Valley, plants and animals were domesticated by the time of the pre-Harappan period (c. to c. BCE), and domestication was established prior to the Predynastic Period in Egypt (c. to c. BCE) and prior to the foundation of Banpo Village in China (c. - BCE) where they kept domesticated dogs and pigs.
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At roughly the same time, humans in other parts of the world were engaged in the same practice. In the Americas, during the Archaic Stage (- BCE) permanent settlements were established as plants and animals were domesticated. The Caral-Supe civilization, the oldest in the Americas (in modern-day Peru), was already cultivating the 'three sisters' of squash, beans, and corn, as well as other vegetables, and had domesticated the llama as a pack animal prior to BCE. The Olmec civilization, the Maya, the Aztec Empire, and others followed the same model as did those to the north of them who established the great cultural centers such as Cahokia and Poverty Point.
Domestication of plants and animals produced a dramatic change in the way people lived. Civilizations that had relied on hunting and gathering as a means of subsistence now built permanent settlements and engaged in a pastoral existence relying on their cattle and crops. The Agricultural Revolution, in fact, is considered the starting point for civilization as it enabled the five aspects which define that concept:
- surplus food
- division of labor
- urbanization
- government
- a writing system
Further, once people realized that animals could be tamed, the creatures became incorporated into the most basic and widespread rituals of the culture, notably in religious rites as sacrificial offerings or as representatives of the gods and the concept of order.
Domestication & Order
In Mesopotamia, Egypt, and other civilizations, the gods were associated with the establishment of order. In time, the domestication of animals seems to have acquired the same meaning. Humans, as co-workers with the gods in maintaining the ordered world, were doing their part in taming that which had been wild and bringing it under their control.
Early Domestication of Cattle
Worship of animals in Egypt is well known, most notably their reverence for the cat, associated with the goddess of the hearth and home, Bastet, but many ancient cultures incorporated animal imagery into their religious icons and practices. Wild animals came to represent untamed forces in the universe (such as the lions of the goddess Inanna in Mesopotamia), while domesticated creatures symbolized comfort and security (for example, the dog in Greece and Rome). In India, according to scholar Will Durant:
There was no real gap between animals and men; animals as well as men had souls and souls were perpetually passing from men into animals and back again; all these species were woven into one infinite web of karma and reincarnation. The elephant, for example, became the god Ganesha, and was recognized as Shiva's son; he personified man's animal nature and, at the same time, his image served as a charm against evil fortune. (509)
Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism all taught the concept of reincarnation and encouraged the belief, as Durant notes, that the souls of animals were of the same eternal substance as those that animated humans. In domesticating animals, people were drawing them from a perilous world of uncertainty to the safety of the human community. The people of the Indus Valley Civilization are thought to have worshipped a Mother Goddess whose male consort is depicted in the company of wild animals, possibly a reference to the gods' approval of their domestication or of the gods offering protection against elements beyond human control. The domesticated animal came to symbolize order as opposed to the chaos of the untamed world.
Animal husbandry, as defined specifically as care for animals, reached its height in the ancient world in Egypt.
Animal husbandry, as defined specifically as care for animals, reached its height in the ancient world in Egypt where cats and dogs were cared for as though they were part of the human family in which they lived. Mummies of cats and dogs have been discovered in tombs in Egypt, and so deeply did the Egyptians feel for their cats, Herodotus notes, that they would shave their eyebrows and form a funeral procession of mourning upon the death of one of these pets. Other animals were also mourned as fully as any family member, and this practice was later observed in Greece and Rome where monuments to departed pets were erected.
Once domesticated, animals became a part of the human story, and just as people labored in the service of the gods, so animals served people. Scholar Stephen Bertman comments:
In ancient Mesopotamia, the most important domesticated animals were oxen and donkeys, on the one hand, and sheep and cattle on the other. The former served as draught animals; the latter were raised for their milk and for hides and wool that could be converted into clothing&#;Farmyards also included ducks and geese raised for their eggs and meat&#;and there is evidence that the ancient Mesopotamians raised pigs. (246)
Animals were bred to serve these and many other purposes in ancient Mesopotamia but were also directly linked with divinity just as they may have been in the Indus Valley. Gula, the Sumerian goddess of healing, is routinely depicted in the company of a dog, and they often appear as amulets for protection. This same paradigm holds for Mesoamerica where animals were associated with the divine, especially dogs who were thought to be able to safely conduct the souls of the dead to paradise.
Conclusion
At the same time that dogs, and other animals, were associated with divinity, they were kept as a food source and understood primarily as utilities in the service of humanity. An interesting observation to come from the field of genomic archaeology is how selective breeding of domesticated animals changed the various species. The floppy ears of rabbits, sheep, and certain breeds of dogs are the result of directed breeding by humans through which floppy ears came to be a sign of submission. Spots or other defining markings on animals including cats, cows, dogs, goats, horses, and rabbits seem to be an inadvertent consequence of directed breeding.
Animals were bred to retain favorable characteristics (such as attention-seeking and adaptability to changes in the environment) and eliminate unfavorable ones (including difficulty in adapting and wariness of humans). Zeder notes how "in all domesticated animals, the single most important behavioral response to domestication is reduced wariness and low reactivity to external stimuli" (232). This reduction in wariness seems to correspond to a reduction in brain size as Zeder observes that domesticated animals experienced a significant reduction in brain mass when compared to those in the wild and how silver foxes, bred for tameness, "experienced a reduction in cranial height and width, and by inference in brain size, after only 40 years of intensive breeding" (233).
Deer Mosaic, Carthage
In the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a reaction against the practice of breeding and keeping domesticated animals, focusing on the claim that animals had the right to live their own lives naturally and should not be made to serve humanity. British philosopher Jeremy Bentham (l. -) rejected the domestication of animals as unethical in that it led to their suffering and deprived them of the kind of life they were supposed to live. This claim is echoed by animal rights activists of the present day such as Peter Singer, Liz White, and guitarist Brian May, among many others.
At this point, it seems unlikely the paradigm is going to change, and so many modern activists advocate not for the abolition of keeping domesticated animals but for the more humane and ethical treatment of them in businesses such as commercial factory farming. These activists, and others not directly associated with animal rights per se, note that present policies directing the use of domesticated animals contribute directly to climate change &#; most notably those concerning cattle &#; and are unsustainable for humans, the environment, and the animals themselves.
History of Animal Husbandry Department
A HISTORY OF THE ANIMAL HUSBANDRY DEPARTMENT
P. S. Shearer
Compiled -60
Foundations
The Enacting Bill, which founded Iowa State College, was passed by the state legislature early in the year and was approved by the governor on March 22 of that year. The Act provided for a "State Agricultural College and Model Farm" and for a Board of Trustees as the governing body. The subjects to be taught as specified in the bill were "Philosophy, Chemistry, Botany, Horticulture, Forestry, Animal and Vegetable Anatomy, Geology, Entomology, Zoology, Veterinary Art, Surveying, Bookkeeping, and such Mechanic Arts as are directly connected with Agriculture."
Conspicuous by their absence in this list of subjects to be taught is English and Mathematics, as well as Animal Husbandry and Agronomy. Probably English and Mathematics were taken for granted. Since crops and livestock were the foundation of Iowa agriculture from the very beginning, Animal Husbandry and Agronomy were included, but under a quite different terminology than we now use. Confirmation of this opinion is found in a proposal made at an early meeting of the Board of Trustees. A member, Robert Speers, stated that he had come to the conclusion that teaching Agriculture, supervising experiments and managing the Model Farm was too much for any one man. He recommended the appointment of two men, one to be a specialist in Animal Husbandry and the other in Farm Crops. In the light of later developments it is interesting to note that President Adonijah S. Welch vigorously dissented from this proposal, claiming that it would be a mistake to divide the field of agriculture and thus encourage too much specialization.
The Act left it to the Board of Trustees to add such subjects and to create and fill such professorships as they might deem desirable to carry out the provisions specified. For about thirty years, the Farm Agent and later the men who held the Chair of Professor of Practical Agriculture carried the administrative load and did much of the teaching for all of Agriculture.
The Early Years
After much discussion the location for the College was settled and land for the campus and Model Farm was acquired in . The first Farm Agent was appointed in . A house and barns were built and some essential equipment and livestock were purchased. Breeders of improved livestock were solicited for donations. Crop production was begun on a small scale in .
The first students came to the campus in the fall of . Only two courses of study (curricula) were offered, one in Agriculture and one in Mechanic Arts. The subjects taken in each were identical for the first one and one-half years.
The first person to teach Agriculture, which included Animal Husbandry, was Norton S. Townshend who was the first to hold the Chair of Professor of Practical Agriculture. Dr. Townshend held a medical degree, had served as a surgeon in the Army and as a member of Congress, but his main interest was in scientific agriculture. President Welch and Dr. Townshend greeted the first students and spoke to a picnic group, assembled on the campus to celebrate the opening day of college. According to one reporter Dr. Townshend "handled the subject of Animal Organization with ability and was listened to with great attention and interest." Townshend resigned in to return to Ohio and was followed by Isaac P. Roberts who served one year as Farm Superintendent and two years as Professor of Agriculture. During all three years he taught practical courses in livestock and farm crops. Roberts resigned to go to Cornell University in and was replaced by one of his students, Millikan Stalker, who later became the first dean of the Veterinary Division. Stalker directed the agricultural program through and moved it definitely in the direction of more science and less of the practical. He withdrew from the field of agriculture in to devote full time to the growing field of Veterinary Science. In Seaman Knapp was appointed as Professor of Agriculture. Under his administration, a full four-year Agriculture curriculum was established leading to the degree, Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, first awarded in . During his term of service administrative pressure was demanding increased emphasis on science in the agricultural course. Knapp apparently had the ability to combine science with practice sufficiently to satisfy all factors. When Knapp resigned in Loren P. Smith was appointed his successor with science training as his chief qualification. Some of his attempts at the practical level, such as harnessing horses, were not well received by his students. Furthermore outside pressure was growing for increased emphasis on the practical aspects of agricultural training. Smith resigned in .
Departmental Beginnings
Because of the wide differences of opinion concerning emphasis on science and practice, there was statewide interest in the appointment of Smith's successor. Various agricultural organizations, including the influential Stock Breeders' Association, were successful in securing the appointment of James Wilson, later to become nationally known as Tama Jim. Wilson had limited academic training but had been most successful as a farmer and stockman and also in the political field. He had been critical of recent developments in the agricultural course and his appointment implied more emphasis on practical training. During his administration, various producer groups were recognized through the establishment of so-called departments of Animal Husbandry, Farm Crops and Dairying. These were not administrative units, but staff specialists for teaching and research were appointed in the various fields. In , Wilson was made Dean of the Agriculture faculty as a beginning of divisional organization.
In , C. F. Curtiss was named as Professor of Animal Husbandry and put in charge of that department. When Wilson was given indefinite leave of absence to serve as United States Secretary of Agriculture in , Curtiss was made acting dean but continued his duties in Animal Husbandry.
Divisional and departmental organization on an administrative basis developed rapidly under Curtiss. An Animal Husbandry curriculum was made available to students in . The department as an administrative unit was established in with Curtiss the first Head of the department.
Animal Husbandry Majors
Beginning in , Bachelor of Science graduates in Agriculture were designated by their major fields as Animal Husbandry, Agronomy, Dairy Industry, Horticulture and Forestry. Other departments and curricula were established later. Dairy Husbandry and Poultry Husbandry curricula options were made in with specialization beginning in the junior year. They later became full four year curricula and Poultry Husbandry became a separate department in .
A total of 2,740 Bachelor of Science degrees with a major in Animal Husbandry were awarded from through . This is considerably more than double the number from any other department in the Agricultural Division. It ranks a close second to Electrical Engineering, which has the largest number of any department in the college. This engineering major has been offered since .
The Herdsmen's Course
In the Animal Husbandry Department began offering a two-year winter quarter program known as the Herdsmen's Course. It was designed primarily to prepare young men as herdsmen for breeders of purebred herds and flocks. Not enough of the four-year degree graduates were interested in such positions to fill the demand that existed at that time. The course began as a non-collegiate offering although from the start a high percentage of those who enrolled were high school graduates and a considerable number later enrolled in the four-year Animal Husbandry curriculum.
During the s, surveys showed that many of those that enrolled as Herdsmen were farm boys who planned to return home to livestock farms. The content of the course was revised to more adequately meet the needs of that group. In the name Herdsmen's Course was dropped and administration of the program was taken over by the Division of Agriculture as it became a unit of the Farm Operation curriculum.
Departmental Office Changes
The Department of Agriculture, as the Division of Agriculture was at first designated, first occupied office space in Main Building, which in the early years housed all departments and also provided dormitory accommodations for all students. A building known as North Hall was built in for the Department of Agriculture, Veterinary Science and Botany. It stood south of the present Home Economics building [MacKay Hall] and later became the kitchen for the women's dormitory known as Margaret Hall. Old Agricultural Hall, later Botany Hall [now Catt Hall], was built in . It provided office space and some laboratories for all of the Agriculture staff until Agricultural Hall, now Curtiss Hall, was completed in .
In the summer of the Animal Husbandry staff moved into office space in the north half of the second floor of Curtiss Hall. Dairy and Poultry Husbandry occupied the first two rooms on the east side of the south corridor. Animal Husbandry Extension personnel were in the southeast corner room. The offices of the Dean of Agriculture were in their present location except that the Agricultural Library occupied the southwest corner room. The department staff increased rapidly in the early s. Some additional space was provided by removal of the Agricultural Library to the Library building, completed in . Shortly thereafter all Agricultural Extension personnel were brought together in Morrill Hall, much of which had been used for library facilities.
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The Soils Section of the Agronomy Department, which formerly occupied all of the ground floor of Curtiss Hall, was moved to the new Agronomy buildings in . Animal Husbandry was then assigned to that building and was authorized to prepare plans for remodeling office and laboratory space to meet its needs. The new location provided increased laboratory space and the Extension staff was returned to department headquarters. Funds for a new Animal Industry Building were included in capital improvement budgets submitted by the college beginning in . Plans for the new building began at the same time, but were still in the planning stage in .
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Farms and Buildings
The Model Farm, specified in the Enacting Bill as a part of the College, was purchased in . A total of 648 acres, to provide for the campus and the farm, made up the original purchase. For the next 10 years this farm provided some plots for crops and horticulture but much of it, except that designated as Campus, was used to provide feed and pasture for the herds and flocks.
An additional 140 acres known as North Farm was purchased in north and west of the original farm. It provided needed crop and pasture.
The Dairy Farm of 170 acres, on Mortensen Road, was purchased in and the Poultry Farm at about the same time. A part of the original purchase lying east and north of the campus continues to be used by Animal Husbandry but much of the area has been taken for dormitories, playfields, student housing and parking areas.
The original Farm House, now the home of Dean Floyd Andre, was built in . Barns were built east of the house. A large cattle barn built in occupied a part of the site of the present Agronomy building, and with some additions and remodeling, was used for the beef cattle herd until . This barn also provided accommodations for the dairy herd until it was moved to the present dairy farm in .
A frame horse barn was built immediately east of the Farm House in . This barn was replaced by a brick barn on the same site in . This is the building that was remodeled later and is now used by the Department of Agronomy, directly south of their main building. The first livestock judging pavilion [now demolished] was also built in . The Meat Laboratory became available in .
Barns and lots were provided for hogs and sheep east of the building now known as Food Technology, built in for Dairy Industry. The pasture and forage lots for hogs and sheep were in the area now used for parking lots, the women's gymnasium, women's dormitories, tennis courts and play fields.
In , the department was authorized to develop plans for locating barns and other buildings needed on the area they now occupy at the northeast corner of the campus. The Meat Laboratory with a judging arena was the first building to be completed in the new area. It became available for use in the fall of . Several years, complicated by the problems created by WWI, passed before funds became available to complete the development. The sheep barn and the hog barn with attached pavilion were completed in . The cattle barn, horse barns and judging pavilion were ready for use in . The grain storage building, which completed the unit as it now stands, was built in . The cattle barn was struck by lightning and burned in , but was rebuilt the same year on the original plan. A fire of unknown origin burned the roof and most of the east wing late in and was rebuilt as before.
Livestock Equipment
Good livestock has been provided for the teaching program since the early development of the Model Farm. Numerous breeds of beef and dairy cattle, hogs, horses and sheep were well established in the United States, and many of them in Iowa, at the time the farm started operating in . Purebred herds and flocks were started soon after operation of the farm began although exact dates have not been found for most of them.
Beef Cattle
The Shorthorn was the first beef breed brought to the farm. A heifer named College Belle born in October was the first animal of the beef breeds to be recorded by the college. She is recorded as "calved the property of the Trustees of Iowa Agricultural College." Her dam, Jessamine, was bred by D. McMillan and sold by him to the Trustees in . During the early years the dual-purpose qualities of the Shorthorn were emphasized and in the s and s, some outstanding milk and butterfat records were made by cows in the college herd. Two cows from the herd, College Belle 2nd and College Moore, are mentioned with pictures in Sanders' book on Shorthorn cattle [A History of Aberdeen-Angus Cattle, Alvin Howard Sanders, , Chicago IL, The New Breeders' Gazette]. Calves out of such cows sired by a bull named Courtier were said to be fine specimens of the breed. During the later years of this period, many of the leading breeders were shifting to the Scotch or beef-type Shorthorn. The college herd was definitely turned in that direction when Dean C. F. Curtiss imported Scotland's Crown for use in the herd in . No descendants of these early cows are in the herd today.
A few Aberdeen-Angus cows were purchased around . The first Angus calf recorded as bred by Iowa State College was Black Prince of Clanhattan calved in February . His dam, Daisy 5th, was purchased from Archie Reed and Brothers of Cresco, Iowa. All in the present herd is descended from cows purchased since .
The first Hereford calves recorded as bred by Iowa State College came in . They were out of cows purchased from Budgell and Simpson, Independence, Missouri, T. C. Ponting, Moweaqua, Illinois, and C. H. Elmendorf of Turlington, Nebraska, all prominent breeders of that time. Whether these were the first Hereford cows owned by the college is not in the records but they were the dams of the first calves to be recorded. Herefords in the present herd are descended from cows purchased since .
In , a herd of 47 Galloway cows was purchased to investigate the merits of the so-called "blue-gray" crossbreds. The Galloway cows were mated with white Shorthorn bulls. Since the cross was exceedingly popular in Great Britain for many years, the purpose was to test the blue-gray under Iowa feeding conditions and for our markets. Observations over a three-year period seemed to justify the high regard for blue-grays and that phase of the test was terminated. Some of the Galloway cows and some crossbreds of both sexes were kept to make a more intensive study of the inheritance of color and horns in cattle. This work continued for about 12 years and is reported in Station Research Bulletins 30 and 133. No Galloways have been kept in the beef cattle herd since this experiment ended.
An exhibit of market steers has been made at the Chicago International Exposition each year since the Exposition started in . The steer Shamrock, exhibited in by Iowa State College, was the first college-owned steer to be named Grand Champion. He was a grade Angus just over three years old and weighed pounds when sold.
Most of the steers exhibited have been raised from the college herd although a few have been purchased, mostly as calves, and fitted by the college herdsmen. A total of seven steers shown by the college have been named Grand Champion of the steer show. Numerous breed and group championships are also on the record. College steers have won the Grand Champion carcass award seven times.
Dairy Cattle
The Dairy Farm, purchased in , was equipped with suitable buildings and started operating as a separate farm and livestock unit in . Prior to that date the dairy herd had been a part of the livestock equipment of the original Model Farm and was housed in the cattle barn on the campus. Records of the introduction of the various breeds with dates have not been found. Ayrshires are reported as exhibited by the college at the Iowa State Fair from to . They were later discontinued from the herd and re-established sometime after the new quarters became available in . Since Jerseys were one of the early breeds to be brought into Iowa, it seems probable that they were one of the first breeds on the Model Farm. The first Holstein to be recorded as bred by Iowa State College was calved in . Guernseys were first brought to the state in the early s but the college herd was not established until sometime after . A herd of Brown Swiss and a few Milking Shorthorns were introduced later.
In a herd of scrub milk cows and heifers and one bull were purchased for the purpose of initiating a demonstration of the influence of environment and breeding in improving dairy production. Bulls of the two breeds, Holstein and Jersey, then maintained in the college herd, were used and a Guernsey bull was borrowed for the first cross and used until the Guernsey herd was started. Sometime later, when the Ayrshire herd was re-established, an Ayrshire cross was made but no heifer calves were produced and this line was dropped. The experiment was terminated after some fourth generation heifers had been tested. Details of the test are recorded in Experiment Station Bulletins 165, 188 and 251. The present dairy herd made up of Ayrshires, Brown Swiss, Guernseys, Holsteins and Jerseys, is now used for teaching purposes and for breeding, management and nutrition research.
Hogs
Hog production became important in Iowa very soon after the settlement of the state began. Many of the early settlers brought hogs with them. Details of their introduction to the Model Farm are not recorded but they were probably a part of the livestock equipment from the start. Improved herds of the Berkshire, Chester White and Suffolk breeds became well established in Iowa during the s. Breed rivalry became intense and the college conducted tests comparing breeds to answer questions from farmers concerning their relative merits. A long established practice has been to maintain breeding herds of as many of the breeds popular in Iowa as facilities would permit. This has made necessary occasional changes in breeds available for teaching use.
An exhibit of market barrows has been made each year at the International Livestock Exposition. Winnings include six Grand Champion barrows (one Berkshire, three Chester Whites, one Duroc Jersey and one Poland China), 11 Grand Champion pens of three with the same four breeds represented, and four Grand Champion carcasses, all Berkshires. As with steers, Iowa State was the first college to exhibit a Grand Champion barrow.
Horses
The earliest settlers in Iowa came in covered wagons, most of them drawn by oxen, but horses rapidly replaced the oxen for farm use. By the time the Model Farm was first put in operation in , census figures show that horses were three times as numerous as work oxen. The earlier horses to come to Iowa were of the all-purpose type, suitable for riding, driving and pulling farm implements. This type, while exceedingly useful at the time, was inadequate for the job of breaking virgin sod, pulling stumps and moving boulders. This created a demand for more size. A few stallions of the European draft breeds were brought into the state to mate with the existing lighter stock as the quickest way to get more power. One of the first two Percheron stallions to enter the state was Pride of Perche 382, purchased by Iowa State College in .
Clydesdales and Shires came into Iowa in the s, but when they first came to the college farm has not been found in the records. A rather extensive and costly experiment to develop an American draft breed by crossing these two breeds was well under way in . The objectives were to establish a breed gray in color, because the Percheron and other French Draft breeds had made that color popular, and to combine the size and substance of the Shire with the quality, style and action of the Clydesdale. Gray was an uncommon color, hard to find in both breeds, which limited opportunity for selection. As would now be anticipated, the progeny resulting from the cross were quite variable even in color. While a few very good specimens, some of them gray in color, were produced, the project was dropped without accomplishing its purpose. The Clydesdales were continued on a purebred basis for some 20 years after the crossbreeding was terminated.
There is no record of Belgians in Iowa until the late s, but they rapidly became popular and Iowa breeders are credited with having a leading part in the improvement of this breed. The date of their first introduction to the College Farm has not been found but it was sometime prior to . The breeding of Belgians and Percherons continued until when the last draft foals, one of each breed, were born.
Back in the horse and buggy days, some Standard bredes, Hackneys and a few specimens of the American Saddle Breed were a small part of the horse equipment kept for teaching use and for transportation. A few of the Standard breeds made excellent racing records when sold into other hands. With the coming of the automobile, most of the light horses were sold and the horses kept for teaching and farm use were practically confined to the draft breeds until the mid-s.
As mechanical power was substituted for horsepower in farming operations and draft horses became less important, numbers in the college stud were reduced. After considerable discussion of the choice of a light breed that would be most useful and popular, some mares of the American Saddle Breed were purchased in . Three years later, as a result of student, staff and outside interest, some fine Quarter Horse fillies were added. Their numbers have been increased through breeding and these two breeds now provide the horse equipment for teaching purposes.
Exhibits of Belgians, Clydesdales and Percherons in the breeding classes were made at the International Exposition and the Iowa State Fair beginning in and continuing until . A Clydesdale mare raised and shown by the college was Grand Champion female of the breed at the International Exposition in .
Sheep
No records have been found concerning the first sheep to come to the Model Farm, nor when they came. A few sheep were brought into Iowa by the earliest settlers, mostly to provide wool for home use. Soon after the college was started the Civil War shut off the cotton supply from the southern states and created an urgent demand and high prices for wool. Iowa farmers responded by quickly increasing sheep numbers, largely of wool type. The state sheep population reached two million in and this figure still stands as a record as of . After the war, wool prices dropped and in the next five years Iowa sheep numbers were reduced to one-half million.
Flocks of purebred sheep were established in the state in the s. Merinos were among the first followed by Southdowns, Hampshires and the long wool breeds. Purebred flocks of several breeds were on the College Farm in the s. It is recorded that in , Professor C. F. Curtiss purchased five each of Cotswolds, Dorsets, Oxford Downs and Merinos, and four each of Hampshires and Southdowns, and two Shropshires from prominent eastern flocks. Whether these purchases established new breeds on the farm or were added to flocks already in existence is not clear from the records.
Because of the difficulty of maintaining so many breeds of sheep with the limited barn, lot and pasture facilities available, some of the breeds less numerous in the state were dropped. This included the long wool breeds and the Merino that was later replaced by a flock of the Rambouillet breed. For many years, the college flock was made up of the five breeds- Hampshire, Oxford Down, Rambouillet, Shropshire and Southdown. Following WWII, the student housing development known as Pammel Court [now WOI Communications Bldg north to RR tracks] reduced land available for sheep pasture to the extent that flock numbers were reduced and the Oxfords and Rambouillets were sold. Only three breeds - Hampshire, Shropshire and Southdown- were kept in the college flock for teaching use.
Both market wethers and breeding sheep have been exhibited annually for many years at the International Exposition. Numerous breed championships have been won but not until was an Iowa State College wether, a Southdown, chosen for the Grand Champion. One International Exposition carcass champion is also in the record. During the early s, breeding sheep of various breeds were exhibited at the Iowa State Fair. Breeders and exhibitors around the state asked that these exhibits be made by the college to strengthen the sheep show.
Judging Teams
An important departmental activity has been the development of livestock, meat and dairy cattle judging teams to compete in Intercollegiate Judging Contests. This activity has stimulated interest in the Animal Husbandry field and has helped to foster the good relations that have existed between the department and college and the people engaged in the production of purebred and commercial livestock.
The first such contest was held at the first International Livestock Exposition in . Iowa State is the only college, of all that have participated, which has had a team competing every year in which the International has been held. There are now, including the contest of , a total of 53 Intercollegiate Livestock Judging Contests on the International Exposition records. The number of colleges and universities competing annually has varied from six in the first few years to over 40 in the more recent contests. Fifty-seven different colleges and universities have competed at different times including five Canadian institutions. The record of the Iowa teams is as follows:
15 times 1st 6 times 5th 7 times 2nd 4 times 6th 7 times 3rd 7 times below 6th 7 times 4th
A member of the Iowa team has been the high ranking individual in 12 of the 53 contests.
Teams from Iowa State have participated in the livestock judging contest at the American Royal at Kansas City since , except for WWI years. In more recent years, teams have also competed rather regularly at the Southwestern Livestock Show at Fort Worth, Texas, and on several occasions at the National Western in Denver, Colorado. A team has also competed regularly in the swine judging contest held at the National Swine Show. This show started in Des Moines in , later moved to Peoria, Illinois, and has been held in recent years at Austin, Minnesota.
The Meat Judging Contest at the International Exposition was started in and 29 contests have been held through . This contest was initiated by the National Livestock and Meat Board to stimulate greater interest, both in Animal Husbandry students and the public, in the work of the Board and in the meat work being offered by the Agricultural Colleges. In the International contest, an Iowa team has competed each year and the record shows them:
4 times 1st 1 time 4th 9 times 2nd 3 times 5th 6 times 3rd 6 times below 5th
This contest has grown from 10 teams competing in the early years to 20 or more each year since .
Similar contests are now being held at a number of major livestock expositions throughout the country. In recent years, an Iowa team has competed in meat judging contests at the American Royal and at the Southwestern Exposition at Fort Worth, Texas.
The first Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest was held at the National Dairy Exposition in , where it continued to be held through . The Dairy Cattle Congress at Waterloo, Iowa, started a contest in , and beginning in , this has been recognized as the National contest. With this arrangement, a total of 41 national contests are on the records including . Iowa State has competed in 40 of these and has ranked:
8 times 1st 3 times 4th 7 times 2nd 5 times 5th 5 times 3rd 12 times below 5th
The number of teams competing has varied from a low of seven in an early contest to 30 or more in the last four years. An Iowa team has competed each year at the Waterloo Dairy Cattle Congress and in recent years at the International Dairy Show held in the International Amphitheatre in Chicago.
Block and Bridle Club
In the early years of the college a student organization known as the Agricultural Club was formed to serve all of the Division of Agriculture. Students interested in agriculture were eligible for membership and a high percentage of all agricultural students joined the club and attended weekly meetings. As the departments grew in number and size and curricula became more specialized, a desire and need for departmental clubs developed. The club for Animal Husbandry majors was one of the first to organize. It started in as the Saddle and Sirloin Club. By , most of the departments had organized clubs whose meetings alternated with the Agricultural Club, each meeting every other week. The Agricultural Club was later discontinued and replaced by the Agricultural Council made up of representatives selected by each of the departmental clubs to handle affairs of interest to the whole division.
In , several members of the Iowa State College Saddle and Sirloin Club met with representatives of similar clubs from Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska at the Chicago International Exposition. This group organized on a national basis and chose the name of National Block and Bridle Club. The four clubs represented became the charter members of the national organization and the Iowa State club changed its name to Block and Bridle.
From the time of its organization, Block and Bridle has been one of the largest and most active departmental Clubs on the campus. It has for many years sponsored the Little International that began in as a final laboratory exercise in the livestock management course, which at that time was required of all Animal Husbandry juniors. Under the club sponsorship, it soon developed into an afternoon and evening show with competition open to all students.
The Horse Show, sponsored and managed by the club, has become an important feature of Veishea. The show held in was the 14th of these events. Judging contest for freshman and sophomores, the department open house exhibit for Veishea, an annual banquet honoring the judging team members and others, an annual barbeque and picnic, and regular meetings with timely programs are other club activities. The Iowa State chapter has won the competitions sponsored by National Block and Bridle for the best club activities record, the best annual report and the best individual member activity record on numerous occasions.
Research Program
Experimental work with livestock and crops was started soon after operation of the Model Farm began. Early experiments in the livestock field were concerned with testing various grains, different farm preparations of these grains (including cooking), breed comparisons and some simple ration comparisons. The earliest efforts were more in the nature of demonstrations with the results available for observation by students and visitors as the experiment progressed. J. P. Roberts, the Farm Superintendent from to , is the first to be credited with the conduct of livestock experiments. Some of the early results were published in the regular college reports and in certain periodicals and a few as special bulletins.
The Experiment Station as an administrative unit was not formally organized until , following the Federal Hatch Act of . Robert Speer, a member of the Board of Trustees, served as the first Director. An experiment station barn, to provide better quarters and partial separation of animals used for teaching and for research, was built east of the old horse barn and judging pavilion in [Hamilton Hall area]. This barn burned in and another barn, used for livestock experiments until it burned in , was erected just west of the present power plant. Cattle and lamb feeding sheds and lots were added to the north and west of the barn in the area now occupied by Central Stores [General Services Bldg]. Additional lots including some for pasture and forage were provided to the east [parking lot east of Soil Tilth Bldg].
By , a comprehensive experimental program with trained personnel was under way. Some of the early breeding experiments and demonstrations, partly with livestock used for teaching purposes, have already been noted. Beef and dairy cattle, hogs, horses and sheep were all being studied in feeding and management experiments. Preparation of grains and roughages, protein and mineral supplements, self-feeding of hogs, the value of corn silage and the various hay crops and housing and shelter problems were some of the subjects being investigated. By the program had outgrown the limited quarters allotted to it and demand was growing for more experiments concerning the use of pasture and forage crops in livestock production. This led to the purchase in of the original Animal Husbandry Experimental Farm of 182 acres located south of Highway 30 [Lincoln Way] and east of Beech Avenue [Iowa State Center]. A hog barn and adjoining lots were the first facilities provided. A feed storage building and silo were added later and the cattle and lamb feeding sheds from the old site were moved to the new location and attached to the feed storage building in . Numerous pasture and forage lots for hogs and sheep and pasture for steer feeding tests were made available on the new site.
In addition to the work in swine feeding and management, some experiments in Record of Performance litter testing, crossbreeding and type comparisons were started in the early s. This work led to a demand for increased research in the field of swine breeding. In , what is now known as the swine breeding research farm of 342 acres, located three miles southwest of the campus, was purchased. The federal Swine Breeding Laboratory was established at about the same time with regional headquarters at Iowa State College. Its purpose was to coordinate work in swine breeding at the various cooperating stations.
Following WWII and after extensive negotiations with the Federal government, the area known as the Ankeny Farm, used during WWII as an Ordnance Plant, was acquired by the Experiment Station for research purposes. Roughly, 1,000 of the 1,443 acres in the original grant are now assigned to the Animal and Dairy Husbandry for research in the breeding of beef and dairy cattle and hogs and has been developed and equipped for that purpose as funds would permit. [Note: This changed in when the State of Iowa wanted the south part of the Ankeny Farm for a community college. Beef cattle were then moved to the Rhodes Farm and swine were moved to South State Street, leaving only dairy cattle on that facility.]
Expanding research in Swine Nutrition and Management outgrew the limited facilities available on the Beech Avenue farm. Beginning in , this work was moved to the State Street farm of 88 acres devoted exclusively to research in this field.
Experimental work in beef cattle and sheep nutrition has been greatly expanded since . The east wing of the campus horse barn was taken over for laboratory work and for individual and lot feeding of cattle and lambs. A special appropriation by the state legislature in provided funds for the purchase of 300 acres of land located north of Ontario and a part of the buildings and equipment needed for the expanding program. Additional funds from the Research Foundation and the Agricultural Experiment Station have, by , provided good facilities for the cattle and lamb feeding experiments and for the maintenance of a herd of commercial beef breeding cows. With the move to this farm, the original experimental farm on Beech Avenue was gradually released for other uses.
Since the Dairy Farm began operating in , the herd, facilities and the farm have served jointly for the teaching and research program in Dairy Husbandry. Problems in breeding, nutrition and management have been studied continuously there and more recently at the dairy cattle unit of the Ankeny farm.
Approximately 1,900 acres of land, close enough to the college campus for continuous staff supervision and graduate student use and with reasonable adequate equipment, are now being used to accommodate a comprehensive research program pertaining to beef and dairy cattle, hogs and sheep. This has been further supplemented by the acquisition of a number of outlying farms where problems of general interest or peculiar to certain areas, are being studied.
Graduate Students
Iowa State College has offered graduate work almost since it was opened for students although steps toward the formal organization of a Graduate Division were not taken until . By that time, graduate work was being offered in most departments in all of the college divisions. In a committee of staff members was appointed by President Pearson to make a critical study of each department in the college with particular reference to the adequacy of personnel and facilities for offering graduate work. This committee recommended the formal organization of a Graduate Division. They also reported that the departments of Agronomy, Animal Husbandry and Horticulture had good graduate programs and were qualified to offer the doctorate. Bacteriology, Botany, Chemistry and Zoology, all in the Science Division, were the only other departments in the college to be so designated. The organization of the Graduate Division was completed and the first meeting of the Graduate Faculty was held in the fall of .
A list of advanced degrees awarded prior to was compiled in by R. E. Buchanan, then Dean of the Graduate Division. Thesis title or professor-in-charge or both were used to determine the major field. The first person to receive the Master of Science degree with a major in Animal Husbandry was W. Keltner Robbins and the year . There were three more M.S. degrees, including former Dean C. F. Curtiss, prior to . Seven were added in the next 10 years and 39 more between and .
The first Animal Husbandry major to receive the Ph.D. degree was Valente E. Villegas who came to Iowa State from the University of the Philippines. His thesis subject was "The Principles and Practices Involved in the Feeding and Management of Horses." The degree was conferred in .
The following tabulation summarizes the advanced degrees conferred on Animal Husbandry majors from through .
to inclusive M.S. 50 to inclusive M.S.
Ph.D. 142
5 to inclusive M.S.
Ph.D. 60
19 to inclusive M.S.
Ph.D 58
27 to inclusive (9 years) M.S.
Ph.D. 82
70 to inclusive (79 years) M.S.
Ph.D. 382
121
With an expanding and more diversified research program in Animal and Dairy Husbandry, largely since , graduate study has been specialized within the department. The fields designated in recent years for majors are Animal Breeding, Animal Production, Animal Reproduction, Dairy Husbandry, Meats, Ruminant Nutrition and Swine Nutrition.
A few assistantships, mostly teaching, were available for graduate students as early as . These were made available to encourage promising students to take graduate work and to provide some relief in teaching loads for staff members. These reasons, plus the need for graduate student help in the research program and grants from industry, have greatly increased the number of fellowships, scholarships and assistantships made available in later years.
Extension Service
Earliest efforts in the extension field were with groups visiting the campus. Demonstrations and talks by staff members to campus visitors are recorded prior to . In that year, President Welch and Professor of Agriculture I. P. Roberts held a three-day institute in Cedar Falls, which was probably the first formal attempt at off-campus teaching. They discussed livestock, crop, dairying and horticultural subjects. Special demonstrations and local short courses handled by regular staff members followed and led to a demand for an organized extension program. Perry G. Holden was brought to the college in to educate farmers in seed improvement. He started county demonstrations, corn trains and district short courses that proved successful. A legislative act in established an Extension Department with Holden named as Superintendent. Specialists in various fields beginning with livestock, crops, dairying and horticulture were employed to handle the work. W. J. Kennedy, then Head of the Animal Husbandry Department, replaced Holden as Head of Extension in .
Personnel
Many people have contributed to the accomplishments of the department as administrators, teachers and experiment station and extension staff members. An attempt has been made to compile an alphabetical list of those with the rank of instructor or associate and above that have been staff members since the department was organized on an administrative basis. Approximate dates of appointment, promotion or termination are included.
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Sources of Information
- A History of Iowa State College. . Earle D. Ross, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
- Chronology of Important Events of the First One Hundred Years, compiled by Dorothy Kehlenbeck.
- A Century of Farming in Iowa -, by Iowa State College Staff Members.
- College catalogues
- Staff members
- Alumni directory