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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, all praises is to Allah and to Him alone which He guided me, showed me

the way to overcome all the obstacles appeared throughout the industrial training.

He also lighted my path, inspired me and gave me surplus energy to eventually finish

the industrial training with successfully.

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the manager of this Ladang Infoternak

Sungai Siput (U), Mr. Suhaimi bin Tasir, and my supervisor, Mr. Muhammad Faiz bin

Ismail for their continuous constructive guidance, comments and invaluable

knowledge during this industrial training.

A great thanks goes to Prof. Dr. Wan Mohamad Wan Othman, dean of Faculty of

Sustainable Agriculture, UMS and my academic supervisor, Prof. Dr. Abdul Rashid

Baba for their invaluable support and encouragement before, during and after this

industrial training.

My special gratitude also goes to all the head of the units and the staffs in this farm

especially Mr. Nor Andilla bin Isfar, Mr. Daud bin Abu Bakar, Mr. Mohd. Nizam bin

Taha, Mr. Manoher A/L Subramaniam, Mr. Noor Afendy bin Mohd. Hashim, Miss

Halina binti Haji Yusof and Mr. Mohd. Azlan Shah bin Md Yusof for their great help

during the industrial training at the unit. Without their help and encouragement, I

could not learned and experienced many things during this industrial training.

My deep appreciation goes to my beloved parents, Mr. Dzulkarnain bin Shamsuddin

and Mdm. Nor Fazilla binti Mohd. Zain for their continuous support, help and

encouragements from the beginning until the end. They are my inspiration to keep

me strong and never give up to face any obstacles appeared before success.

I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to those who are directly and

indirectly involved throughout this industrial training. I realized that in the process of

gaining knowledge, I cannot stand on my own without these people mentioned

above because in every success person, there are always those people who stand

behind to assist. Thank You!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Content Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS 2

INTRODUCTION 3

- GOATS AND SHEEP UNIT 4 - RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R&D) UNIT 6

- DEER UNIT 8

- AGRONOMY UNIT 9

- DAIRY CATTLE UNIT 10

- OSTRICH UNIT 11

CONCLUSION 13

APPENDICES 14

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INTRODUCTION

Ladang Infoternak Sungai Siput (U) was founded by the Chief Minister of Perak in

1972 with the name Pusat Ternakan dan Demonstrasi Haiwan, Jabatan Perkhidmatan

Haiwan Kampung Koboi, Sungai Siput (U). In 1980, with the aimed to provide the

training in livestock management to the Perak residency, the name of the farm is

changed to Pusat Latihan Ternakan Sungai Siput (U) and inaugurated by the late

Sultan Idris Shah. Now, the farm is known as Ladang Infoternak by Dr. Abdul Razak

bin Zailan, the offier at the time. This farm is under Jabatan Veterinar Negeri Perak

which located at Sungai Siput (U), Perak in the district of Kuala Kangsar with overall

total area of the farm is 487 acre. Now, Ladang Infoternak is managed by Mr.

Suhaimi Tasir with Mr. Muhammad Faiz Ismail as the assistant manager.

The main types of livestock reared here are dairy cattle, dairy and meat

goats, deer, ostriches and sheep. In this farm there are several units including

Agronomy Unit, Cattle Unit, Deer Unit, Goat and Sheep Unit, Health Unit, Ostrich

Unit, Research and Development Unit, and Training Unit. In line with the name given,

the objectives of the farm are (1) to provide training and expertise in the livestock

field; (2) to provide good quality breeds of livestock; and (3) also to become the

model farm to the farmers in certain types of livestock that can be potentially

developed. In achieving the objectives, Ladang Infoternak usually held courses on

livestock management commonly for the residency in Perak. For example the Beef

Cattle Management Course, Dairy Cattle Management Course, Poultry Course, Small

Ruminant Course, Effective Microorganisms Course, and other courses related to

livestock.

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- Goat and Sheep Unit

Under the Goat and Sheep Unit, there are two types of goats is reared here such as

dairy and meat goats while for sheep only reared for the meat. The breeds for dairy

goats are Saanen, Toggenburg and British Alpine (in Shed E); the breeds for meat

goats are Jamnapari and Boer (in Shed A); and for the breeds of sheep are Barbados

Black Belly and Dopper (in Shed B).

The objectives of this unit are (1) to maintain the number of offspring

produced every year; (2) to maximize the number of milk produced during the

milking time; and (3) to be able to supply enough quality goats and sheep to the

farmers. In order to achieve the objectives, Mr. Nor Andilla bin Isfar, as the head of

the unit, is in-charged for the unit.

Every day, at 8.00 am the activities such as cleaning the shed (sweeping the

manure down), changing the drinking water, feeding the goats and sheep, milking

the dairy goats and packing the milk into the bottle to be sold to the customers is

done. The importance of cleaning the shed and changing the drinking water are to

ensure that the surrounding of the goats and sheep is always clean and safe from

the microorganism growth which could lead to disease to the livestock. The good

quality feeds (grasses and pellets) for the goats and sheep is fresh and safe to be

eaten could help the livestock increase their body weight and milk production. While

doing the chores at the shed, it is important to observe the behavior and movement

of the livestock to check whether they encounter any sickness which could be treated

at early stage.

For milking the goats, it is usually done after the cleaning the shed and

changing the drinking water around 9.00 am. All the workers will gather at the

milking parlor to help in the milking process to be more convenient and faster. Before

the milking of the goats, we need to prepare two bucket of warm water which one of

it contain 2 tablets of germisep (disinfectant purpose) and one is clean warm water.

By using two clean cloth that are dipped into the warm water bucket (one with the

germisep; one with clean water), the teats of the goats is cleaned (first with the one

dipped contain germisep; second with clean water). Then, the milking cup is put at

the teats and let the goats relax without disturbing the milking process while

monitoring the milking. This is to prevent sudden respond which could stop the milk

production from the goats. When the milking is done, the milking cup is removed and

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before release the goats back into the shed, iosan (disinfectant purpose) is applied to

the teats. After the milking of the goats, the milk is pasteurized before being packed

into bottle of 250 mL.

The use of iosan instead of iodine for disinfectant purpose is because iodine

could cause cell death to the teats while iosan can restore the elasticity of the teats.

The purpose of milking the goats every morning are to ensure that all the milk is

sulked out from the teats and prevent the goats from getting swelling at the teats

which could lead to mastitis.

Other activities done here are the management of newborn kids and the

mother. First, both the newborn kids and mother need to be separated from the

group and are put in the isolation pen to prevent any injuries to the newborn kids.

For the newborn kids, we need to assist the newborn kids to suck the colostrum from

the mother’s teats within four to six hours after delivering. We also need to cut the

navel of the newborn kids 2 cm from the body and iodine is sprayed at the navel. To

support the growth, mamimune is given to the newborn kids as supplement every

day until it reach 1 month pf age. For the management of the mother, after the

delivering the kids, we need to make sure that the placenta is removed by itself from

the vagina. The mother is given water contain molasses to help it regain back the

energy.

Due to the shortage of paddock field for all the goats and sheep, the meat

goats are given priority to grazing at the paddock field while the other goats and

sheep are supplied with the chopped Napier Uganda grass and maize leaves via cut

and carry. It is crucial to supply fresh grasses to the goats and sheep because they

are ruminant which means that they need forages in their digestive system.

From the activities done in this unit, I able to learn the correct and fast

technique to clean the shed and changing the drinking water. I also learned the steps

before, during and after the milking session which is important to prevent any foreign

objects or microorganism getting into the milk. I able to learn management of

newborn kids and mother after the delivering technically. Furthermore, Mr. Andilla

also teach me the new knowledge regarding how to construct the proper shed for

the goats and sheep which emphasize on the safety of the people and the livestock;

and the health and disease management using the traditional medicine for certain

disease to help the farmers cut the cost to buy the expensive medicine.

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- Research and Development (R&D) Unit

Under the Research and Development Unit, Mr. Daud bin Abu Bakar is the head of

the unit which in-charged in monitoring the activities done in the unit. The main

activities in this unit is supplying the fresh Napier Uganda grasses (Pennisetum

purpureum CV Uganda) as feed via cut and carry to the kids (age six to twelve

months), sick, male and dairy goats and also the sheep. This is because the animals

are not allowed to grazing in the paddock due to the shortage of paddock field.

For the feed (Napier Uganda grasses) preparation, after the grasses is

harvested from the farm, by using the chopper machine the grasses is being

chopped. Then, the chopped grasses is put into the gunny sacks before being loaded

on the tractor to transport them to the goats and sheep sheds. The number of gunny

sacks for each shed are depends on the number of animals, age and their purpose of

rearing. For example, more gunny sacks are loaded at the shed keeping the dairy

goats to support their nutrition for energy and milk production.

Other activities such as making silage from the Napier grass and maize

leaves; making compost from the goat manure; and making stock effective

microorganism (EM) using the deer rumen are being taught to me by Mr. Daud

during my practical in this unit.

In the making of silage, the ingredients needed are 1) one litre molasses; 2)

500 ml distilled or rain water; 3) 0.5% urea or EM; 4) 500 g salts; and 5) 100 kg

grasses. All the ingredients are mixed together and is put into a container before

being tightly closed using the lid of the container. If the urea is used in making the

silage, it will take 21 days before the silage is ready to be fed to the livestock

compared to using the EM, it only requires three days. The importance of preparing

the silage is that it can replace the fresh chopped Napier grasses if there is less

quality of grasses due to drought.

Due to the excess of goat manure in the farm, the R&D unit is in-charged in

making compost by using the goat manure. For one ton of goat manure, 1) 20 kg

lime; 2) 2.5 kg pro biodec; 3) 100 kg zeolite, and 4) 50 kg sawdust are needed to be

mix with the manure. It is necessarily to turning the compost pile regularly which

intended to create new passageways for air and moisture at the same time keep it in

an aerobic state that helps to speeds up the composting process, eliminate the odors

and chased away any rodents.

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Since there is deer being slaughtered, Mr. Daud able to teach how to make

the stock EM from the deer rumen. For making the stock EM, 1) one kilogram

molasses; 2) one kilogram pineapple; 3) one litre water; 4) one kilogram bran; 5) 0.5

kilogram shrimp paste; 6) one litre water from rice washing; and 7) three litre fresh

milk is mixed together and cooked for some time. Then the mixture is let to cool

before emptying the rumen into the mixture. The purpose of making EM is it could

help in controlling the flies and reduces odor in the livestock farm. It is given orally in

the drinking water of livestock which could help in their digestion due to fast break

down of feed and absorption of nutrients in the digestive system.

From this unit, I able to experience how to make silage in a large amount of

grasses, make compost out of goat manure and make stock EM from rumen of deer.

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- Deer Unit

Under Deer Unit, the head of the unit, Mr. Mohd. Nizam bin Taha, is responsible in

ensuring the deer is managed properly with adequate feed (pellets as additional feed

apart from the grass) and water for drinking. The aim is to produce enough deer to

meet the customer’s demand in the future.

Compared to other unit, there is not much daily activities can be done in this

unit because all of the deer is reared semi-intensive which they are let to grazing

freely in the paddock secured with the cyclone fence. With the high excess of grasses

in the paddock, it is not necessarily to provide any additional feed (pellets). However,

according to the Mr. Nizam, the pellets help to warm up their body and give extra

nutrients to the deer. The pellets is given in the morning and the amounts of pellets

given is depend on the number and age of deer in the paddock.

Other activities are done once in a week such as herding the deer from one

paddock to another paddock because here they practiced the rotational grazing and

deer selection for selling and slaughtering purpose done in the dark house. To

prevent the deer from being aware of their surroundings, it is necessary to do deer

selection inside the dark house which it has partition of rooms connected by sliding

doors and Mr. Nizam will select the deer by standing on the platforms created above

the rooms. It makes the deer selection easier and faster.

Once in a year, there will be health program consist of ear tagging and blood

sampling done to the young deer. It usually done in the dark house equipped with

the crusher to trap the deer so that the health program can be done. It is my luck

because I could followed the health program and experienced taking blood sample

and doing ear tagging with them assisting. The purpose of taking the blood sample is

to examine whether the young deer have any disease such as leptospirosis,

brucellosis, foot and mouth disease (FMD), myelofibrosis, and blood parasite. By

using the color ear tagging, it could help the staff to know the age of the deer since

all the deer tagged is born in this year.

From this unit, I able to learn proper way to herding the deer from one

paddock to another paddock and how to select the deer for selling and slaughtering

purpose. I also able to experience on how to take blood sample from the neck’s vein

and do ear tagging to the deer without any injuries occurred.

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- Agronomy Unit

Under Agronomy Unit, Mr. Manoher A/L Subramaniam, the head of the unit is

responsible in ensuring the activities is done as scheduled to prevent any delay in

planting the pasture and fodder. The aims in this unit are to ensure enough supply of

good quality pasture and fodder to the livestock and to increase the growth of

pasture and fodder in the paddock. From this unit, I learned on how to prepare

seedling grass with fertilizer before spreading on to the pasture land and involved in

fertilizer program.

For the preparation of seeds grass with fertilizer, it is necessarily need to be

done a day before spreading the seeds to the pasture land. The seeds grass that is

used in the preparation is Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) and the fertilizer used is

triple superphosphate (TSP). The ratio for the TSP and the seeds grass is 250 kg : 3

kg for one acre. From the ratio, five gunny of TSP weigh 50kg each is mixed with

three kg of Guinea grass seeds by using the scoop. Then, the mixture of both TSP

and seeds is scoop into empty gunny sacks before being loaded on to the tractor for

activity of spreading the seeds on the pasture land on the next morning.

For seed spreading, it is done manually by hand which of the practical

students need to carry a pail containing the mixed seeds and TSP and spread it

around the field. This is a way of teaching the practical students on traditional way in

spreading the seeds. To prevent any practical students from fainting due to the heat,

the activity need to be start early in the morning and can be finished before noon.

For fertilizer program, the fertilizers are mixed together and two types of

fertilizers used are urea (nitrogen source) and Muriate of Potash (MOP) (potassium

source) with the ratio 2 urea: 1 MOP for one acre. This program is to maintain the

growth of the pasture in the paddock for the livestock to grazing.

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- Dairy Cattle Unit

Under the Dairy Cattle Unit, as the head of the unit, Mr. Noor Afendy bin Mohd.

Hashim is in-charged in managing the management of the cattle regarding their

health and milk production. The aim is to be able to supply the cow’s milk to meet

the customer’s demand.

Same with Deer Unit, here the cattle is let to grazing freely in the paddock

secured with the cyclone fence and is given pellets in the morning as additional

nutrients to them. The daily activity in this unit is milking the cattle using the bucket

line of milking. Every morning, the cows are herding to the milking parlor for the

milking. The body and teats are washed using water to clean out all the mud on the

body and teats. Then, by using the clean cloth dipped with water contain germisep

(disinfectant purpose), the teats is cleaned. Before putting the milking cup at the

teats, the cows is given pellets mixed with soya pellets and calcium. When the

milking is done, the milking cup is removed and before drove away the cows back

into the paddock, iosan is applied to the teats. The milk is pack in a plastic with 1

litre per plastic. The milk is sold to the customer with RM 1.00 per plastic.

Other activities done in this unit are cleaning and washing away the cattle

manure at the cattle barn used for health program into the drain using the high

pressure water. The purpose of washing away the cattle manure is to provide clean

and comfortable environment to the cattle during the health program. The health

program such as giving antibiotics and vitamin via intramuscular (IM) to the cattle is

done once in a while depends on the performance of the cattle.

From this unit, I able to experience the milking process using the bucket line

of milking and learn about the importance of the milking procedure. I also

experienced giving antibiotics and vitamin via IM to the cattle with them assisting.

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- Ostrich Unit

For the ostrich unit, the head of the unit is Miss Halina binti Haji Yusof, which in-

charged in keeping the ostrich continuously producing the eggs for selling purpose

and hatching purpose. The objectives are to produce offspring from the eggs using

the hatchery machine as scheduled and to be able to supply enough eggs and

newborn ostriches to the farmers.

In this unit there are two groups of workers in managing the ostriches such

as feeding the ostriches group and feed preparation group. During practical in this

unit, I able to follow both group and doing the activities together with them. Every

day, at 8.00 am the daily activities for feeding the ostriches group are including filling

the gunny sacks containing pellets with chopped Napier grasses; cleaning and refill

the water trough in each pen (two times in a week, vitamin is given in the drinking

water); feeding the ostriches with the mixed up pellets and chopped Napier grasses

(two times in a week, supplement for growth and egg production is given in the

feed); and washing and drying the gunny sacks used for the feed. While for the feed

preparation group, the daily activities are including harvesting the Napier grasses

using the machine cutter; chopping the Napier grasses; and putting the chopped

Napier grasses into the container. Once in two weeks, the container used to put the

chopped Napier grasses is washed using the brush and is let to dry. With this division

of work, the work will become more convenient for all.

In this unit, there is one worker that in-charged in management of eggs and

newborn ostrich. However, due to some problems encountered by the hatchery

machine, there is no newborn ostrich produce recently. Although there is problem

with the machine and the machine is being fixed, the eggs are still put inside for

hatching purpose to see whether fixing it could change the result. Every day, it is

necessary for the worker to check on the hatchery machine to ensure the

temperature and humidity is suitable for the eggs to hatch.

For the management of the eggs, the egg is collected from the pen and is put

in the hatchery room which has controllable environment suitable for keeping the

eggs before putting the eggs into the hatchery machine. The record is taken if there

is any eggs collected from the pen. Usually, the eggs will be divided into two groups

– 1) for selling purpose and 2) for hatching purpose. The criteria of eggs used to

distinguish the eggs whether for selling or hatching purpose are depends on the size,

shape and cleanliness of the eggs.

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For the management of the newborn ostrich, although it is in a short period

of time, I am lucky because able to experience how to take care of the newborn

ostrich. Unfortunately, the newborn ostrich cannot survive after four days of

hatching. During the hatching time, the newborn ostrich is assisted by breaking the

eggshell. Then the baby is taken out from the eggshell and is put into the incubator

to help it dry and warm. After two days approximately, the baby is taken out and is

put in the newborn ostrich place which has heater and covered with carpet to

prevent it from slippery floor cement. The baby is taught to eat and drink by itself by

attract it to the feeder and waterer.

From this unit, I able to learn regarding management of ostriches from

preparation of feed until to feeding the ostrich. I also learned that the male is fiercely

guarding the area or their territory and protecting the eggs from predator compared

to the female. Furthermore, I learned in management of eggs and newborn ostrich.

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CONCLUSION

During this six month of industrial training, many things that I experienced and

learned from the people in this farm. At first, it was hard for me to adjust with the

work in the unit due to lack of self-preparation and field knowledge. However, with

the help of the head of the unit and other staffs in this farm, I able to do the work

given to me successfully. From this industrial training, I gained many field

experiences and knowledges from the people here and become more prepared for

the future work or job as this industrial training gave me the experience of how the

working life environment.

In this six month, I able to improve my soft skills and confidence to

interact with people from different level of knowledge and area. Although most of the

farmers I met did not have basic knowledge of agriculture from school or univercity,

they are capable of managing the farm better than myself and are successfully in

their farm production. From my experiences, I learned that knowledge is important to

prevent ourself from being cheated by others and it can be earned by involving

ourself with different major area of people. That is one of the advice I got from the

farmers that came here to seek some help and advice for their farm.

My recommendations based on my industrial training at this farm are:

- This farm should be used as venue for expo or carnival regarding the

livestock and agriculture. This is because this farm can be a place for agro-

tourism and people will notice this farm.

- This farm should add other types of livestock such as quail, chicken and

‘burung walid’ since there are provided place to reared them. This could

increase the numbers of farmers to seek advice from this farm and also

become the parent stock for the livestock.

- This farm should also joint venture with private company involving the

livestock which could encourage farmers to be more successful in their farm

and give opportunity to the practical students to learn more from the private

company.

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Appendices

Figure 1: cleaning of the shed Figure 2: milking of the goats

Figure 3: herding the goats to paddock Figure 4: giving anthelmintic orally

(Levamisole)

Figure 5: making compost from goat manure

Figure 6: making silage out of Napier grass

Figure 7: making EM from deer rumen Figure 8: giving pellets to the deer in

the paddock

Figure 9: deer selection in dark house Figure 10: taking deer’s blood sample

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Figure 11: demonstration on seeds spreading by Mr. Manoher

Figure 12: milking of cattle using bucket line of milking

Figure 13: cleaning of cattle barn Figure 14: washing of cattle barn

Figure 15: giving vitamin via IM to cattle Figure 16: California Milk Test (CMT) on

cattle milk.

Figure 17: cleaning and refill the water trough

Figure 18: giving the mixed up pellets with Napier grass.

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Figure 19: candling the ostrich’s egg Figure 20: washing the gunny sacks used for feed

Figure 21: attract the baby to drink Figure 22: cleaning the eggshell for decoration purpose