SOME ANIMAL MATING RITUALS YOU HAVEN'T HEARD OF

The Cuttlefish Mating Ritual

Cuttlefish are sea mollusks that resemble squids. Their camouflaging abilities of color changes for protection also help in attracting females. The male dominated cuttlefish population results in a constant battle for a single female’s attention. However size is of no consequence and the intelligent ones succeed by disguising themselves as females to maneuver through clusters of males towards an unsuspecting female. They will hide their additional arm used as a sperm dispenser. Some fish also have the ability to appear as half male and half female to ward off rivals.

The Water Strider Mating Ritual

The water strider may be an insignificant little water fly, but when it comes to mating, the male is very demanding. Without any ritualistic dance or attraction he will climb atop the female expecting her to give in immediately. If she fails to do so he attempts to kill her by rippling the water to attract a predator towards her. He will only stop the rippling activity if she gives in. The female’s singular ability to fertilize eggs produced throughout a lifespan makes her disinterested in mating. It is only due to the male’s threats that they do so.

The Albatross Bird Mating Ritual

The cartoon like mating ritual of the albatross birds involves movements with their bills mimicking a sort of sword fencing fight. However these birds are totally monogamous preferring the company of each other lifelong. Throughout their 50 year lifespan, they will breed with the same partner every year. The bill dance is a major vocal event with a lot of clucking and cackling noise unique to the pair involved. With time the ritual gets subdued and lessens with age similar to the marital relationships of human beings.

Sea Horses Mating Rituals

Sea horses tend to behave in the same way as humans where mating and attraction is concerned. Before a couple can actually mate they will meet every day to engage in social activity and intimacy. In perfect synchronization, they will swim, entwine their tails, and move along with each other. A perfectly romantic process, leads to the female carefully placing her eggs in the abdominal pouch of the male. Here the male is the pregnant partner, weird but true. Once the babies are born they are abandoned on their own and the male looks for a new female again

The Prairie Voles Mating Ritual

It is surprising to learn that prairie voles actually provide scientists with a case study for observing human bonding and why some tend to be promiscuous. Prairie voles due to their high content of natural neurochemical receptors like vasopressin and oxytocin are ensured of a strong bonding with their partners. Although some do tend t have affairs with other voles, in general they will remain faithful with one partner throughout their lifespan. The same partners will remain with each other raising several litters throughout the year.

The Puffer Fish Mating Ritual

The puffer fish is truly artistic in his mating attempts. This little 12 cm fish will go to great lengths to decorate the ocean floor over an area of 2 meters in a circled pattern using coral and shells. This artwork nest takes about 12 days after which the female lays eggs within the center of the circled design. The elaborate designs are reflective of the strength of the male puffer which is what attracts the female. These designs have intrigued scientists in earlier years until a live photographed act revealed the designs as the work of the little puffer.

The Quoll Mating Ritual

The Quoll is a little marsupial found in the Australian region. Their size and innocence however is in extreme contrast to their aggressive mating. When the female is ready to mate, the male will copulate with such violent force that the female may be lucky to survive the process with just cuts and bruises. In some cases the male ends up killing his partner in the act or he is shunned by her. However what’s weird is that he may also end up killing himself due to exhaustive multiple attempts of mating and fighting other males.

The Flamingo Mating Ritual

When flamingoes mate it is an enjoyable dance in perfect synchronization involving the entire community. Akin to a well-choreographed chorus line, the birds will strut, stretch, puff and swivel about in perfect unison. Preceding every ritual, the males will oil themselves all over through secretions from a gland on the tail. This oil is also a protective cover from natural elements. It is believed that the female chooses a mate by close observation of the male who mirrors her actions best.

The Bower bird Mating Ritual

The male bower bird is all class and sophistication when it comes to impressing his female. In order to attract her he will build a perfect beautiful nest complete with uniform design. Even the entrance will be a decorative arch lined with colorful objects. The perfection is reflective in the placement of objects that ensure the illusion of objects appearing uniform in size to the female. The nest building process is the main activity of the bower bird and it usually the more experienced older birds that get the female.

The Scorpion Mating Ritual

The mating ritual of scorpions may seem a lively dance, but in effect, the wild aggressive actions initiated by the male are actually a defense mechanism to protect against the female’s bizarre nature of trying to devour his head first. Scorpions mate on moonless nights with the male hovering around the female a good 20 minutes. He then clasps the female’s pincers with his in order to restrain her and then deposits a spermatophore containing sperm on the surface of the ground. The female then absorbs the sperm into herself.

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NEWS: Agriculture Should Be Treated As Business

Nigeria: Agriculture Should Be Treated As Business - -Experts

30 May 2014 , By Jimoh Babatunde, Source: Vanguard

Experts from the agricultural sector in Africa emphasized that shift in mindset is paramount in breaking the problem of low production of both food and cash crops on the continent. The experts agreed that although Africa has a large labour force in its agricultural sector, comprising 57% of the working population, it still heavily relies on food imports.

"This means that farmers are simply not producing enough food to feed the continent's surging population estimated at one billion people."

In an interactive session titled "From Farm to Market" at the just concluded Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Kigali, Rwanda, the experts brought to light solutions to persistent challenges in the agricultural sector.
"Despite the fact that Africa has a rich biodiversity and most of the people are engaged in farming activities, production is still very wanting. Africa imports US $25 billion worth of food each year, with only US $1 billion coming from Africa. It means that we are not fully exploiting the opportunities in this important sector," Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture, Akinwunmi Adesina, said.
"It is high time we realized that agriculture can no longer be treated as a social activity or a normal development program. It must be treated as a business and managed as an enterprise because it is the future of Africa's socio- economic development."

He said that mechanization and irrigation programs must be emphasized throughout the continent, while governments must concentrate on finding more incentives to farmers. "We must think of mechanization; irrigation activity in Africa's arable land is still as low as 3%, while farmers still predominantly use hoes to till their gardens. We need to use production methods that are adequate, that add value and volume to the produce coming from farms," he said. "Governments should ensure that farmers' products have ready markets. They should also register all biometrics about the farmers in their countries, so that they follow them up and know all their challenges."

According to the founder of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF), Philip Kiriro, Africa's youthful population should be trained to develop agri-business models that not only create jobs but also contribute significantly to the continent's food basket.

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Animal Jokes

JUST FOR FUN

Two bats were hanging upside down on a branch. One asks the other, "Do you recall your worst day last year?" The other responds, "Yes, the day I had diarrhea!"
By LadyD.

Two dog owners are arguing over whose dog is the cleverest. ‘My dog is so smart’, says the first owner, ‘that every morning he waits for the paper boy to come round. He tips the boy and then brings the newspaper to me, along with my morning cup of coffee.’ ‘I know,’ says the second owner.
‘How do you know?’
‘My dog told me.

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10 DEADLIEST ANIMALS IN THE WORLD

We humans are constantly putting in efforts to make a better and safer life for ourselves, but the world remains a dangerous place. As for wild animals, what determines their danger level might not necessarily be size.
We may think of some of these animals as friendly or harmless, but sometimes even “friendly” or docile-seeming species can become dangerous if provoked.
Here is a list of the top 10 most dangerous animals on earth, beginning with number 10.

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BASIC TERMS USED IN FISH FARMING

Many of us in the process of making some researches always come across some terminologies being used in fishery, but here are some basic terms being used, it will definitely make it easier to understand your researches.

Aquaculture - also known as aquafarming, it is the controlled growth of aquatic species.

Pisciculture - aquaculture practice involving finned fish.

Extensive aquaculture - managed aquaculture dependent on the local natural setting, such as a pond or coastal sea area.

Intensive aquaculture - managed aquaculture controlled through human engineered means, such as managing water quality and sources of food.

Fish farm - locations used to grow populations of aquatic organisms, primarily fish.

Fish Hatchery - one form of a fish farm, managed with the intent of resupplying native wild populations in natural environments.

Ornamental fish - are small fish, such as koi, which are typically grown to be kept in aquariums or small landscape ponds.

Game fish - Fish, such as trout, raised to become replenishment stock for natural sport fisheries.

Wild fishing harvest - the commercial and personal fishing consumption in a specific area and over a specific time frame.

Fish farming Water Quality - the characteristics of water, such as water temperature and contamination, which define its ability to sustain life and its purity from chemicals.

Culture tanks - Artificial holding areas used to rear fish farm stocks.

Fish husbandry - the breeding and rearing of fish for a variety of reasons.

Anadromous fish - migratory fish that live in salt water but breed in fresh water.

Catadromous fish - migratory fish that live in fresh water but breed in salt water.

Amphidromous fish - migratory fish that live in both fresh and salt water, independent of breeding.

Potamodromous fish - migratory fish that move within fresh water only.

Oceanodromous fish - migratory fish that move within salt water only.

Genotyping - determining the genetic makeup of a fish or stock or the purpose of managing the efficiency of aquaculture production.

In vitro fertilization - artificially fertilizing fish eggs in a laboratory setting.

Fish meal - commercially processed food source used in fish farming as a source of protein for the fish stock.

Fry - Development stage of fish immediately after the larvae stage, at an age of less than a week.

Fingerling - Development stage of fish following the fry stage and continuing into the first three to four months of life.

Yearling - Development stage of fish following the fingerling stage and lasting until approximately one year of age. Brood stock - fish of any particular species which are raised for reproduction purposes.

Fish kill - a description of the number of fish stock to die in a specific amount of time. Pond acreage - area committed to extensive aquaculture holdings at a fish farm or company.

Environmental Overfishing - detrimental practice of removing more of a natural aquatic species than what natural reproduction can support.

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POULTRY MEDICATION

Antibiotics
for now i am still a lay-man when it comes to poultry medication and have no qualifications in this field yet so this information should, naturally be taken as a 'view' and part of your overall research into what is best for your poultry.

A ntibiotics are a fairly common treatment given to poultry on prescription to treat a variety of infections. Baytril or Tylan are often given to chickens with respiratory problems for example (and seem to work well for this complaint) but what is the risk is to our health when we are using antibiotics in animals that are producing food for human consumption?

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POULTRY SANITATION [cleaning and disinfecting]

Poultry-sanitation

After so many questions being asked on how our poultry can be sanitized [cleaned and disinfected] so I decided to be of help, the ravage of diseases has been a very big problem affecting poultry farms and these diseases are caused by some micro-organisms[bacteria, fungi, virus].
Not all micro-organisms are harmful, some are harmless[free-living], but the best way to eradicate diseases in your poultry is to treat all of them like they are severe and dangerous.
These disease, even though tough but can still be prevented, and this can be done by sanitation i.e cleaning and disinfecting.

CLEANING

Cleaning is to be done before disinfecting inorder to get the best out of the disinfectants and when I said cleaning I meant thorough cleaning, make sure you remove as much organic matter as practicable from surfaces to be disinfected. All debris including down, egg shells, droppings, tissue residues, etc. must be removed from the hatchery. This is followed by thorough cleaning using warm water and appropriate cleaning aides. Care is focused on selecting the proper detergent and thus producing the cleanest hatchery environment possible. Special attention is placed on compensating for variations in hardness, salinity and pH of the cleaning water. A thorough rinsing with abundant quantities of clean sanitized water completes the cleaning process and removes most lingering residues of detergents and organic matter or microbial organisms that can interfere with the effectiveness of a disinfectant.

DISINFECTING

After getting rid of the visible organic matter by cleaning, we would ask ourselves "how can the unseen{microorganisms} be gotten rid of??". That's where the disinfectant solution comes in, it is used to kill microorganism, there are different types of disinfectants and not all disinfectants are suitable for every situation.
Only after the facilities have been thoroughly cleaned are the surfaces treated with an appropriate disinfectant solution.
When selecting a disinfectant carefully consider:

The type of surface being treated

.

The cleanliness of the surface

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The type of organism being treated

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The durability of the equipment/surface material

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Time limitations on treatment duration

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residual activity requirements

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Disinfectants can be divided into seven categories;

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