BSc (Hons) Applied Animal Science

Understanding how animals’ function and adapt to changes in their environment both internal and external requires a good knowledge of anatomy and physiology at a cellular, organ and whole animal level.

To begin you will be introduced to several key physiological concepts and mechanisms in your year 1 Animal Physiology Systems-1 module. Complimentary to this module you will also develop an understanding of what can happen when animals become ill through infection, metabolic disorders, stress, injury and as because of nutritional challenges in Animal Health.  These two foundational modules will provide a platform for studying more advanced aspects of animal physiology and health in year 2.

In Animal Physiology Systems-2 this you will begin to explore neurobiology, musculoskeletal function, and reproductive physiology. In Host-pathogen interactions you will build on your knowledge of different pathogens and the immune response acquired in Animal Health to evaluate how host and pathogens evolve and adapt to ensure their own survival. By the end of year two you will have covered physiology of all major body systems and have developed a good understanding of the physiology of animals and health and disease.

In year three, you will build on this fundamental biological knowledge and learn how we can apply it to animal breeding and production. In Early Life Physiology you will explore the physiology of pregnancy, parturition and neonatal life and develop an understanding of the importance these processes play in how we breed animals. Advanced Physiology of Growth and Development will consider the role of the animal in meat and milk production and the key physiology underpinning efficient growth.

Finally in year 4 in Disease Surveillance and Control you will consider how animal diseases are diagnosed and controlled at both an individual level and herd level and the systems in place to rapidly identify infectious disease in animal populations

As part of your wider introduction to animal biology, your first-year course in Animal Behaviour will give you a good understanding of why animals behave the way they do, and what we can learn from the study of behaviour. This will be complemented by the Keeping and Managing Animals module, which provides a thorough introduction to how humans use animals in different contexts, such as on farms, as companion animals, as captive wild animals, or in research.

In second year, your knowledge of behaviour will be further developed in Applications of Animal Behaviour, where you will learn about various topics that are important for anyone planning a career working with animals. These include animal handling, animal learning and training, how to assess animal emotions, and how to conduct scientific observations of animal behaviour.

Your understanding of animal behaviour will be put to good use in years three and four where the Animal Welfare Concepts and elective Assessing Animal Welfare modules will give you a thorough grounding in what animal welfare means and how to assess welfare in animals.

In year 2 the societal and ethical implications of how humans use, and benefit from, animals will be explored in Animals and Society and the implications of human activity for biodiversity will be explored in Animal Conservation. An in year 3 Wildlife & Agriculture Interactions will explore some of the potential conflicts between the natural and human managed world.

Good nutritional management is key for any living being, including farms animal and pets, not only because of its direct link to animal production, but also animal health, welfare and environmental footprint to name but a few.

In year one your Basic Animal Nutrition and Digestion module will introduce you to some of the principles of animal nutrition as well as digestive anatomy and physiology. You will learn about the composition of different feedstuffs, how their components are digested, and what factors influence feed composition.

This will prepare you for second year where your module on Nutrient Requirements and Diet Formulation which is a bit more quantitative in nature. It focuses on how we determine nutrient requirements for maintenance and production, and how we go about mixing feedstuffs in a ration to meet the nutritional needs of animals whilst recognising how much they eat.

These two foundational modules set the scene for Year 3 Strategic Animal Nutrition which hovers around interactions between nutrition and a wide range of other disciplines, facilitated by several academic guest lecturers. This will allow you to appreciate nutrition is not a stand-alone subject but interacts with host microbiome, behaviour and welfare, environmental impact and health.

In year 4 you have the option to study Applied Animal Nutrition as an elective module which takes a focused look at the animal feed industry and will deepen your knowledge and understanding of the principal issues encountered within animal nutrition. A key component of this exciting module is the involvement of guest speakers from the feed industry, who do not only discuss their career paths but also show the ins-and-outs of the challenges and opportunities they face as applied animal nutritionists.

In first year, we begin with Introduction to Genetics where you will be introduced to important concepts in genetics, building a foundation for more advanced modules later in the course. You’ll learn how to predict the coat colours of a litter of puppies and how we can use genetic engineering to make bacteria glow like jelly fish.

In second year in Animal Breeding, Selection and Technologies, we learn how we can use genetics to improve livestock and companion animals through selective breeding. You will plan your own selective breeding programme, from what traits are important, to how to carry out genetic evaluation and what reproductive and genetic technologies we can use.

In Year 4 you will continue to broaden your knowledge of genetics with Animal Breeding and Genetics and gain up-to-date knowledge of current practices, issues and opportunities in animal breeding and genetics.

Quantitative skills form the foundation of scientific understanding and are highly desirable to potential employers!

In Year 1, Data Science and Computing will introduce simple statistical ideas for understanding data, you’ll gain a range of basic computing skills and you will also get hands on scientific programming experience.

In Year 2’s Research Skills and Statistics you will develop important skills for research, including analysis of scientific data. You will also learn about the importance of quantitative skills to both public and private sector employers, and how you can highlight these abilities to make you stand out.

Year 3’s Advanced Research Methods extends your research and analysis skills and introduces advanced statistical methods such as machine learning, while Epidemiology builds on previous animal health and quantitative modules to examine the dynamic interactions between population structure, environment and animal health using the latest quantitative tools to analyse patterns of disease.

In Year 4 you will apply a range of research and data skills to your honours dissertation. You will conduct an independent piece of research of your choosing which you write up into an honours dissertation and present the findings of to your class and staff at the end of year dissertation conference. You are encouraged to pursue a topic of interest to you. There are a wide range of projects topics, some examples of projects undertaken by previous students include:

• Projects on animal behaviour and enclosure use in captive wild animals such as penguins, pelicans, and chimpanzees.
• Projects investigating the benefits of enrichment for cattle, pig, and rat welfare.
• Projects looking into animal health - for example looking at animal diet, antibiotic use, parasite burden and disease.
• Other students have chosen to explore the social science aspects of animal science, for example how our perceptions of and interactions with other animals can affect our health and wellbeing as well as theirs.
• And other projects have utilised big data and machine learning or have developed or investigated the use new laboratory techniques, whilst others have researched the potential benefits of new technologies for animal health and welfare, such as facial recognition software.

The purpose of the honours project is to enable you to further hone and demonstrate those important research and critical thinking skills that you will have been developing throughout the course and give you the opportunity to identify a topic that is of particular interest to you.