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ICAR AIEEA Livestock Farm Practices: practice questions

ICAR AIEEA (PG): Master's entrance, Veterinary Science and Animal Sciences · India · NTA for ICAR

Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papers
10worked here, free
19written to this exam in this subject
7syllabus units

About ICAR AIEEA

ICAR AIEEA (PG): Master's entrance, Veterinary Science and Animal Sciences is a postgraduate admission exam run by NTA for ICAR, for candidates in India. Computer-based, 120 MCQs in 120 minutes, +4 for correct and -1 for wrong, maximum 480. English only.

Source: icar.org.in.

Checked against the exam body's published information. Formats and fees change; confirm the current edition there before you book.

Livestock Farm Practices in ICAR AIEEA

Recall of dentition formulas and eruption ages, Schaeffer's formula, methods of milking and identification, casting methods, thumb rules of concentrate feeding, gestation lengths and record calculations.

The hands-on, non-credit farm course: handling, milking, feeding, identifying and recording animals, and routine procedures such as hoof trimming, dehorning and castration.

Our 19 ICAR AIEEA questions in this subject: 3 easy, 8 medium, 8 hard, across 7 units.

10 practice questions, worked

Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.

These 10 were written to ICAR AIEEA and are not shown on any other exam's page.

Question 1 · hard

The calming effect of a nose twitch in horses is mainly attributed to which mechanism?

  1. Reduced blood flow to the brain from compression of the facial artery
  2. A conditioned fear response that wears off only after several hours
  3. Blockage of the facial nerve by pressure on the lip, which paralyses the head (a reflex arc)
  4. Release of endogenous endorphins
Answer and working

D. Release of endogenous endorphins

Studies of twitched horses found a fall in heart rate and a rise in plasma beta-endorphin, so the twitch is thought to work through endorphin release. Its effect lasts only minutes, so procedures under a twitch must be short.

Question 2 · easy

What is the permanent dental formula of an adult cow?

  1. I 3/3, C 1/1, P 3/3, M 3/3 = 40
  2. I 0/3, C 0/1, P 3/3, M 0/0 = 20
  3. I 0/4, C 0/1, P 3/3, M 3/3 = 34
  4. I 0/3, C 0/1, P 3/3, M 3/3 = 32
Answer and working

D. I 0/3, C 0/1, P 3/3, M 3/3 = 32

Cattle have no upper incisors or upper canines. Per side: incisors 0/3, canine 0/1, premolars 3/3, molars 3/3, giving 16 per side and 32 in all. I 0/3, C 0/1, P 3/3 with no molars is the deciduous formula (20). Counting the incisiform lower canine both as a fourth incisor and again as a canine double-counts it and gives 34 (some texts write the same 32 teeth as I 0/4, C 0/0).

Question 3 · medium

In a horse, Galvayne's groove has grown halfway down the upper corner incisor from the gum. What age does this suggest?

  1. About 15 years
  2. About 10 years
  3. About 20 years
  4. About 5 years
Answer and working

A. About 15 years

Galvayne's groove appears at the gum at about 10 years, reaches halfway at about 15, runs the full length at about 20 and has grown out by about 30. Estimates in older horses are imprecise.

Question 4 · medium

Why does freeze branding produce a white mark on a dark-coated animal?

  1. Cold destroys every hair follicle completely, so the pale skin underneath shows through
  2. The brand is painted with a white dye immediately after the cold iron is removed
  3. Liquid nitrogen bleaches the existing hair chemically for the rest of the animal's life
  4. Cold kills the pigment-producing melanocytes, so the hair regrows without colour
Answer and working

D. Cold kills the pigment-producing melanocytes, so the hair regrows without colour

Melanocytes are more sensitive to freezing than hair follicles, so a brief application kills the melanocytes and the hair grows back white. A longer application kills the follicles too, giving a bald mark, which is used on white animals. Hot branding destroys follicles.

Question 5 · medium

Which identification method is traditionally used for marking piglets with a litter and pig number using a coded pattern?

  1. Freeze branding
  2. Ruminal bolus transponder
  3. Hot-iron branding on the rump
  4. Ear notching
Answer and working

D. Ear notching

Ear notching cuts notches at coded positions on both ears, each position representing a value, so litter and pig numbers can be read. Ruminal boluses work only in ruminants, and branding is not used on piglets.

Question 6 · hard

A goat's age is being estimated from its teeth. Which statement about dentition-based ageing is correct?

  1. It gives the exact age in months for any breed once the corners erupt
  2. It gives an age range that shifts with breed, nutrition and species
  3. It is unaffected by nutrition because eruption is fixed by genotype alone
  4. It works best after the full mouth, when wear patterns are most precise
Answer and working

B. It gives an age range that shifts with breed, nutrition and species

Eruption times vary with breed, maturity and nutrition, and after the full mouth only rough estimates from wear and tooth loss are possible. Dentition therefore gives an estimate, written as a range.

Question 7 · hard

A milking machine pulsator runs at 60 cycles per minute, and each cycle has a milk phase of 0.65 seconds. What is the pulsation ratio?

  1. 60:40
  2. 50:50
  3. 35:65
  4. 65:35
Answer and working

D. 65:35

At 60 cycles per minute each cycle lasts 1 second. Milk phase 0.65 s and rest phase 0.35 s gives a ratio of 65:35. 35:65 reverses the phases; 60:40 confuses the rate with the ratio; 50:50 assumes equal phases and ignores the stated milk phase.

Question 8 · hard

Why do buffalo usually need a longer pre-milking stimulation than cattle?

  1. Buffalo teats have two streak canals that both need opening first
  2. Buffalo release prolactin instead of oxytocin during the milking reflex
  3. Buffalo lack myoepithelial cells, so milk is pushed out by the udder wall
  4. Little milk is stored in the cistern, so they rely more on let-down
Answer and working

D. Little milk is stored in the cistern, so they rely more on let-down

Buffalo store only a small fraction of their milk in the cisterns, so nearly all must come from the alveoli by the let-down reflex, which in buffalo is slower to start. Longer stimulation is therefore needed. Buffalo have normal myoepithelial cells and one streak canal per teat.

Question 9 · medium

With a gestation length of 282 days, by how many days after calving must a cow conceive to achieve a 365-day calving interval?

  1. 85 days
  2. 45 days
  3. 60 days
  4. 83 days
Answer and working

D. 83 days

Days open = calving interval - gestation = 365 - 282 = 83 days. 85 uses a rounded 280-day gestation instead of the stated 282; 45 and 60 days are typical voluntary waiting periods, not the latest conception date. This is why herds aiming for a yearly calving interval start breeding at the first heats after the voluntary waiting period.

Question 10 · medium

Immunocastration of male pigs works by vaccination against which hormone?

  1. Luteinising hormone (LH) directly
  2. Oxytocin
  3. Growth hormone
  4. Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH)
Answer and working

D. Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH)

The vaccine raises antibodies to GnRH, which suppresses LH and FSH and so testicular function, reducing boar taint and male behaviour. It is authorised in some countries as an alternative to surgical castration.

A study plan for Livestock Farm Practices in ICAR AIEEA

This plan follows where our questions actually fall, so the time goes where the marks are likely to be. It is our reading of the syllabus, not the exam body's weighting.

  1. First, the heavy units (68% of the 19 questions): Identification: tagging and tattooing (5, 26%); Record keeping (5, 26%); Feeding practice (3, 16%).

    Read the manual chapters for these first and do every worked question you can find on them.

  2. Then the middle band: Castration methods (2, 11%); Milking (2, 11%); Handling and restraint of farm animals (1, 5%).

    Aim for one sitting per unit, then mixed questions across them.

  3. Then the lighter units: Hoof trimming (1, 5%).

    Learn the definitions, classifications and standard numbers; these units are more often recalled than worked.

  4. Leave time for the hard ones: Milking (2 hard of 2), Handling and restraint of farm animals (1 hard of 1), Feeding practice (2 hard of 3).

    Come back to these after a first pass, untimed, and read every explanation, including for the options you rejected.

  5. Bank the easy marks: Castration methods (1 easy of 2); Identification: tagging and tattooing (1 easy of 5).

    Do these early in revision so they are fast on the day.

  6. Finish timed. Sit the subject as a timed set without notes, mark it, and send each wrong answer back to its unit above.

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