SAVC Registration Examination · South Africa · South African Veterinary Council
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersThe hands-on, non-credit farm course: handling, milking, feeding, identifying and recording animals, and routine procedures such as hoof trimming, dehorning and castration.
In the exams: Practical skills examined in OSCE-style licensing exams (RCVS SME OSCE, AVE clinical exam)
SAVC Registration Examination — practical panels and Paper 2
Bovine and small-stock handling and restraint, dentition, castration and dehorning methods with their complications, and herd records.
How our questions for SAVC Registration Examination spread across the units of Livestock Farm Practices. Difficulty: 6 easy, 14 medium, 14 hard.
| Feeding practice | 5 | |
| Dehorning methods | 5 | |
| Castration methods | 5 | |
| Handling and restraint of farm animals | 4 | |
| Identification: tagging and tattooing | 4 | |
| Milking | 4 | |
| Hoof trimming | 4 | |
| Record keeping | 2 | |
| Daily farm routines | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
A ewe has six permanent incisors and two temporary corner incisors. Which age range best fits?
B. About two and a half to three years
In sheep the centrals erupt at about 1 to 1.5 years, the medials at about 1.5 to 2, the laterals at about 2.5 to 3 and the corners at about 3 to 4 years. A six-tooth ewe is therefore about 2.5 to 3 years old.
Further reading: Getty (ed.), Sisson and Grossman's Anatomy of the Domestic Animals; Banerjee, Textbook of Animal Husbandry
A cow is milked at 06:00 and 16:00 each day. What are the milking intervals?
C. 10 h and 14 h
From 06:00 to 16:00 is 10 hours; from 16:00 to 06:00 is 14 hours. Equal intervals (12:12) give slightly higher yields and less udder pressure, so farms aim for intervals as near equal as possible.
Further reading: National Mastitis Council recommended milking procedures; Banerjee, Textbook of Animal Husbandry
A parlour shows rising rates of rough, hyperkeratotic teat ends and new mastitis cases. Which check comes first?
A. A dynamic test of vacuum, pulsation and liner condition
Teat-end damage and new infections often follow faulty vacuum level, pulsation or worn liners. Machines are tested at least yearly and whenever teat condition worsens; liners are changed on schedule.
Further reading: National Mastitis Council; ISO 6690 machine testing
Which practice best reduces the selection of anthelmintic resistance in a seasonal deworming routine?
A. Using faecal egg counts to decide when and which animals to treat
Targeted treatment guided by faecal egg counts reduces unnecessary treatments; frequent blanket treatment and under-dosing select resistant worms. Rapid rotation of classes is not a substitute for monitoring.
Further reading: Anthelmintic resistance guidance
In the hind feet of a dairy cow, which claw carries more weight and more often develops sole ulcers?
D. The lateral (outer) claw
In the hind limbs the lateral claw bears more weight, overgrows more and is the usual site of sole ulcers. In the front limbs the medial claw is larger.
Further reading: Toussaint Raven, Cattle Footcare and Claw Trimming; Blowey, Cattle Lameness and Hoofcare
During trimming, a beginner pares the sole until it flexes under thumb pressure. What is the problem?
D. The sole is now too thin and the cow will be sore
A sole that yields to thumb pressure has been over-trimmed; a firm thickness of about 5-7 mm is left. Over-trimming causes lameness and new lesions.
Further reading: Toussaint Raven, Cattle Footcare and Claw Trimming; Blowey, Cattle Lameness and Hoofcare
How is an emasculator oriented on the spermatic cord?
B. Crushing jaw on the body side, with the cutting blade towards the testis
The crush must be on the body side of the cut, so the cord stump left in the animal is crushed and does not bleed. In horses this is remembered as 'nut to nut', the wing nut facing the testis.
Further reading: Weaver, St Jean and Steiner, Bovine Surgery and Lameness
When the closed bloodless method is used to castrate a calf with an emasculatome, how is it applied?
B. Each spermatic cord is crushed separately through the intact skin
Each cord is crushed separately, at slightly different levels, without crushing the full width of the scrotum, so the scrotal blood supply is kept and the skin does not slough. The skin is not opened in this method.
Further reading: Weaver, St Jean and Steiner, Bovine Surgery and Lameness
Why is a scrotal or inguinal hernia a problem when castrating a piglet?
D. Cutting into it can let intestines out through the incision
In a herniated piglet the intestine lies in the scrotum or inguinal canal; an open castration can lead to evisceration. These piglets need a technique that closes the hernia, or are not castrated.
Further reading: Pig production texts
A steer castrated with an open method several weeks ago has a firm, swollen, discharging cord stump. What is the most likely diagnosis?
A. Scirrhous cord
Scirrhous cord is chronic infection of the spermatic cord stump after castration, with a firm swelling and often a discharging tract. Orchitis needs a testis; cryptorchidism is a retained testis; hydrocele is fluid in the vaginal tunic.
Further reading: Weaver, St Jean and Steiner, Bovine Surgery and Lameness
Ten here, 34 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to SAVC Registration Examination in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
Free for ten days, then one subscription of US$10 a month. We would rather say so here than have you find it later.
An AI operating system for agriculture: free guides, manuals and tools written for every country.