Animal Science & Nutrition

Livestock nutrition, physiology, reproduction, breeding and husbandry.

Animal science studies farm animals - cattle, pigs, poultry, small ruminants, rabbits - with a focus on nutrition and feeding, digestive physiology, reproduction, genetics and breeding, and housing and management systems.

Ruminant nutrition is one of its largest areas, including how feed composition and additives affect digestion, productivity and methane emissions. Other topics range from heat stress in livestock to feed efficiency, rangeland grazing and product quality.

Studying animal science & nutrition

Degree programs in this subject often run under these names:

What you typically learn

  • Animal nutrition and feed science
  • Animal physiology and reproduction
  • Animal breeding and genetics
  • Livestock husbandry: cattle, pigs, poultry, sheep, goats
  • Animal welfare and housing
  • Animal products: milk, meat and eggs

Where graduates typically work

  • Feed and animal nutrition companies
  • Livestock farms and herd management
  • Breeding organizations and artificial insemination services
  • Advisory and extension services
  • Animal product processing and quality control
  • Research and public agencies

Curricula differ by country and institution - the program pages linked below have the details.

Where to study animal science & nutrition

283 programs in 80 countries. See all 283 programs

Where research is heading

Typical research questions

  • How do feed composition and feed additives affect productivity and methane emissions?
  • How does heat stress affect livestock, and how can it be mitigated?
  • How can feed efficiency be improved through nutrition and breeding?
  • How can reproduction and fertility of high-yielding animals be maintained?

Publications per year

Papers whose main topic belongs to this field, 2010–2025.

0 20k 40k2010: 31,40720102011: 29,9792012: 31,1892013: 32,1442014: 36,1612015: 35,11420152016: 35,8312017: 35,7802018: 35,9312019: 37,1262020: 36,68120202021: 35,5202022: 32,4152023: 32,3072024: 35,4242025: 38,9592025

Research fronts: fastest-growing topics

Papers 2024–2025 compared with 2021–2022, topics with at least 500 recent papers.

Topic2021–20222024–2025Change
Rabbits: Nutrition, Reproduction, Health[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]1,3641,800+32%
Livestock and Poultry Management[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]1,8452,345+27%
Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]2,0882,575+23%
Animal Nutrition and Physiology[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]16,94419,900+17%
Livestock Farming and Management[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]6,3547,266+14%
Effects of Environmental Stressors on Livestock[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]2,4462,751+12%

Largest topics

By number of papers 2024–2025.

  1. Animal Nutrition and Physiology[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 19,900
  2. Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 15,073
  3. Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 13,254
  4. Reproductive Physiology in Livestock[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 7,907
  5. Livestock Farming and Management[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 7,266
  6. Effects of Environmental Stressors on Livestock[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 2,751

Highly cited recent papers

Most-cited articles and reviews published 2024–2025. Citation counts favor reviews and papers published early in the window.

  1. Response of Broiler Chickens to Three Different Energy Source Feedstuffs Abrani Sulaiman, N. B. Rano, Halima Abdullahi et al. · International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology (IJISRT) · 2024 · 734 citations · Open access
  2. Utilization of Differently Processed Sesame Seed Meal as a Source of Methionine in Guinea Fowls Diets Abrani Sulaiman, N. B. Rano, Halima Abdullahi Muhammad et al. · International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology (IJISRT) · 2024 · 734 citations · Open access
  3. Haematological Studies of Broilers (1-28 Days) Fed with Diet Containing Varying Proportions of Tithonia Diversifolia Leaf Protein Concentrate Oluwasegun Emmanuel Ibidiran, Francis Bosede Adebayo · International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology (IJISRT) · 2024 · 733 citations · Open access
  4. Genomic selection in plant breeding: Key factors shaping two decades of progress Admas Alemu, Johanna Åstrand, Osval Antonio Montesinos-López et al. · Molecular Plant · 2024 · 355 citations · Open access
  5. A compendium of genetic regulatory effects across pig tissues Jinyan Teng, Yahui Gao, Hongwei Holly Yin et al. · Nature Genetics · 2024 · 270 citations · Open access
  6. Oxidative stress in poultry production Oyegunle Emmanuel Oke, Oluwaseun Ayomide Akosile, Aderanti Ifeoluwa Oni et al. · Poultry Science · 2024 · 264 citations · Open access

All study programs in animal science & nutrition

All study programs