WAEC Animal Husbandry 2018 past questions

Checked by the Skolra question team · Last updated 23 October 2026

Ten questions from the 2018 WAEC Animal Husbandry paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 30 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.

WAEC Animal Husbandry 2018 questions and answers

1. 1.In rabbit production, nesting is a sign that the animal is approaching
   1. A
      oestrus
   2. B
      puberty
   3. C
      weaning
   4. D
      parturition (kindling)
      Correct
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   Answer: D

   Nesting is a sign of approaching parturition (kindling). A few days before a doe (female rabbit) gives birth, she starts pulling fur from her own body and gathering straw or soft material to build a nest box for the kits (baby rabbits). This nest-building instinct protects the newborns, which are born blind, naked and helpless.

   Why the other options are wrong:

   Oestrus (heat/receptivity to mating) is shown by restlessness and willingness to accept the buck, not by nest-building.

2. 2.Which of the following materials is not used in the process of artificial insemination?
   1. A
      Rubber hand gloves
   2. B
      Insemination gun
   3. C
      Liquid nitrogen flask
   4. D
      Castrating knife
      Correct
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   Answer: D

   Artificial insemination (AI) is the process of introducing semen into the reproductive tract of a female animal without natural mating. The materials used are those that help collect, preserve, transport and deposit semen safely and hygienically.

3. 3.Which of the following forage crops is used to replenish nutrients in a rangeland?
   1. A
      Guinea grass
   2. B
      Elephant grass
   3. C
      Centrosema
      Correct
   4. D
      Gamba grass
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: C

   Centrosema (Centrosema pubescens, also called "Centro") is a leguminous forage crop. Like other forage legumes used in rangeland management (e.g. Stylosanthes, Calopogonium, Puero, Leucaena), it carries Rhizobium bacteria in root nodules on its roots. These bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen and convert it into a form plants can use, which is released into the soil as the plant grows and decomposes. This is how legume forage crops replenish soil nutrients, especially nitrogen, in a rangeland that has been grazed continuously.

4. 4.Which of the following activities are routine management practices in animal husbandry? I Feeding II. Slaughtering III. Vaccination
   1. A
      I, II and III
   2. B
      I and III only
      Correct
   3. C
      II and III only
   4. D
      I and II only
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: B

   Feeding and vaccination are routine management practices because they are carried out regularly and continuously throughout the life of the animal to maintain its health, growth and productivity.

5. 5.Which of the following factors is not usually considered in establishing a pasture?
   1. A
      Climate of the area, especially rainfall
   2. B
      Distance of the site from the market
      Correct
   3. C
      Soil type and fertility of the land
   4. D
      Choice of grass and legume species to be sown
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: B

   When a livestock farmer is establishing a pasture, the choices made are all about getting forage to grow well for grazing animals, so the factors considered are agronomic ones.

6. 6.Which of the following methods enables a lame bull to reproduce?
   1. A
      Natural (pasture) mating
   2. B
      Pen mating
   3. C
      Hand mating
   4. D
      Artificial insemination
      Correct
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: D

   Artificial insemination (AI) is correct. A lame bull has an injured or weakened leg and cannot mount a cow to serve her naturally. With AI, semen is collected from the bull (by a trained handler, using an artificial vagina or electro-ejaculation) and then introduced into the cow's reproductive tract with an insemination gun. This means the bull does not need to bear his weight on the cow at all, so his lameness no longer prevents him from passing on his genes.

7. 7.A substance present in cotton seed which is toxic to swine is
   1. A
      Gossypol
      Correct
   2. B
      Aflatoxin
   3. C
      Tannin
   4. D
      Mimosine
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: A

   Gossypol is the toxic substance present in cotton seed (and cottonseed cake/meal). It is a polyphenolic compound that is particularly dangerous to swine and other monogastric (single-stomached) animals such as poultry and rabbits.

8. 8.Which of the following diseases is caused by a pathogen?
   1. A
      Newcastle disease
      Correct
   2. B
      Rickets
   3. C
      Bloat
   4. D
      Milk fever
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: A

   Newcastle disease is caused by a pathogen — it is a highly contagious viral disease of poultry, spread by a virus that attacks the respiratory and nervous systems of birds.

   The other options are non-pathogenic (nutritional or metabolic) disorders, not infections:

   Milk fever occurs in dairy cows shortly after calving, caused by a sudden drop in blood calcium — a mineral deficiency problem, not an infection.

   Since only Newcastle disease among the four is caused by a living disease-causing organism (a virus), it is the correct answer.

9. 9.The alimentary canals of fowl and pig end respectively as
   1. A
      vent and rectum
   2. B
      anus and cloaca
   3. C
      cloaca and anus
      Correct
   4. D
      rectum and vent
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: C

   Cloaca and anus is correct.

   Fowl is a bird, and in birds the digestive, urinary and reproductive systems all empty into one common chamber called the cloaca, which opens to the outside through the vent. The pig, being a mammal, has a digestive tract that is separate from its urinary and reproductive openings, and it ends at the anus.

10. 10.A perennial grass with cane-like stems and dull green or purple leaf blade is
    1. A
       Giant star grass
    2. B
       Guinea grass
    3. C
       Napier grass
       Correct
    4. D
       Gamba grass
    Show answerHide answer

    Answer: C

    Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), commonly called elephant grass, is the grass being described.

    It is a tall, perennial fodder grass whose stems are thick, jointed and cane-like, resembling young sugarcane, and it can grow as high as 3-4 metres. Its leaf blades are usually a dull green, but one widely grown cultivar (purple Napier) shows a purple tinge, which is why the description allows for either colour. It is a very important cut-and-carry forage crop for ruminants in Nigerian animal husbandry.

The questions come from past JAMB, WAEC and NECO papers. We use software to help write the answer options and explanations, and every answer is checked twice before it goes on the site. How we check

Spotted a wrong answer? Tell us from the app or on the contact page and we check it.

Practise all 30 questions we hold from the 2018 paper, on a timed CBT screen

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