Animal Science is about caring for the animals that feed and help people, from cattle and horses to chickens and sheep. You'll learn about breeds, health, feeding, and how farmers improve their herds. If you love animals or farms, this badge lets you dig in with real hands-on work.
Why it's worth it
The milk in your cereal, the eggs at breakfast, and the wool in your winter socks all depend on people who know animals well. Animal Science teaches you what those people know: how a cow's four-part stomach works, how to spot a sick animal early, and how breeders raise healthier herds. Whether you live on a farm or have never touched a goat, this badge can lead to 4-H or FFA projects, county fair ribbons, or a career caring for animals.
Start this week
- Pick the livestock class you're most curious about, like dairy cattle, horses, sheep, hogs, or poultry, and write down what you already know about it.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of an Animal Science counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- Have a parent help you find a county fair, farm open house, or 4-H livestock show coming up, and put it on the calendar.
- Read the labels at the grocery store dairy, meat, and egg cases and list every breed or farming term you see, like Angus or free-range.
Stay safe
- Large animals can kick, bite, or step on you without meaning to. Stay where the handler tells you, never walk directly behind a horse or cow, and wash your hands after every visit.
Requirements · 7
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).
- Requirement 1
Name two breeds in each livestock class (beef cattle, dairy cattle, goats, hogs, horses, poultry, sheep); tell each breed's main uses and strengths and where it originated
Tip: Visit a county fair or farm and look at the breed signs on pens. Ask owners why they chose that breed.
For example: For beef cattle you might name Angus (known for marbled beef) and Hereford (hardy grazers). For poultry, Leghorn (egg layers) and Cornish Cross (raised for meat). Make a quick chart with a photo and one use for each breed.
- Requirement 2
For each animal class in requirement 1, list two diseases; describe each one's symptoms, how animals catch it, and how it can be prevented
Tip: Ask a farmer or large-animal veterinarian which diseases they watch for and how they prevent them.
- Requirement 3
Draw digestive tract models for ruminants, horses, pigs, and poultry; explain how differences in their structure and function change the way each species is fed and managed
Tip: Build simple models of the digestive tracts with clay, tubes, or bags. Label each part so you can compare them side by side.
For example: Build four digestive tract models with labeled balloons, tubes, and string. Show the cow's four stomach compartments, the horse's large cecum, the pig's simple stomach, and the chicken's crop and gizzard, then explain why each animal eats what it does.
- Requirement 4
Pick a beef cow, dairy cow, horse, sheep, goat, hog, or poultry flock and explain how to manage it well, covering feeding, housing, disease prevention, waste removal, breeding, and biosecurity as they apply
Tip: Pick an animal you can see in person. Learn its daily needs for food, water, shelter, and health care.
For example: If you pick dairy goats, explain a day of care: fresh water, hay and grain amounts, hoof trimming, clean bedding, watching for signs of illness, and when to call the veterinarian. A daily chore chart makes it concrete.
- Requirement 5
Breeding and technology
Tips for this section: Ask a breeder or 4-H leader how they choose animals to breed and what tools they use today.
Example for this section: Explain crossbreeding with a simple example: crossing two breeds can produce calves that grow faster and stay healthier than either parent, sometimes called hybrid vigor. Then add one modern tool, like artificial insemination or genetic testing.
- Requirement 5a
Explain how producers improve their animals through breeding practices and programs
- Requirement 5b
Explain what pure breeding and cross breeding mean
- Requirement 5c
List two modern technologies used to raise beef or dairy cattle, goats, hogs, horses, poultry, or sheep, and tell the benefits of each
- Requirement 6
Animal specialty option. Choose 1 of 6
Tips for this section: Choose the animal you're most interested in or have the best access to. A local farm, 4-H club, or FFA chapter can help you get hands-on time.
Example for this section: If you choose sheep, a 4-H or FFA member can help you raise a weaned lamb to market weight. Keep a log of its feed, weight gain, medication, and vaccinations to give your counselor, plus photos of the animal (not other kids).
- Requirement 6a
Option A: beef cattle
- Requirement 6a1
Visit a beef farm or ranch (feedlot, cow/calf, or purebred breeding stock) and learn from the operator how cattle are fed, handled, weighed, and shipped; report what you saw and learned. If you can't visit, use a breed association video or online research (with parent or guardian permission) and report
- Requirement 6a2
Sketch a feedlot plan with forage and grain storage and a loading chute for 30 or more steers being fattened, or a corral with loading and cutting chutes able to handle 50 or more cows and their calves at once
- Requirement 6a3
Sketch the main wholesale and retail cuts of beef; explain the USDA dual grading system for beef and what each grade in each system is based on
- Requirement 6a4
Define calf, cow, heifer, heiferette, freemartin, bull, bullock, and steer
- Requirement 6b
Option B: dairy
- Requirement 6b1
Explain how a cow or goat turns forage and grain into milk, and how typical dairy cow feeds differ from beef cow feeds
- Requirement 6b2
Make a chart of the components of cow's or goat's milk, showing how much of each there is
- Requirement 6b3
Explain what it takes to produce grade A milk, and how and why milk is pasteurized
- Requirement 6b4
Describe the milking equipment used and the sanitation standards dairy farms must meet
- Requirement 6b5
Define buck, doe, kid, bull, cow, heifer, springer, and steer
- Requirement 6b6
Visit a dairy farm or milk processing plant and describe what you saw and learned. If you can't visit, use a breed or dairy association video or online research (with parent or guardian permission) and report
- Requirement 6c
Option C: horse
- Requirement 6c1
Sketch a practical barn and exercise yard for saddle horses
- Requirement 6c2
Describe the history of the horse and how horses have helped people; discuss the special uses of each of the four horse breeds you chose in requirement 1
- Requirement 6c3
Define these horse terms — sex and age: colt, filly, foal, gelding, mare, stallion; types: draft horse, mustang, pacer, quarter horse, trotter; colors and patterns: calico, overo, palomino, pinto, roan, tobiano
- Requirement 6c4
Visit a horse farm and describe what you saw and learned. If you can't visit, use a breed association video or online research (with parent or guardian permission) and report
- Requirement 6c5
Outline how to feed a horse doing light work and why feed type and amount change with the horse and its work; describe colic, its causes, and its symptoms
- Requirement 6d
Option D: sheep or goat (pick one animal)
- Requirement 6d1
Sketch a live lamb or goat and mark where the wholesale and retail cuts are
- Requirement 6d2
Discuss how wool is sorted and graded
- Requirement 6d3
List products made from sheep or goat milk
- Requirement 6d4
Raise or visit sheep or goats. Choose 1 of 2
- Requirement 6d4a
Raise a weaned lamb or goat until it reaches market weight, recording feed, weight gain, medication, vaccination, and deaths, and give the records to your counselor to review
- Requirement 6d4b
Tour a farm or ranch raising sheep or goats and describe what you saw and learned. If you can't visit, use a breed association video or online research (with parent or guardian permission) and report
- Requirement 6d5
Define these terms for sheep (wether, ewe, ram, lamb) or for goats (doe, nanny, kid, buck, billy)
- Requirement 6e
Option E: hog
- Requirement 6e1
Sketch the main wholesale and retail cuts of pork; explain the recommended USDA pork grades and what each is based on
- Requirement 6e2
Write an outline of proper feeding from breeding a gilt or sow through weaning the litter, and discuss feeding during the growing and finishing periods
- Requirement 6e3
Raise a pig or visit a hog operation. Choose 1 of 2
- Requirement 6e3a
Raise a weaned feeder pig until it reaches market weight, recording feed, weight gain, medication, vaccination, and deaths, and give the records to your counselor to review
- Requirement 6e3b
Visit a hog farm or a packing plant that handles hogs and describe what you saw and learned. If you can't visit, use a packer or processor video or online research (with parent or guardian permission) and report
- Requirement 6e4
Define gilt, sow, barrow, and boar
- Requirement 6f
Option F: avian
- Requirement 6f1
Sketch a layer or broiler house with nests, roosts, feeders, waterers, and ventilation; explain how insulation, airflow, temperature controls, automatic lighting, and other controls shield birds from heat, cold, and weather, and why light matters for laying
- Requirement 6f2
Explain why overcrowding puts a poultry flock at risk
- Requirement 6f3
Explain how eggs are graded and describe the classes of chicken meat
- Requirement 6f4
Flock, chicks, or facility visit. Choose 1 of 3
- Requirement 6f4a
Run an egg-laying flock for 5 months, recording feed bought, eggs sold, medication, vaccination, and deaths, and give the records to your counselor to review
- Requirement 6f4b
Raise five chicks from hatching, recording feed, weight gain, medication, vaccination, and deaths, and give the records to your counselor to review
- Requirement 6f4c
Visit a commercial poultry operation and describe what you saw and learned. If you can't visit, use a poultry association video or online research (with parent or guardian permission) and report
- Requirement 6f5
Define chick, pullet, hen, cockerel, cock, and capon
- Requirement 7
Learn about three animal science careers; pick one, find out the education, training, and experience it needs, discuss it with your counselor, and explain why it might interest you
Tip: Look into jobs like veterinarian, rancher, animal nutritionist, or extension agent, and ask one about their path.
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A county or state fair livestock barn
You can see many breeds side by side, watch judging, and talk with young exhibitors about how they raised their animals.
How: Go with a parent or your troop. Check the fair schedule for show times and visit the barns in the morning when exhibitors are caring for animals.
A working farm or ranch
Seeing feeding, milking, or herd checks in person makes requirements 4 and 6 click.
How: Have a parent or your counselor contact a farm, your county extension office, or a 4-H club and ask if a family or small group of Scouts could visit.
A university agriculture program or extension research farm
Researchers there study breeding, nutrition, and animal health, and some host public tours or open houses.
How: An adult checks the program's website or calls the extension office to ask about tours or youth days.
Where it can lead
- Large-animal veterinarianDiagnoses and treats livestock on farms and ranches; requires veterinary school.
- Rancher or farmerRaises animals for food or fiber and manages land, feed, and money.
- Veterinary technicianAssists veterinarians with exams and treatments; usually a two-year program.
- Animal nutritionistDesigns feed so animals grow strong and stay healthy.
- Extension agentTeaches farmers and 4-H families the latest research on animal care.
- FarrierTrims and shoes horses' hooves; often learned through a trade school or apprenticeship.
Ask yourself
- Which animal do you feel most drawn to, and what do you want to learn about it?
- What did you notice about how farmers and caretakers talk about their animals?
- What part of animal care was harder or messier than you expected?
- How has learning where your food comes from changed how you think about what you eat?
- If you could raise one animal as a project next year, what would it be and what would you need?
Good questions to ask a farmer, rancher, or large-animal veterinarian
- How do you tell when an animal isn't feeling well before it gets serious?
- Why did you choose the breeds you raise?
- What does a normal day look like for you, and what's the hardest season of the year?
- How has technology changed the way you care for animals?
- What would you tell someone my age who wants to work with animals?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Arrange a troop visit to a working farm, ranch, or county fair livestock barn.
- Connect scouts with local 4-H or FFA members who raise animals.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- County extension office — Local experts on livestock care and farm programs.
- 4-H (opens in a new tab) — Youth programs where members raise and show animals.
- Local farms and large-animal veterinarians — See animal care up close and ask real-world questions.
- National FFA Organization (opens in a new tab) — Student agriculture clubs with animal projects, contests, and career ideas.
- The Livestock Conservancy (opens in a new tab) — Learn about rare and heritage livestock breeds and why they're worth saving.
- American Veterinary Medical Association (opens in a new tab) — Animal health information and what it takes to become a veterinarian.
Pairs well with
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.