Animal Science Merit Badge
The seven requirements, with requirement 6 drawn as its six options and the three inner choices that decide whether this badge takes weeks or months.
8 steps (45 parts inside them). 42 parts depend on questions you have not answered yet. · Version 1, published 13 August 2026 · About Animal Science Merit Badge
No questions answered
This is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering the 4 questions at the address above takes out the parts that are not for you.
Which of this applies to you
You have not answered anything yet, so this is the whole plan: everything that could apply to anybody. Answering 4 short questions will take out the parts that are not for you.
Your progress
48 steps can be started now; 3 are waiting on something else.
Clear ticksYour ticks are kept in this browser, so they will still be here next time. They are in the address as well, so a link to this page carries them to another device.
The steps
Stage 1 of 8
1 step
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1. Two breeds in each of seven classifications Task
Horses, dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep, hogs, poultry and goats, with their principal uses, merits and origins. Requirement 2 is built on this list, and requirement 6(C)(2) refers back to it wrongly.
Stage 2 of 8
1 step
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2. Two diseases per classification Task
For the animals in each classification from requirement 1: symptoms, how each is contracted and how it could be prevented. Fourteen diseases in total.
Usually comes after 1. Two breeds in each of seven classifications.
Stage 3 of 8
1 step
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3. Draw four digestive tracts Document
Ruminants, horses, pigs and poultry, then explain how the structural differences affect the nutritional management of each species.
Stage 4 of 8
1 step
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4. Manage one animal, on paper Task
Select one type (beef cow, dairy cow, horse, sheep, goat, hog or a poultry flock), and tell how you would manage it: feeding, housing, disease prevention, waste control, breeding and biosecurity. Nothing says this has to match your requirement 6 option, though it is the obvious economy.
Stage 5 of 8
1 step
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5. Breeding and modern technology Requirement
Three parts, all discussion. Nothing gates them.
Stage 6 of 8
1 step
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6. ONE of six options, and three of them hide months of work Often forgotten Decision
Options A, B and C are visits, sketches and terms. Options D, E and F each contain a further choice whose first branch is raising an animal to market weight or running a flock for five months. Read two levels down before you pick.
THREE OF THESE SIX OPTIONS HIDE MONTHS OF WORK TWO LEVELS DOWN. Options D, E and F each contain a "do ONE of the following" whose first branch is raising an animal: a lamb or goat to market weight, a feeder pig to market weight, an egg flock for five months, or five chickens from hatching. Options A, B and C contain nothing of the kind. Every raising branch has an alternative that takes an afternoon, but you have to read two levels down to find that out.
42 parts, 1 ticked
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6(C)(2). The history of the horse, and breed uses Optional May not apply Usually comes after 1. Two breeds in each of seven classifications. THIS REQUIREMENT REFERS TO BREEDS YOU WERE NEVER ASKED TO CHOOSE. It says to use "the four breeds of horses you chose in requirement 1"; requirement 1 asks for TWO breeds per classification. The 2025 Scouts BSA Requirements book prints the same contradiction, so it is in the requirements and not in one bad copy, and the merit badge pamphlet, an older edition, still asks for FOUR breeds in requirement 1. Requirement 1 was cut from four to two and this reference was left behind. Agree with your counselor which number you are working to.
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6(D)(4)(a). Raise a lamb or goat from weaning to market weight Optional May not apply Often forgotten This runs from weaning to market weight, with records kept throughout. It needs an animal, somewhere to keep it, and somebody's agreement, and it cannot be started late. If any of that is uncertain, 6(D)(4)(b) satisfies the same requirement with a farm visit.
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6(E)(3)(a). Raise a feeder pig from weaning to market weight Optional May not apply Often forgotten From weaning to market weight, with records kept throughout. Same warning as Option D: the alternative, 6(E)(3)(b), is a visit to a hog farm or a packing plant and satisfies the requirement just as well.
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6(F)(4)(a). Manage an egg-producing flock for five months Optional May not apply Often forgotten The requirement names five months itself, which makes this the longest single step on the badge. 6(F)(4)(b), raising five chickens from hatching, is shorter but still months; 6(F)(4)(c) is a visit. All three satisfy the requirement.
Stage 7 of 8
1 step
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7. Three careers, then one in depth Task
Find out about three career opportunities in animal science, pick one, and find out the education, training and experience required, then discuss it with your counselor and explain why it might interest you.
Stage 8 of 8
1 step
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Counselor signs it off Milestone
The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.
Usually comes after 7. Three careers, then one in depth.
Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.
This plan is a planning aid: the current Boy Scouts of America publication is always the authority, and the sources used here are listed in full. Each step names its own.