Thanks to a partnership with the Nebraska Pork Producers Association, Northeast Community College veterinary technology and animal science students will now use two swine simulators to provide more hands-on experience working with swine.
The partnership began during the Nexus campaign to build new farm facilities at Northeast and has grown since then. When the Pork Producers toured the new Acklie Family College Farm, discussions began about how to enhance swine education at Northeast.
Northeast Vet Tech Instructor Dr. Kassie Wessendorf suggested the use of swine simulators.
Northeast has swine on site for part of each semester, Wessendorf explained, but not year-round.
“Swine have a huge biosecurity protocol,” said Wessendorf. “It’s shower in, shower out. Getting students out to area confinement facilities is extremely difficult because of the biosecurity risk. We don’t want those pigs to get sick or for us to accidently bring something in.”
The Pork Producers understood and agreed to provide funding for two simulators at a cost of $5,653. The simulators were ordered from Realityworks in Eau Claire, Wis., and arrived in time for classes this fall.
“Partnering with institutions of higher education, such as Northeast Community College, is a key pillar of our ongoing strategic plan at the Nebraska Pork Producers Association,” said Mark Wright, president of the Association. “Such institutions are educating the youth who will lead the next generation of Nebraska agriculture.”
Wessendorf said the simulators give students the opportunity to practice and become comfortable with procedures before working on live animals. “If you are trying to teach someone for the first time,” she said, “and they have a piglet that is squirming and screaming, it’s very intimidating.”
Wessendorf said one of the simulators is a swine litter processing kit that includes four piglets with interchangeable parts.
“We can clip eye teeth,” she explained. “We can clip or dock tails and notch ears. We can actually castrate these little piglets. Students learn on a cooperative patient before having to deal with a squirming, squealing piglet.”
The other simulator is a swine breeder artificial insemination unit. Wessendorf said it is just the back end of a sow with two interchangeable reproductive tracks.
One track helps students learn to AI – artificially inseminate. “This is fantastic,” Wessendorf said. “When we practice on our gilts – young sows that haven’t had a litter – they are loud and they move a bit. This is a great way for students to learn technique and get comfortable with the procedure before they actually go out and do this on live animals.”
Source: northeast.edu
Photo Credit: istock-deyanarobova
Categories: Nebraska, Livestock, Hogs