The Roslin Institute is an animal research hub focused on the health and welfare of animals, applications of basic animal sciences in human and veterinary medicine, and the livestock industry and food security. The building is shaped like two chromosomes which can be seen from above.
I visited with Dr. Cathy Dwyer who gave me a tour of the laboratories and offices. Cathy's background is in maternal behavior, mother-offspring interactions and offspring development in several types of livestock. We discussed Scottish sheep production (Scottish Blackface vs. Suffolk), lamb mortality issues, parastite control (liver fluke of most concern), and animal welfare issues. Thinking of you Tash!
80 breeds of sheep are produced commercially in Scotland and this does not count all of the heritage breeds and hobby farm production. All livestock famers receive government subsidies for raising any type of livestock. 40% of lamb produced in the UK is exported. Most upland/highland farms have flocks of Scottish Blackface, which are hearty and have great mothering abilities which make them excellent survivors in the highlands of Scotland. Genetically, they are slow growing animals, but part of this is due to gazing marginal land year round. Something of interest is that these vast highland farms rarely have any fencing. Farmers know whose sheep are whose and there are really no serious predator issues. The biggest issues are foxes during lambing season, but this is when farmers move their pregnant animals closer to the home. Foxes only attack during a short window when lambs are just born. Farms in the south of Scotland, with excellent grass production, practice rotational grazing and raise faster growing sheep breeds.
We talked about the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001. It sounds horrendous. Every farm was essentially shut down and many healthy animals were culled. The whole countryside was off limits for at least 6 months; no hiking, no walking your dog off roads.
Cathy and I also chatted about swine production for a bit. Most pork is produced in NE Scotland and this land is suitable to outdoor pork production. I got to met a woman who has designed a special farrowing hut around welfare principles. She works one on one with farmers to implement these huts on farms. Interestingly, due to strict farm biosecurity in the UK, swine producers can never go on each other's farms and swine farm tours are a definite no. Also, no supplemental hormones are allowed in any livestock species in the UK.
I was lucky to get to attend a lecture on dairy cow laying and standing behavior presented by Dr. Bert Tolkamp. He recently was granted the Ig Nobel award for this research. Check out this website for more info: http://www.sruc.ac.uk/news/article/566/pedometer
wearing_cows_win_sruc_international_science_award
I also got to speak with Jos Houdijk, an animal nutritionist at Scotland's Rural College. We discussed his work on plant based parasite control strategies and the effect small ruminant parasites have on climate change and global warming.
I met some amazing faculty doing fascinating work in animal science. I'm impressed by the research focus at Roslin and Scotland's Rural College. This work is directly related to the future of livestock production, food security and climate change on our planet.
I visited with Dr. Cathy Dwyer who gave me a tour of the laboratories and offices. Cathy's background is in maternal behavior, mother-offspring interactions and offspring development in several types of livestock. We discussed Scottish sheep production (Scottish Blackface vs. Suffolk), lamb mortality issues, parastite control (liver fluke of most concern), and animal welfare issues. Thinking of you Tash!
80 breeds of sheep are produced commercially in Scotland and this does not count all of the heritage breeds and hobby farm production. All livestock famers receive government subsidies for raising any type of livestock. 40% of lamb produced in the UK is exported. Most upland/highland farms have flocks of Scottish Blackface, which are hearty and have great mothering abilities which make them excellent survivors in the highlands of Scotland. Genetically, they are slow growing animals, but part of this is due to gazing marginal land year round. Something of interest is that these vast highland farms rarely have any fencing. Farmers know whose sheep are whose and there are really no serious predator issues. The biggest issues are foxes during lambing season, but this is when farmers move their pregnant animals closer to the home. Foxes only attack during a short window when lambs are just born. Farms in the south of Scotland, with excellent grass production, practice rotational grazing and raise faster growing sheep breeds.
We talked about the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001. It sounds horrendous. Every farm was essentially shut down and many healthy animals were culled. The whole countryside was off limits for at least 6 months; no hiking, no walking your dog off roads.
Cathy and I also chatted about swine production for a bit. Most pork is produced in NE Scotland and this land is suitable to outdoor pork production. I got to met a woman who has designed a special farrowing hut around welfare principles. She works one on one with farmers to implement these huts on farms. Interestingly, due to strict farm biosecurity in the UK, swine producers can never go on each other's farms and swine farm tours are a definite no. Also, no supplemental hormones are allowed in any livestock species in the UK.
I was lucky to get to attend a lecture on dairy cow laying and standing behavior presented by Dr. Bert Tolkamp. He recently was granted the Ig Nobel award for this research. Check out this website for more info: http://www.sruc.ac.uk/news/article/566/pedometer
wearing_cows_win_sruc_international_science_award
I also got to speak with Jos Houdijk, an animal nutritionist at Scotland's Rural College. We discussed his work on plant based parasite control strategies and the effect small ruminant parasites have on climate change and global warming.
I met some amazing faculty doing fascinating work in animal science. I'm impressed by the research focus at Roslin and Scotland's Rural College. This work is directly related to the future of livestock production, food security and climate change on our planet.
The Roslin Institute is where Dolly the Sheep was cloned. She is now displayed at the National Museum of Scotland. After my visit to the Roslin campus, I had to go see her.