SMART HANDHELD DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC BLOOD ANALYSIS: INNOVATIVE PREDICTION OF SHEEP PREGNANCY AND LITTER SIZE

Aug 16, 2022

“As an Alberta-based discovery and tool to support Canadian lamb production, and a novel product for the international market, we are
optimistic of the tremendous potential this device and the processes that go into it will hold for the livestock industry”

How will this research help increase the competitiveness and profitability of Alberta’s agriculture industry?

With the development of a smart, handheld device for automatic blood analysis, this innovative technology can provide a more clear prediction of sheep pregnancy and litter size. Current livestock diagnostic methods generally involve expensive laboratory equipment run by specialized personnel. The creation of a point of care – pregnancy litter size (PoC PLS) tool will allow targeted nutrition management
of ewes to enhance lamb survivability and ultimately improve flock profitability & competitiveness.

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Video: What Happens When Pigs Adapt to High Soybean Meal Diets? - Gustavo Lima

In this special rerun episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Gustavo Lima, PhD candidate in Animal Science at Iowa State University, discusses how grow-finish pigs respond to high soybean meal diets. He explains the initial drop in feed intake, changes in backfat, later adaptation, energy efficiency, amino acid utilization, and the rise in nitrogen excretion at higher inclusion levels. Listen now on all major platforms!

Click here to read the full research article: https://academic.oup.com/jas/article/...

“Once they got adapted to the diet, they can handle higher levels of inclusion of soybean meal.”

Meet the guest: Gustavo Lima / gustavo-lima-a9867127 is a PhD candidate in Animal Science at Iowa State University whose work focuses on swine nutrition, ingredient characterization, energy metabolism, caloric efficiency, and applied data analysis. With more than 15 years of experience in swine production across Latin America, Gustavo also brings expertise in environmental control, performance evaluation, barn ventilation, and grow-finish housing. Learn more from Gustavo Lima on The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, available on all major platforms.