Past Events

Data-driven modelling with intelligent algorithms for the improvement of dairy breeding programs has been receiving in-creasing attention. In this thesis, dimensionality-reduction methods and machine learning (ML) algorithms were applied in two sets of traits within the dairy industry: conformation and fertility.

The second annual Canadian Poultry Research Forum will be held June 14-16, 2022. Presented by the Canadian Poultry Research Network, the forum 'brings together students and research practitioners for a virtual experience featuring the latest in research across Can

Welcome to this month's installment of the 2022 ‘Virtual’ Nutrition Seminar Series hosted by the Centre for Nutrition Modelling of the Animal Biosciences Department. Each month in 2022 we will continue to deliver seminars from a different lab within the Nutrition group, and share their exciting new research in a dynamic virtual manner. 

            Three studies were conducted. In the first study, the influence of a simulated digest of a dietary supplement on the contractile response of gastric smooth muscle to acetylcholine (Ach) was evaluated. Porcine gastric smooth muscle was collected and established in organ baths with either a simulated digest of the supplement (FA), a blank digest with no supplement (BL), or a PBS control (CO). Increasing concentrations of Ach were added and contractile force measured using an isometric force transducer.

Post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) and associated mortality in commercial swine production remain a significant challenge for antibiotic-free meat production. With the ban on antibiotic usage in livestock production, probiotics have gained a lot of attention as a potential alternative. However, strain and host specificity limit their efficacy. In this research, I tested probiotic potential of a novel Bacillus subtilis, BS9 and its impact on growth performance and gut health of weaning piglets.

The Canadian dairy goat sector has rapidly expanded in the last decade to meet increasing market demand for goat milk products. However, the productivity of Canadian dairy goats varies and increasing production efficiency is critical to the competitiveness of both individual farming operations and the sector. Genetic selection is one proven method of increasing the production efficiency of livestock populations that has been underutilized in the Canadian dairy goat sector.

The objective of this study was to determine effects of Arg supply on the expression of a se-lect set of genes related to AA metabolism, vascular function, cellular regulation of protein synthesis, and cell differentiation and turnover between the mammary and longissimus dorsi tissues. Six rumen-cannulated, lactating Holstein cows were used in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design with 14-d periods. Treatments were continuous abomasal infusion that supplied 0 (ARGx0), 49.2 (ARGx1), and 98.4 (ARGx2) g/d Arg in an otherwise complete AA mixture at 1054 g/d.

  Good Afternoon CGIL, We are happy to have with us Lucas Alcantara, a PhD candidate at the University of Guelph, to present a CGIL Seminar on Friday April 29th, 2022. The seminar will begin at 1:30 PM EDT/EST on the virtual platform Microsoft Teams. The title of the presentation is: "Building a machine learning model to identify text-based breeding protocol descriptions of hormonal synchronization protocols".