Past Events

When laying hens were only housed in conventional cages, the most notable differences between strains came down to feeding, feed effieciency and the colour of their eggs. As the popularity of eggs from non-cage systems increases, an understanding of genetic differences in behaviour, especially between white- and brown-feathered strains, are critical for successful management.

Network with OAC grads, students, and industry representatives for this online event! Bring your own drink of choice to this virtual social and engage with industry experts discussing topics in food, agriculture, environment, and rural communities.  Registration closes October 3, 2020 at 9 a.m. Instructions on how to join the Zoom meeting will be emailed out prior to the event.

Over the last 50 years we have seen a steady decline in the number of turkey breeds and lines, and many of the remaining ones are threatened with extinction. The main reason for the loss is that many organizations which maintain turkeys are under pressure to reduce costs, and so eliminate breeds and lines. Therefore, the solution is to reduce the cost of maintenance by switching from a generation-to-generation conservation plan to a biobanking one. To biobank turkey genetics there are two options, store primordial germ cells, or ovarian tissue with testes with or without semen.

A ceremony led by Indigenous Elders will be held on the University of Guelph’s Johnston Green Sept.

Attention ABSc Grad Students! Are you prepping for an upcoming M.Sc. or Ph.D. Defence this Fall? Here is your opportunity to learn more about Departmental specific procedures for your exam, hear study and exam tips from fellow upper year students, and practice answering questions! We are offering an ABSc specific graduate examination workshop for the second time. The workshop will be approximately 2 hours and broken into 2 parts:

Poor efficiency of dietary fibre utilization limits pork production profit margins and environmental sus-tainability. This thesis research was to investigate stability of two processive endoglucanases, referred to as GH5-tCel5A1 and GH5-p4818Cel5_2A and overexpressed in the ClearColi® BL21 (DE3) cell. Three-dimensional models predicted presence of cysteine residues on the cellulases’ catalytic sites; and results of in vitro time course experiments further shown these cellulases were susceptible to auto-oxidation by air-borne O2 and were unstable.

The objective of the study was to identify body dimensions that correspond to body weight and create a model to estimate calf body weight using linear body measurements, determine if geometric equations to estimate volumes improves model fit, and if early linear body measurements can predict weaning weight. 103 Angus-cross calves were measured weekly from the ages of 2-8 weeks of age using 19 linear body measurements.  Models were developed using machine learning approaches and multiple linear regression.