Penn Vet | Swine Group
Contact
New Bolton Center Kennett Square, PA
Emergencies & Appointments:
610-444-5800
Directions
Ryan Hospital Philadelphia, PA
Emergencies:
215-746-8911
Appointments:
215-746-8387
Directions

The Penn Vet Swine Group


Comprised of leading swine production medicine, reproduction and welfare behavior experts, Penn Vet’s Swine Group offers practical, applicable, and scalable production solutions tailored to addressing the challenges facing today’s pork industry and improving the viability of the farm or swine business.

In addition to offering herd production troubleshooting and sustainable, welfare-centric models for swine facilities, Penn Vet's Swine experts also implement the Pennsylvania Regional Control Program – a state-wide system that monitors for emerging diseases that threaten the well-being of Pennsylvania’s pigs and pork producers.

  • Swine Reproductive Health

    Led by Dr. Gary Althouse, the Reference Andrology Laboratory at New Bolton Center provides complete testing of neat, cooled, and frozen-thawed semen to aid on-farm veterinarians in their differential diagnosis of individual, herd, or flock reproductive problems. In addition, Penn Vet's Swine Herd Health experts regularly provide on-location outreach services for all mammalian and avian species to troubleshoot reproductive issues and optimize breeding husbandry practices. Learn more about the Swine Reproduction services offered at Penn Vet...

  • Swine Welfare and Sustainability

    Under the leadership of Dr. Tom Parsons, Penn Vet's Swine Teaching & Research Center supports swine operations through applied research in the areas of swine reproduction, swine welfare and behavior, and swine production medicine. In addition to its hallmark expertise in advancing welfare-centric practices, the center provides on-farm outreach services to help swine producers optimize, and ensure the viability of, their farm businesses. Learn more the Swine Teaching & Research Center...

  • Swine Disease Control and Management

    Through the support of the Pennsylvania Pork Producers Council, Penn Vet's Dr. Meghann Pierdon oversees the Pennsylvania Regional Control Program: a progressive state-wide system that monitors for emerging diseases that threaten the well-being of Pennsylvania’s pork and poultry producers. Beyond providing outreach services to improve on-farm biosecurity practices, Penn Vet also works with local, regional, and federal government agencies to decrease the amount of non-reportable disease spread, giving producers more control over protecting their farms or operations from harmful disease. Learn more about Penn Vet's Disease Control and Management services...

Penn Vet Swine Group
Dr. Gary Althouse, Penn Vet
Dr. Tom Parsons, Penn Vet New Bolton Center
Dr. Meghann Pierdon, New Bolton Center
  • Dr. Meghann Pierdon
  • Expertise Areas: Swine Behavior and Welfare (Group Housing, Sow Lameness, Sow Gestation), Swine Disease Surveillance and Management Strategies, Swine Biosecurity and Diagnostics, Livestock Pain Mitigation
  • Pennsylvania Regional Control

In the Media


Penn Vet News Stories

Center for Stewardship Agriculture and Food Security header

University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine Launches New Center for Stewardship Agriculture and Food Security

Drawing on multi-disciplinary expertise, the Center seeks to improve animal agriculture while mitigating climate and ecological impacts.
Gary Althouse (shown pre-pandemic) notes that the animal origins of the current Covid-19 crisis underscore the importance of veterinary expertise in sustaining both animal and human health.

Supporting agriculture and a safe food supply

Caring for a cow with uterine prolapse is not a task that a veterinarian can accomplish alone. The physicality and teamwork it demands makes it nearly impossible to sustain the social distancing prescribed to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. Yet for Billy Smith and his fellow veterinarians that make up the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Field Service team, these kinds of encounters must continue, even amid a pandemic.
Three faculty appointed to endowed professorships

Three Faculty from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine Appointed to Endowed Professorships

Thomas D. Parsons, Christopher J. Lengner and Amy L. Johnson have been recognized for scholarly achievements.

 
swine-welfare

Stopping Disease in its Tracks: How Geospatial Mapping Protects Pennsylvania’s Producers

Tell a swine or poultry producer that their animals are sick and the first question they ask is, “How?”

Thanks to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet), producers can now get an answer to that pressing question fast – or even stop disease from encroaching past their property lines altogether.

swine3

Electronic sow feeding shows promise, despite challenges

It’s feeding time at the University of Pennsylvania’s Swine Teaching and Research Center in Chester County’s horse country.

Actually, it’s always feeding time in this loose pig environment. Sow gestation stalls are gone, free-roaming pig pens are in. The sow decides when she wants to eat, not the other way around.