
The Swine Group
Overview
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 Reproduction Health
Led by 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.
Welfare & Sustainability
Under the leadership of 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.
Disease Control & Management
Through the support of the Pennsylvania Pork Producers Council, Penn Vet’s 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.
Faculty Members
Find Us
University of Pennsylvania
School of Veterinary Medicine
New Bolton Center
382 West Street Road
Kennett Square, PA 19348
Cheryl O’Sullivan
Financial Administrator, Coordinator, Reports, Website, and Billing
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