MORRISON HALL
, with over 300 rooms and 133,000 square feet of floor space, is
the campus home of the Department of Animal Science. In addition to offices,
classrooms and computer facilities, the building contains some 20 research
laboratories as well as several animal rooms and a small animal surgery. The
department has many other facilities, both on and off campus, which are used in
fulfilling its teaching, research and extension missions. These are described
briefly below.
ANIMAL SCIENCE TEACHING AND RESEARCH CENTER. This center, consisting of some
2600 acres, with dairy, beef and sheep units, is located about 15 miles southeast
of campus on Route 38 in the township of Harford. The headquarters building is
associated with the dairy unit and contains offices, a conference room, livestock
arena, research laboratory and housing for 8 students.
DAIRY UNIT. About 800 head of Holsteins are housed in this complex which
accommodates the handling of animals both as individuals and in groups. One barn
with over 100 tie stalls and 10 metabolism stalls is equipped to allow for
accurate measurement of daily feed intake by individual cows. Two free-stall barns each accommodate 140 animals. The milking parlor,
a double 10, is centrally located. This herd, which usually has about 350 milking
cows(av. 24,000 lb. milk), is heavily used in teaching, research and extension in dairy cattle management,
nutrition and reproductive physiology.
BEEF UNIT. With a total capacity of more than 500 cattle, this unit
accommodates research on all phases of beef production, including cow-calf as
well as growth and finishing. It includes an arena, office, cattle handling
area, feed mixing area, individual and pen feeding facilities and electronic
(Calan) feeding doors. Research at this unit includes grazing studies as well as
more intensive work aimed at filling gaps in the knowledge needed for a cattle
computer model that predicts nutrient requirements and feed utilization.
SHEEP UNIT. This unit provides facilities for some 700 ewes, together
with replacement and market lambs. Included are a classroom, an office, a
laboratory, a shearing area and facilities for individual as well as pen feeding.
Research has emphasized the selection of ewes suitable for high level lamb
production and the development of nutritional schemes to accommodate this.
POULTRY UNIT. Athough not under the sole jurisdiction of the Department of
Animal Science, extensive poultry research facilities adjacent to campus,
including a feed mixing unit, are available for poultry studies.
SWINE UNIT. Located about one mile south of campus on Pine Tree Road, this
facility when in full use has a total production capacity of about 100 litters
per year and includes a small independent research barn. The newest part of the unit (1977) includes a gestation and breeding
wing, two farrowing wings, two nursery wings, a small laboratory and an office.
Experiments on swine nutrition, growth, health, reproduction, and meat science are conducted at this unit. Many of the experiments using pigs in biomedical research are conducted in LARTU.
EQUINE UNIT. This facility, located on campus near Morrison
Hall, is used for studies requiring close monitoring of the subjects
(horses, ponies, donkeys). Larger numbers of horses, housed in the Cornell
Equine Research Park, which is managed by the Veterinary College, are used for
teaching and more extensive research programs.
LARTU. Located adjacent to Morrison Hall, this large animal research teaching
unit provides excellent facilities for small numbers of large animals for
intensive metabolic studies involving surgical preparation, isotopes, infusions
and other procedures and requiring close monitoring of responses.
REED FARM. This heifer facility, located east of campus on Stevenson Road,
can accommodate in excess of 100 animals and is currently used for research in
reproductive physiology. It includes a surgical suite for large animals.
ON CAMPUS TEACHING BARN This unit provides short-term on-campus facilities
for housing and managing dairy cattle and other farm animals used in teaching.
LIVESTOCK PAVILION. Across the street from Morrison Hall, this large pavilion
provides space for laboratory classes, demonstrations, training sessions, shows
and sales.
