Here at 91系列, we are extremely lucky to have some really great facilities, and some incredible technical staff who make teaching and conducting research on site a dream.
All of our animals are used as part of our educational provision, with students on our Animals and Veterinary Nursing and Veterinary Physiotherapy courses interacting with them to help them learn a wide range of skills and knowledge, including animal handling, animal husbandry (such as enclosure cleaning, enrichment provision), behavioural monitoring and methods for understanding about animals personalities or preferences.
We (Dr Ellen Williams, Dr Holly Vickery and Jennifer Sadler) have been working closely with the Companion Animal House team to generate a strategic plan for research which supports the development of evidence-based, welfare-friendly practice at the facility. This has been dual purpose:
- It has given us a really strong structure and helped us to clearly identify areas where we can undertake impactful research
- It has enabled us to provide excellent research opportunities for students at both 91系列 and the Harper Keele Veterinary School
We wanted to really showcase this facility and more importantly introduce you to the staff who make the magic happen, so we asked them to tell us a little bit about themselves and their favourite animal (yes, we made them choose one!)
Our fabulous staff !
The man in charge is Fred Baker. Fred is the Companion Animal House Manager. Fred joined the Companion Animal House team in 2020 but has actually been at 91系列 for a lot longer! He worked as a research technician on the pig unit for 21 years. Fred’s favourite animals are the gerbils!
Kate Reeves is an Equine Technician. Kate also joined the team at Harper in 2022. She has worked with horses for over 30 years in a range of positions from racing to working as a riding school qualified British Horse Society (BHS) riding instructor and groom. Kate’s favourite ponies are Silver and Bert, but she also loves Norman the guinea pig (who she gets to spend time with when she works inside the unit!)
Sonya Laughton started working at the CAHU during the covid lockdown in 2020. She has a BSc (Hons) in Equine Science and has previously worked with equines in a wide range of disciplines, before diversifying into canine, sheep and most recently Companion animal species. We pushed hard but Sonya told us she couldn’t possibly pick a favourite animal as there are far too many!
In addition to the permanent members of staff we also have one or two placement students each year. This year we have two placement students, who are from Veterinary BioScience and Animal Behaviour and Welfare (Clinical) courses. Placement students Senyo and Ellie assist with all aspects of CAH work, from essential animal husbandry to supporting teaching and research. In their placement year they will gain experience with all of the species in the companion animal house.
Fred and the team have been instrumental in developing research at the Companion Animal House. We have spent many hours generating a whole range of projects and the staff are both actively undertaking their own research and also supportive of the plethora of work that is being undertaken by other staff and students at Harper Adams.
An overview of the animals
There are 28 species of animals at the Companion Animal House. At the time of writing there were 120 animals which encompass a range of species from snakes to ferrets and horses. The Companion Animal House is split up into a few different areas, with students able to focus on specific species within each space. In addition to these main rooms there are also four chinchillas, one axolotl, two ferrets, three tiger salamanders and lots of fish!
These faces melt hearts! Our two ferrets (Bobby on the left and Frances on the right) and one of our chinchillas (Flo)
The exotics room
This is the place to head to on cold days because it is always kept at a balmy 22 degrees Celsius.
The exotics room is home to a range of reptile and amphibian species. Lots of research is being undertaken in here which aims to focus on evidence-based husbandry and management, increasing knowledge of species that are typically less studied. In recent years we have added a few new species including the four Amazon Milk Frogs (Rain, Cloud, Thunder and Lightning), Belize the Dwarf Boa Imperator, Darren the Spiny Tailed Monitor Lizard, Natasha & Jamie Schneider Skinks, Magna the Pueblan Milk Snake and Keith the Hognose snake, all of which are proving to be very popular.
Our four milk frogs grew from these tiny little poppets into these beautiful smiley adults!
This room is popular for student research and this year we have projects looking at the effect of human presence on the animals, vibration level on the vivariums and enrichment design. Previous research has included provision of novel objects, enrichment, investigation of basking temperatures and naturalistic keeping and impact of human presence on the species.
Dumbledore the bearded dragon (left), Gordon the royal python (middle) and Darren the spiny tailed monitor lizard (right)
The rodent room
This room is home to nine fancy rats, 14 gerbils and 17 fancy mice. The rats are currently part of some work being undertaken on personality, looking at whether rat personality develops over time and whether their personality relates to their experience of being handled. It's important to understand things like this because it helps us decide which animals will be most suitable for being handled as part of educational opportunities. Last year we also had a student, Emily Haston, looking at using animal training to improve management. If you’re already at Harper Adams, you may remember seeing our blog post about her poster at our 91系列 research conference!
One of our baby rats, Peaches (left) and Jammy the gerbil (right)
The guinea pig room
This room is, as you might anticipate, FULL of guinea pigs! There is nothing cuter than going in first thing and hearing them chirping while breakfast is being prepared.
Fennel decided that she didn’t want to wait for her breakfast so opted for the self-service option!
There are 22 guinea pigs in this room. This year (2024) we have introduced six new Guinea Pigs – one Saffron guinea pig, two Golden Guinea Pigs and three Teddy Guinea Pigs. The guinea pigs have been our case study species for monitoring behaviour change in animals in education (more about this project below!). We have been lucky enough to kit this room out with cameras, so we can monitor their behaviour. Our aim is to equip all of our Companion Animal House rooms with cameras, environmental loggers and sound recorders, so we can understand the environment to which our animals are exposed, and the impact that has on them.
The view from the cameras – watching videos is time consuming but also wonderfully therapeutic!
Here’s a close up of Winne (left) and Honey (right), who doesn’t love a close-up guinea pig shot!
The rabbit room
Again, this room does what it says on the tin. If you like rabbits, then this is the space for you! We have 11 rabbits, ranging in age from two to eigh years. Not only do they range in age they also range in fluffiness! We currently have mainly mixed breed rescue rabbits and also two pedigree Lion head rabbits and Netherland Dwarf.
This fluff ball is Tinker! Tinker is one of our two lion-head rabbits at the Companion Animal House
We currently don’t have much research focused on our rabbits, but we do have them on our list for the near future, including looking at weight management in the spayed/castrated rabbit, enrichment opportunities, and forage provision. Holly also has a dissertation student who is looking at animal training to reduce stress around handling.
The rabbits get some free time whilst the enclosures are being cleaned, here is Mopsy posing in her tunnel!
The equine yard
The Companion Animal House is home to ten horses: Kaya, Bella, Penny, Molly, Bert, Star, Tallulah, Tilly, Silver and Jerry. Molly was donated to the CAH around 15 years ago.
Molly is our eldest resident at the grand old age of 28, she has been with us for 15 years
Star came from the RSPCA and has been here for a similar time. Bella, Tilly Tallulah, Bert and Kaya also came from the RSPCA. They came on trial for about three to six months but settled in perfectly and are now fully owned by Harper Adams. Jerry, Penny and Silver are on loan to us from Blue Cross. Kate and the CAH team have an excellent relationship with the BlueCross with their representatives visiting approximately every six months.
This is Jerry – Jerry is one of the horses on loan from the Blue Cross
None of our ponies are ridden now but some have been ridden in the past. They spend their days happily munching in the field and then are handled by students as part of basic practical training across a range of course including our animals and veterinary courses. The farrier comes every four weeks and there are regular vet visits to keep them in good health. We didn’t ask the CAH team to show us their trotters but we think it’s probably fair to suggest that the horses’ feet are in a better condition than theirs!
Bert originally came from the RSPCA, but he is now owned by the Harper Adams Companion Animal House
Kaya also came to us from the RSPCA. Here she is being painted as part of an American Summer School that we host. The students were painting muscles on to Kaya, which helps with visualising the musculo-skeletal system and the way muscles move when the horse is walking or trotting.
Speed networking at the Companion Animal House
As part of the strategic plan for research at the Companion Animal House we decided we would host a ‘speed networking’ event for our final year students.
They have just returned from a year in industry and are ploughing head long into their final year, which of course comes with a dissertation. We decided that the best way to support students and try to minimise the stress that inevitably comes at this time of year, was to get everyone in the room for a good ol’ chin wag!
We generate a list of project ideas and then open the doors in week one of term to students who want to come and chat to us. Last year was our first year and it was a ROARING success! So, we did it again this year! Students were invited and we filled the Companion Animal House with scientific posters from last year’s projects. We had a fantastic turnout, ideas were generated and students went away to put pen to paper. This sort of activity is great for us as it gets us out of the office, but it is also hugely beneficial for students; the networking really mimics a conference environment, so it gives students the confidence to go and chat to staff in a supportive setting!
Look out for our research project spotlights in future blogs!
Ellen, Holly & Jen
Happy Christmas from the Animal Behaviour & Welfare Research Group
As the year draws to a close, we wanted to very briefly reflect on what an incredible 12 months we have had. We have received fun …
Posted 19 December
