Day three started with a very informative and interesting tour of Purina Animal Nutrition center. This was a favorite of mine. Large animal nutrition is something I appreciate and enjoy learning about. We started in the equine facility where we got to see their treadmill, learn a little bit about their feeding process, and how they test the physical fitness of the horse. While there we also got to see the dairy, beef, and companion animal units. Unfortunately they had no beef cattle at the time but we still got to see the facility and learn about their feeding processes. Within their companion facility they have a wide verity of animals represented, these included chickens, rabbits, fish, deer, and also included their show feed.
After that we toured the University of Missouri. We got to see a good portion of their animal science program. A favorite part of this stop for many was the glow pigs. I thought it was interesting that they got the fluorescent gene from a jellyfish and by inserting it into that pigs DNA it gave it the ability to glow. After that we got to see parts of their swine, equine, and beef unit. I found it very interesting to see how another schools program can differ and how we had some similarities. After that we toured their agriculture and resource buildings. This campus is huge and felt very spread out. I enjoyed looking at another campus and seeing how it differs from the ones I’ve seen. We also got to enjoy a complementary treat from the on campus ice cream parlor. The signature Mizzou tiger stripe ice cream which is made by their students.
