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Pampered porkers and woolly well-being
22 Sep 2003
CSIRO Livestock Industries researcher, Dr Caroline Kerr, will use an award from the Department of Agriculture to find out whether certain immune system molecules can be used to reduce livestock stress levels.
Dr Kerr is the Australian Wool Innovation winner and one of 18 researchers and innovators to be awarded the 2003 Science and Innovation Award for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
Dr Kerr will look into the role suppressors of cytokine signalling (SOCS) molecules play in varying stress levels and growth performance in pigs and sheep.
"Research has shown that even though livestock animals may appear to be happy and comfortable, low levels of stress will limit their capacity to grow," Dr Kerr says.
Learning more about the conduits of stress in livestock animals will provide important benefits to producers and consumers. Animals live with stresses and these tension factors can affect how their brains and immune systems work, which then affects their ability to fight diseases and grow. A stressed animal doesn't grow as fast as a relaxed animal. By identifying measurements of livestock stress, management practices and breeding systems can be changed to improve animal welfare.
CSIRO Media Release, 19/9/03.
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