Meet Prof. Tina Widowski Descriptive Transcript

Summary: Prof. Tina Widowski describes her research on poultry welfare.

00:00 - 00:05 
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Text: :60 Second Snapshots
Meet the Profs of the Ontario Agricultural College

00:05 - 00:32
[Screen fades to show video of Prof. Tina Widowski speaking in a library setting; University of Guelph logo and white text on a black box fade in at bottom with text: Prof. Tina Widowski Egg Farmers of Canada Chair in Poultry Welfare Department of Animal Biosciences. Music fades out.]

Tina: Concern for the welfare of farm animals is changing the way food is being marketed and also changing the way that farmers are housing and caring for animals. The research that my students and I conduct is used to inform new policies and new practices that farmers adopt. It ranges from using animal behavior and animal preferences to measures of health and physical well-being, and this provides a balance for decision-making on animal care.

00:32 - 00:56
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Tina: One of the most exciting aspects of my research is the fact that much of it gets applied almost directly into policy and this is probably one of the most rewarding aspects of it when I see my students' publications reference and codes of practice or animal care guidelines, or I hear about farmers adopting new practices because of our research results and this happens all the time.

00:56 - 01:20
[Screen quickly fades out and in, returning to Prof. Tina Widowski speaking in library setting]

Tina: We're doing a lot of work now on experience of the pullet, that's the young laying hen, and how her early experience affects her behavior and her health throughout her entire life. This might be providing access to exercise or environmental enrichment. We're even going back prenatally and looking how the experiences of her mother [music fades in] affect her behavior.

01:20 - 01:25
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Text: www.uoguelph.ca/oac
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