Photo Collection by Paul Heap

The new Isolation unit laboratory.

Research projects required blood samples for laboratory testing. Jugular bleeding of a weaner pig is demonstrated, using a vacutainer. Adult pigs were bled in a standing position.

This photo was taken in one of the new Isolation units. Dr C Cargill and Paul Heap weigh pigs during a veterinary trial.

At the 1985, RAHS Bacon Carcass competition Judges Paul Heap and Andrew Conroy, measure and access the eye muscle of an entry. Ken Noll looks on.

The litter from the very successful embryo transfer from a selected sow after the commercial slaughter process. The uterus was removed and taken to a safe area at NPRU (Northfield Pig Research Unit) where 12 embryos were removed and surgically implanted into a sow inside NPRU.

The donor sow was selected from an SA breeder and was due to be culled for age. It was super ovulated and mated to a top Boar before slaughter. This after slaughter collection was thought to be a world first. It provided a valuable new bloodline for the NPRU herd.

Dr B. Stone adjusts the filling of the flush buckets in the grower shed. The buckets were made from modified 44 gallon drums, reverse tipping into modified channels. They worked well and could easily be made in farm workshops.

Shelter sheds used in the Mange work at the Isolation Unit.

Production Unit Sow and Boar Shed.

Pen of NPRU baconers ready for market.

The office and introduction block at NPRU.

Banks of individual feeders were used in nutrition trials. The pigs within a pen were quickly identified by the colour of their eartag and pre weighed bucket (this system was quick but did not allow for color blind operators). As a back up, each pig had an individual ear tattoo. Each feeder catered for 8 pigs at a time. When their allotted time expired the pigs were released and any left over feed was weighed and recorded. The pen gates were reversed to allow another 8 pigs into the feeders.

The framework for the NPRU portable farrowing crate. It had a standard size drop in solid floor in the front part, and the rear a drop in mesh floor. The removable rails were placed diagonally in the crate, this allowed a large creep area in the front corner. It could be used as a weaner pen when the rails were removed. Many types of flooring materials were tested. It was well suited to on farm manufacture, and later a commercial firm built and marketed the design.

Merv Richards records as Paul Heap measures sonar backfat readings.