Facilities

The intensive unit at AU Viborg - Research Centre Foulum has an area of more than 3,000 m² and comprises a wide range of facilities that can be put to many uses, such as special animal housing and a highly specialised operating room.

Examples of specific facilities

Surgical laboratory
Equipped with preparation room, operating theatre, changing room and a small meeting room/lunch room. In the operating room it is possible to operate on two beds that each have operating and monitoring equipment. Operations can be performed on animals up to 100 kg.

The facilities also include an operating room for large animals. There is a crane for lifting and two large recovery pens and pens for monitoring the operated animals.

Infection unit and isolation unit
In these facilities various kinds of infection projects on small and large animals can be carried out. There are specific rooms with isolation units for studies regarding specific viruses, bacteria etc.

Respiration chambers

The department has several respiration chambers where it is possible to measure the direct emission of greenhouse gases from the animals and also the emission that comes from the animals energy metabolism.

Special animal housing units
In the special animal housing units it is possible to individually control water, feed, temperature, ventilation and pen size.

Small animal laboratory
Designed for rodents (rats and mice). Projects regarding quantitative collection of urine and manure are carried out in various cage sizes designed for different rodent sizes.

The facility also have an insect unit, in order to work on optimization of insect production. 
 

Rough laboratories
Well suited for preparing equipment, feed, sampling and post mortem examinations

There are lunch rooms, bathrooms and changing rooms in this facility.

Research and development
The primary goal of the activities is to produce basic knowledge about:

• The physiological background behind the digestion and metabolism of nutrients in the whole animal and in the various organs and tissues
• The intermediate metabolism of nutrients, physiological regulation, growth, development, and function of various organs and tissues
• Biological mechanisms and effects of various infectious and immunological influences
• Basic and applied research and development projects in microbiology and immunology

Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences has people with the relevant skills for carrying out many kinds of research and development projects in many categories of intensive animal studies, including extracting and handling feed, milk, blood, urine and tissue samples.

The research and development projects in the facilities are often carried out in collaboration with external partners with a close connection to other laboratory facilities at AU Viborg - Research Centre Foulum with a focus on feed, urine, blood and tissue analysis.