Virtual Learning Tool for Pig Health
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Farmville not realistic enough for you? For the farmer who wants the true virtual experience, Pfizer has an online educational tool called Virtual Walking the Pens, in which players become the owners of a 2400-head virtual hog barn and, each month, face new challenges in maintaining a healthy barn.
For November’s challenge, players are advised that their pigs are coughing and not interested in eating. They are warned that more fallouts are occurring each day and death loss threatens to get high. In order to get high scores (represented by the virtual barn’s “net profits,” as calculated according to virtual actions taken), players must interact with 24 individual virtual pigs as well as objects in the barn, such as ventilation system, feeders, water, and medication. After carefully medicating each individual pig and wishing that, like Farmville, I had the option of virtually patting each one on the head (aw), I earned a whopping score of minus $30,000 in profit. Well, perhaps I overspent on medication. Thank goodness it’s just a virtual barn!
The tool is designed to help swine producers and agriculture students learn about production and management practices, as well as to demonstrate the importance of individual pig care. “Walking the pens and observing each pig for health issues,” advises the game’s website, “is the best way to ensure the whole population’s health, and the barn’s bottom line.”
Registered farms and student groups can set up competitions against each other, vying for top score, the highest overall net profit, and the right to brag about superior virtual hog-farming skills.
In researching hog ailments (I take my virtual roles very seriously), I found an excellent resouce for pig diseases at www.thepigsite.com, here. The site lists 140 different ailments, including treatment and management options as well as illustrative photographs, and comprehensive advice on control and treatment. Not sure what’s causing symptoms of illness in your herd? The site also has a handy “Pig Disease Problem Solver” here that allows users to select the type of pig and symptoms exhibited to get a list of possible illnesses that could be causing those symptoms.
Virtual or real, careful attention to individual pig health ensures the health of the whole herd.
