New animal pens for temporary holding spaces for livestock have been installed outside of the animal science building.  

“When the new building was built, the area was designated as a livestock area,” ag science teacher Judy Hail said. “This area will provide more hands-on training for our students with various species of livestock to get them ready for future careers.”

This is the first time any pens have been put into place on campus. It was made possible because there was finally a select space where they could be situated. 

“There were no pens before simply because there was not an area, nor was there a budget for them,” Hail said. “When we brought animals to school, they stayed in the trailer all day, and had to have much supervision to make sure that they were secure and healthy.”

A wide variety of animals will be held in the enclosures.

“The pens will be used for horses, cattle, sheep, goats, swine and possibly poultry,” Hail said.“The pens can also assist with our broilers, which are meat chickens, and the rabbit programs.” 

Besides housing animals, the pens can be seen as a tool to help students learn the proper ways to take care of animals.

“Students will learn to use respectful and humane animal handling practices for moving and sorting animals,” Hail said. “This is a requirement for the vetmed (veterinary medicine) and advanced animal science classes through Tarleton State University.” 

Frequent visitors can expect to see animals being interchanged every so often, since the pens are not there to keep the same animals for an extended period of time. 

“Animals will not be kept there long-term,” Hail said. “The pens are only for instructional purposes. They will be used simply for holding. We may also use them in an outside setting for our dog grooming and livestock animal clipping.” 

Sophomore Kylie Wyatt said these pens will be extremely useful and more time efficient for students who are sometimes required to bring animals to school for their classes. 

“Throughout the school year, we have a few students that have animals to bring to show to the livestock classes,” Wyatt said. “The pens will make it so much easier to keep the animals instead of staying out in the ag building watching them and missing classes.” 

Hail said good etiquette and showing general respect for the animals and their caretakers  when visiting the pens is important. 

“Something to remember when visiting our area is to leave the gate as you found it,” Hail said. “This is something we have discussed with our students and is necessary when visiting a farm or ranch. If the gate is closed, close it back. That usually means that the gate is acting as a secure location for something. If the gate is open when you find it, then leave the gate open because the animals may need to get into another area for feed or water.” 

Hail said that as a whole, the new pens are a thrilling addition to the ag programs, and have even had some special guests check them out.

“We are very excited,” Hail said. “Since they’ve been completed, we’ve already had a pig, five goats and a herding dog visit.”