Agricultural applied learning laboratories are often located a short distance from the main University campus, resulting in loss of instructional time to facilitate transportation needs. In addition, enrollment numbers continue to increase in many disciplines without the increase in teaching faculty resulting in higher student to faculty ratios. The objective was to create a split laboratory rotation and utilize graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants to create more opportunities for small group instruction and enhanced learning experiences. This strategy was applied in an upper classman level livestock management course. The laboratory session was a 2 hour and 50-minute laboratory session in which traditionally forfeited 40 minutes to accommodate the commute. Starting in 2021, each laboratory section was divided into 2 sub-groups with staggered starting and ending times. The first group started with hands-on animal management tasks at the assigned course starting time while the second group started 30 minutes later with technical training and application scenarios with the teaching assistants in another location. The two groups then rotated. This format increased instructional time, reduced student to instructor ratios, and provided opportunities to learn techniques. The hands-on portion of the laboratory has noted increased student participation and reduced distraction/down-time, improved accuracy of management task completion, increased student confidence and knowledge/skill retention, and there is a perceived reduced animal stress improving animal welfare. A five-year review of this format received favorable student feedback and noted improvement in technical skills and efficiency when completing the real-world management tasks. This instructional design could be applied in many different laboratory settings in which commute time is a concern and technical skills are being taught.