Following the Covid pandemic, there was a surge in the demand for online classes. This has now led to the request to provide online laboratory instruction. The request to convert courses that are a combination of lecture and laboratory experiences to a completely online instruction has been difficult oppose due to a lack of supporting research. This study was designed in an attempt to justify and quantify the differences in learning outcomes between in-person and online instruction of basic animal science skills. Students without large animal experience volunteered to be enrolled in one of two skill assessments. The two skills that were taught and evaluated were the administration of an oral dewormer to horses (EOD) and the blood collection from the caudal tail vein of cattle (BBC). The students were then randomly assigned into either the control (CON) or video (VID) group. The control group viewed the teaching of the skill in person, and the other group viewed it via live stream video. Participants were selected in a random order to perform the skill while be evaluated by a blinded observers based on a prepared rubric. Areas assessed included confidence, competence, animal handling, and performance of skills. Results from the EOD study indicated that in-person learning was more beneficial to the successful execution of the skill. Results from the BBC group indicated very little difference between the CON and VID group. When reflecting on the conflicting results, a possible error was noticed based on the type of classes the participants were recruited from. Additional assessments are being planned to reevaluate the results while also including additional species of farm animals and skills.