Day 42 ~ The Last Day!!!

Today was my last day at Hartpury College. At first, I attempted to wake up at 3:30 AM and surprise the dairy farmers by showing up at 4:00 to help milk, but that plan never came into action :). So I woke up at 6:30 to be up at the dairy barns at 7:30 in order to observe the veterinarian check over 50 cows and heifers for pregnancies and other ailments. One cow had a huge abscess on her side and we lanced it (see gory pictures below, beware not for faint of heart!) I also got to travel to Butter's End farm where Hartpury keeps all of the heifers - that was cool, and I got to ride my first cow! When we returned to the farm, we had a traditional English breakfast of toast and tea before I went "to the dark side" (back to main campus) to check in for my flight and print off my boarding pass. I also confirmed my departure time with my driver (5:30 AM tomorrow). Then, I met Mike (from South Africa) for lunch! He made us hamburgers and mashed potatoes. Unfortunately, he is the last one to leave and won't be going until Friday so he'll have a few days alone, but he's going into the royal marines and so I think he'll be fine.
After lunch, I headed down to the therapy center for my last afternoon. I observed some amazing farrier work by one of the farriers for the British Olympic team (they have 3), and then I helped Tilly run Tom on the highspeed treadmill, took TPR's on the 4 horses they currently have in the barn (Nero, Tom, Jerry, and the new guy Africa), and then met up with Kathryn for last minute evaluations and goodbyes. I returned to my room for a shower before walking up the the dairy farmer's house to share dinner with him and his family. We had a great meal of salmon cakes, potatoes, salad, and apple crisp with vanilla ice cream! YUM!
I have had such a wonderful time here at Hartpury, and I am so thankful and appreciative of everything they have done for me and of all of you, my readers, for being to encouraging! The first 2-3 weeks were rather rocky, but then I found out that I could survive on my own, and I was doing OK. I will always remember this trip and I think that it has provided me with more confidence in myself and my skills. Thank-you everyone!!!

The Therapy Team!

Kathryn and Me

Tina, Kristin, Mike

The ladies all lined up for their preg checks

Ultra-sound!

The giant abscess

Lancing the abscess!!!

The after effects!

Riding Toffee 2

My dairy family, thank-you for everything!!!

Day 40-41 ~

This weekend has been fairly quiet. Yesterday was the Therapy Center Open House and I was able to help run demonstrations such as the Dart-Fish imaging system and Equine Manipulation. Dartfish is an awesome computer system that records a rider and then allows you to slow down or speed up the footage, add lines, markers, and angles, and do lots of other cool things! It is the perfect tool for a biomechanics major and my Wilson professor, Ann, would love it! I played around with it all morning. Then, I helped out with the manipulation demonstration. I have never seen or heard of this technique before, but it was my job to literally link arms under the horse's girth area with my partner on the other side of the horse and lift the entire abdomen! This is a method of restoring health by gentle corrective manipulation of the bones of the head, spinal column, pelvis and limbs, thereby ensuring the proper functioning of the nerves and endocrine systems which control the natural self-healing capability of the body. It was really cool and definitely an area requiring further research on my part! After the open house, we got everything cleaned up and then I had a quiet evening doing laundry and hanging out with the remaining international students (Tina, Kristin, and Mike).
Today, I slept in until about 9, woke up and went to breakfast then helped Tilly run Tom and Jerry on the highspeed treadmill before I sunbathed for 2 hours! We had beautiful weather today, the warmest day since I've been here! Then I helped Tilly run the boys on the HSP again. Now, the internationals and I are preparing a farewell dinner for Tina and Kristin. One more day of my trip, it is slowly winding down!

Day 39~ Pig Unit and Dairy Barns

Today was my last day with the pigs. When I got to the unit at 7:30 this morning, they were loading up about 40 of the market weight bacon pigs to sell, so we gathered them up, tattooed them, and sent them off on the lory. After that, we fed the pigs and then I cleaned out the dry sow pens using a rotatiller! Next, I followed Tom around as he was showing off the facilities and some of his creative housing designs to a veterinarian and another local pig farmer. We took a 45 minute lunch break before we commenced with building two new farrowing rooms for the next upcoming batch of pregnant sows (about 7 that will farrow next week). Then, we moved the 7 sows into their comfy little units. These girls weigh about 450-600 pounds!
At 3:00, I said my goodbyes to Tom and Dunston at the pig unit and made my way over to the dairy barns to help with the afternoon milking and to feed the calves. I had a great time when Les let me chauffer him around the pastures in his Kubota as we took the cows out. He even invited me to share dinner with his family on Monday night, my last night here. His 12 y/o daughter Katie really wants to meet her first American, haha! It's rather rainy out this evening, genuine English weather, but I might make it up to the laundry room to throw a few last loads in. 3 full days left, and the packing has already begun. With any luck, I won't have to leave too much behind!

Day 38 ~ Pig Unit and Dairy Barn

I got to sleep in a little bit this morning! I did not have to be at the pig unit until 7:30. When I got there, I helped clean out and feed the sow pens, then I watched Tom AI two sows. That was really cool because they stand very still and rigid in the presence of the boar and then you just slip the insemination rod in, attach the bag of semen and then vua-la! Tom is a really good pig man and he knows his stuff. He too is very good at explaining things and answering all of my questions, a very friendly lad (only 22 y/o, no farming background whatsoever, but took the initiative to raise a few of his own pigs, found a great interest in them and has taught himself a lot by reading books and working on pig farms. He also has a lot of great ideas on how to raise pigs and better the market - a real entrepreneur he is/will be! Very encouraging and inspirational.) After feeding more pigs, I left the unit to have a bite of lunch in the refractory (beans and chips!) before I met with Gilly - the lady who originally came to Wilson College and who told me about Hartpury and introduced this internship opportunity. I told her how much I have been learning and seeing and about the great experience I've had. Then, she took my picture!!! AHHH!!! I was still dressed in my pig clothes and smelled awful, and now my face is going to be on the website, great. After our meeting, I headed back up to the dairy barns to help with the afternoon milking and feeding the calves. Then, they let me lose on the four-wheeler and I turned the cows out! I suppose these "modern horses" will do, and it was nice to drive again and tear around in the fields! At the end of the day, I trudged back through the valley to reach the refractory for dinner, and am now relaxing in my room going to watch a movie. Some new people are moving into my dormitory. I only have 4 days left! WOW!

Here are some pig pictures!

Frank! The Pig Unit Pet - well, until he gets big enough for bacon :) he greets me every morning and follows me around until I rub his belly

The sows!

Artificial Insemination of a sow

An empty farrowing unit

Why hello there!

Day 37 ~ Lets Talk about Cows and Pigs!

Today was another early, 5:00 AM day. I got to farm at 6, then helped out milking the 240. After the milking was finished, Les and I tended to the calves making sure they all got milk. I am proud of Baby Kacie, Daisy, and Baby Brad for being such good eaters and taking to the teat immediately! After a short breakfast break of tea, toast, and delicious live rhubarb yogurt, I followed Jon the Artificial Insemination Technician around as we rectally palpated cows to feel for hardening of the uterine horns or the development of a corpuse luteum. This is great experience for me and I'm slowing learning how to recognize the organs through feeling! I actually really enjoy palpating cows!

This is how its done! All feel, no vision.

This cow has a bad case of Metritis (inflammation of the uterus) She is being treated

The semen must be kept in a temperature controlled nitrous oxide tank (really cold) and then upon removal the technician has 15 minutes to implant the semen before the sperm die.

Working in the dairy barns have really been a good refresher course of everything I've learned in my classes, now I can put it to practice! And they are very impressed with my knowledge and have gone as far as to call me "over-qualified" for just being a veterinary nurse! They really like me, and I have been able to do so much. After hanging out with Jon and picking his brain about reproduction and embryo transplant, I moved on to my next victim -- Chris the hoof-trimmer! All of the guys here have been wonderful about thoroughly answering all of my questions. Plus, they get to laugh at my silly American accent. Today, Les, who has been to America on several occasions, said I have the most "American" accent he has ever heard. I'm not sure what he meant by that, but I called it a Franklin County thing. Anyway, Chris has this awesome hydraulic cattle lift which is a giant contraption (that is the best word I can use to describe this thing) that holds the cow while he grinds away at the feet. It looks like one of dad's man-lifts had a crash with his roll-back, that is how intense this machine is. Anyway, I saw more ulcers, watched him grind/file the hooves down, and apply wooden blocks to redistribute the cow's weight to allow for healing in the foot.

the contraption! made in Holland by the Dutch

Chris uses a grinder to file down the hoof

See the ulcer in the right claw? I did not know that cattle have a pedal bone in each claw! Just like horses, the pedal bone has the potential to penetrate through the bottom of the hoof wall causing great pain and lameness.

Applying the wood block to the left claw to take weight and pressure off the right claw so the ulcer can heal

the finished product

After watching Chris, I was called to the pig yard today to help out. At Hartpury's pig unit, they have over 800 pigs of all ages, from sow and piglet up to feeder and finishing/market weight pigs. The average life span of "the bacons," as the pigs are lovingly called, is 4 months. This is the amount of time it takes for them to reach 80-90 kg (240-250ish pounds). I helped to clean out the pig sheds - which is really smelly and back-breaking work.

Although smelly, I still found the pigs really cool and fascinating to observe! They are such curious critters and very attune to humans!

num num num!

They like to cuddle!

Baby!!!

Then, I was sent back to the dairy barns to eat lunch and finish the day milking. Now that the cows have been milked and turned out to pasture (too bad I didn't have my trusty quarter horse Baylee to ride away into the sunset) I have eaten super and am now relaxing in me room. Tomorrow, I get to sleep in a little bit! I will  be starting at the pig unit and they don't start as early as the dairy. Then, I have a meeting with the principle of Hartpury and then I return to help the evening milking. Friday will be very similar in the routine of pigs in the AM and cows in the PM. Saturday is the Equine Therapy Center Open House, Sunday will be spent sleeping and packing, Monday is my last day at the Therapy Center, and then I leave Hartpury at 6:00 AM Tuesday. WOW! What a fantastic 6 weeks this has been. Lots of learning experiences, growing opportunities, and relationships made. There have been times of trials and times of joy, times of appreciation and times of homesickness, but I don't regret any of it. I have learned more about myself, grown as an individual, and narrowed my vision for life after college. Still, there are 5 days left, I wonder what other adventures might come me way? Stay tuned!!!

Day 36 ~ Dairy Barns

Today I woke up at 5:00 to make it to the dairy barns by 6:00. They had started milking at 4, but I got there to help them finish up for the last hour. After the milking, I fed Baby Kacie and taught her how to suckle on a teat instead of my finger, she thinks I'm her mom now and perks up every time she sees me coming. Too bad she won't fit in my suitcase! Then, Les showed me how to "ping" for displaced abomasums (DA). I found one cow that has an LDA, and another he has an RDA. They will be treated accordingly with either medicine or surgery. Then, we found a couple of lame cows and worked on their feet. One cow had a particularly bad sole ulcers that we cut away. I practiced giving both sub-Q and IM injections, and palpated a few cows for metritis. Les explained to me a few things that can cause a DA such as: ketosis (sweet breath), Metritis, Mastits, lameness, stress, calving, environment changes, etc. Basically, anything that stops a cow from eating. I am learning so much and Les is really impressed with my work learning desire, confidence, and the amount I already know and understand about cattle. Thank-you Wilson College and Greencastle Vet!

I think the calves are my favorite!

Whatchya doin?

I like to suck on fingers

Whazzzzzup!?!

The Parlor

Cows are so inquisitive and like to eat my pants!

What a beauty!

All the ladies lined up!

We can milk 32 at one time!

After lunch, I watched my first live calving! It was very exciting and happened within a half hour! I got the entire calf-coming-out on a 6 minute video! Then it was time to start milking the 240 and take care of the 30 or so calves including Baby Kacie and the newborn calf that I deemed "Daisy"! Les scared me when he said all the calves were out and jokingly blamed me for leaving the gate open when really it was him! Can't trust dairy farmers! After cleaning up the parlor, I headed up to catch some supper, take a hot shower (clean all the poo out of my hair), and relax.

Les: "Kacie, what's that!?"

 Kacie: "Oh my gosh! Something is coming out of her butt! It's happening!"

Here come the feet!

I see a head!

Calf on the ground! a little heifer  

World meet Daisy, Daisy meet world