#dairyplacement

[lizziedoesvetpath]

Why won't you let me in your butt?!?

Me practicing manual pregnancy diagnosis on (understandably) unimpressed cows today

[lizziedoesvetpath]

Dairy Farm Placement Day 10/10

I’m done!!!! Pretty average day today - herringbone in the morning, rotary in the afternoon. So glad to be going home tomorrow, I’m absolutely exhausted and really over dairy placement. And, this means I’ve finished all 14 weeks of farm placement I had to do! So that’s a fairy big achievement :)

[lizziedoesvetpath]

Dairy Farm Placement Day 9/10

Overall, a pretty good day! (Shocking to hear me say that about this placement, I know).

I spent the morning out with the same vet as yesterday and learnt LOADS again!!! Gangrenous mastitis, calf vaccinations, and seeder removal - from the disgusting to the routine, I saw it all today!!! Between that and getting my (great) grades back for last semester’s exams, I’m rearing to go for next year’s studies!!!!

Aaaaand I just got back from milking at a different farm - in a rotary shed rather than a herringbone. IT WAS SO MUCH NICER. The rotary is cleaner and more efficient. This is partially because there are too many cows for the herringbone I’ve done most of my milking in, but I think that the rotary sheds are just generally a better option for large scale milking. And not a single cow shat on me!!!! So I have no poo on my face, and got very little on my arms -- a small miracle really :)

[lizziedoesvetpath]

Dairy Farm Placement Day 8/10

Hung out with a (mostly) dairy vet today! There wasn’t tooooo much on, so I’ve been offered the amazing treat of another morning with him tomorrow (so stay tuned for that).

A couple of interesting cases today: 1) Called out to take a blood test thinking we were confirming a case of Johne’s Disease. When we got there, the clinical exam revealed that the cow was severely anemic, so samples have been sent to the lab to try and figure out what is going on. She’s still milking well, but has lost condition rapidly, and there’s the anemia, but overall still BAR. I might find out more tomorrow. 2) A case from the weekend we checked on: a cow that had had a ventral hip dislocation. It was noted that the pelvis was slanted oddly for the direction of the dislocation, and there was some difficulty fixing it as the ventral dislocation could not be made dorsal in order to return the head of the femur to the acetabulum. The cow still has a significant limp, so other damage is suspected.

Other than that, we had an interesting chat about facial eczema, and a trial they’re currently running to combat that, and about bowel issues with cattle (intussusception, displacement of the abomasum, adhesions, etc.). Overall a very interesting day, despite the small case load, so I’m very excited for the morning!

[lizziedoesvetpath]

Dairy Farm Placement Day 7/10

Another rainy day, so just milking morning and evening day. Hiding in my room while everyone else watches the rugby game - because apparently even dairy farming pauses to watch the All Blacks... Luckily there are few things I enjoy more than reading in the quiet while it rains!

So nothing very vet-y again today, but I should have something interesting to report tomorrow after my day out with the local dairy vet (hopefully the rain stops to make the day a bit more pleasant)

[lizziedoesvetpath]

Dairy Farm Placement Day 6/10

It feels so good to type 6/10!!! I’m so close to going home now, and I’m so excited.

Pretty average day again today, just milking really. Killing time until evening milk. On the bright side, even though I’ll have a day just like this again tomorrow, on Monday I get to spend a day with a dairy vet!!!! Just holding out for Monday :)

[lizziedoesvetpath]

Dairy Farm Placement Day 5/10

Half way!!!!! (Well.... I’ll be half way through my placement once I’ve finished milking this evening, but for all intents and purposes: HALF WAY!!!!!)

A pretty standard day on the farm today. It’s raining and very windy so the planned silage cutting has had to be postponed. Very thankful for the rain because it means that between milkings today I just get to kill time!!!! Rest day for me :D

[lizziedoesvetpath]

Dairy Farm Placement Day 4/10

Aaaaaaand.... I’m over it.

Milking this morning followed by a short interlude showing off my mad cat pilling skills to deworm all three cats, then back down to the sheds for a marathon five cows with sore feet, two of which had two damaged feet. Dealt to those, and now a short break until evening milking.

I am utterly exhausted. How people do this for their jobs is beyond me. I’m going to need about 5 months rest just to recover from these 4 days.