Emi in Dixon Springs

2006-06-29T14:53:00.000-07:00

After having fed the cows and checked for breeding and/or health changes in the herd, we herded the cows into the holding stalls in order to ear-tag and fly-tag them. The stalls are a series of gates that enable herders to safely separate out individual cows and lead them to the head gate. The head gate restrains one cow at a time, enabling an individual to safely tag, medicate and examine the animal. The head gate is a ‘win-win’ device that minimizes risk to both human and animal.

Ear tagging involves inserting an identification tag into the ear of each animal. Animal identification is important for a number of reasons. Not only does the identification number indicate the birth year of each animal, but it also allows you to access all breeding and health history information. With public health concerns such as Mad Cow Disease, identification and the resultant ability to track the history of animals enables veterinarians to better control and eradicate potential disease outbreaks. Animal identification is a tool that helps to safeguard both animal and consumer health.

Fly-tagging is another important procedure. Like ear tagging, fly tagging involves placing tags into the ears of the cattle. However, the fly-tags are coated with a cattle-safe insecticide that helps to control bugs. Since cattle are constantly irritated by flies and the flies can also transmit disease, insecticide treatment is important to safeguard the herd.
Overall, I really enjoy working with the cattle. Despite their impressive size and strength, they are gentle animals. After tagging a beautiful brown cow, she put her large, wet nose out to smell me and lightly nudged (soaked) my shirt. I like to think that we bonded, number 6055 and I.

2006-06-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here in pajamas with a beer and some salty potato chips, relaxing into a lazy evening. I am exhausted! Today, the heat index was over one-hundred and five degrees and we worked our tails off to complete the activities of the day. The activities included feeding the pigs, identifying and recording newborn litters, weaning and vaccinating pigs and-of utmost importance-- keeping the animals hydrated and comfortable in such heat.

Swine, especially the larger boars and sows, do not do well in extreme temperatures. They do not thermoregulate well. We spent much of the day spraying the pigs down with water and ensuring that their water holes were filled. Following feeding (pigs are still pigs), they submerged themselves in the muddy pools and cooled themselves from the sun.

While the hogs bathed in the mud, the crew commenced walking the birthing pens to check for newborn litters. Every sow has its own house. Although the sows usually give birth in the houses, today we discovered a sow completing her birthing in the open. It was amazing to see the tail end (quite literally) of the process. Mama gave birth to eight adorable piglets. After she was done, we collected the piglets and placed them in the appropriate house. Amazingly, it took four of us to herd the mama away from the afterbirth and to her waiting piglets. She was very protective of the afterbirth and the area in which she gave birth until she discovered her piglets. We then cleaned up the afterbirth and went to the next house.

Following birthing checks, we proceeded vaccinating some of the older piglets against swine influenza. The vaccine is given orally, so the procedure is quite easy to perform in mass. The hard part, especially in the heat, is catching the pigs. Not only do you have to separate the piglets from the sow (and sows can be quite protective of their young), but you have to make sure that all the piglets in each litter receive the vaccine. Thankfully, you often find all the piglets in the house nursing on mom, so you can herd mom out and temporarily shut the door to the house. One person then climbs into the ‘sunroof’ of the small pig house, catches the piglets, and hands them up to the individual who vaccinates them. The process can be quite easy, but the today’s heat made it exhausting.

In sum, it was an awesome day working with the pigs, but I am definitely happy that the forecast predicts rain tomorrow! Yippee!

2006-06-22T17:05:00.000-07:00

Although the five am alarm can be a bit rough at times, I love mornings at Dixon Springs! I enjoy crawling out of my sleeping bag, feeling the air-conditioning chill my skin, throwing on some ‘duds,’ grabbing my cup of coffee (thank goodness for automatic brew), and dragging myself out to the front stoop. Immediately, the morning warmth carries the aroma of cows and predicts the intense heat the will inevitably arrive mid-morning. I LOVE the smell and sight of cows in the morning! From my stoop, I can watch the cows grazing on the dewy clover and smell their ‘grass and manure sweetness.’ While I nurse my sleep-induced coma with strong coffee and morning peacefulness, I watch the sun rise and sit on the hill, happy that I am here in Dixon Springs.

2006-06-22T16:44:00.000-07:00

It is ten o’clock at night and I have just come in from syringe feeding a pig ‘milk replacer’ to a failing pig. He was found in the nursery this morning, severely dehydrated and unable to stand. As of this morning, I was not sure he would make it through the day. But, here it is in the late evening, and ‘Albert’ is enthusiastically suckling milk.

He is beautiful. I wrap him in a towel, place him on my lap, and offer him warmed milk from the syringe. He is a gurgler and definitely ‘all shades of adorable.’ After a few syringe-fulls, he quickly falls asleep, commencing his slight pig snoring. Too cute!

But, as I admire him, I recognize my personal conundrum. I am trying to help Albert get healthy and strong, so that he can survive long enough to be ‘sent to market’ and eventually end up on someone’s dinner table. It is a hard issue for me.

Admittedly, I have always been somewhat conflicted with meat consumption. I have spent most of my adult life being and not being a vegetarian. My freezer here is stocked with all sorts of veggie ‘chicken’ nuggets and veggie burgers. My cupboards are stocked with vegetarian baked beans, gluten and veggie soup. Not only do I enjoy the taste of these foods, but I also enjoy the fact that I am not eating meat.

However, I am not currently a vegetarian. Lately, I have been occasionally consuming chicken and some fish, however I cannot tell you the last time I ate beef or pork. The fact that I eat some meat is solely because I am lazy in preparing and cooking veggie meals. In addition, most restaurants in ‘Chambana’ only offer sad meat alternatives, if that. I am so glad that we have freedom in our consumption and, without any inappropriate commentary or judgment; I sometimes prefer to eat meat free.

I am so fortunate to be here. Not only am I learning a great deal about livestock production and farming, but I am challenged by my experience and thinking. Dixon Springs is undeniably an amazing center and the animals are taken care of with utmost care and respect, including Albert. I am happy to have the opportunity to care for him and all the other animals, as I continue learning more about the meat industry and my own role in it.

2006-06-18T07:20:00.000-07:00

Following a long and cleansing shower and a minor tick removal surgery from my head, I am now officially ready for bed. But, first, a blog!
My first work day on the farm went well. We met at the ‘shack’ at six am with the rest of the crew and learned about our duties for the day. Our duties included the following:
6-9 am: Having learned that various cows were sick (three had pink eye, one had a severe injury from being mounted and one was possibly sick with anaplasmosis or bovine leukemia virus), we made rounds of the various isolation pens to check and learn how to medicate them, as necessary. Karla explained everything wonderfully and I was happy to understand her references to ruminant anatomy. She then demonstrated how to usher the cow into the ‘holding stall,’ for treatments. I also learned that I need to head to the gym and build some biceps so as to not look like a total weakling when I close the security gates behind the car. Aigh! 
9-10 am: We collected a number of fresh fecal samples from two different farrowing pig pens and learned the basic pig numbering/identification system. In addition, we also learned about the difficulties of preventing runoff from the pens and the methods of protecting the pond health. I also saw a very cool toad hoping through the pig pens.
10 am- 12pm: We weighed the fecal samples and prepped them for microscopic examination.
12- 1pm: We had a short lunch and then went to spray down the horses, Doc and Scout. They were in the pen with Randall, the donkey (my favorite). The spray helps to keep the flies to a minimum, thus preventing disease transmission. Sweet and stubborn Randall would have none of it and ran away from the spray. We also gave them lots of treats, including peppermint candies! I think I bribed my way into acceptance!
1-3pm. We looked at the fecal samples under the microscope and, after much confusion; I learned to differentiate random globs of fecal material from parasites. Yipppeee! Progress is made.
3-3:30pm: We prepped materials for tomorrow’s activities and made additional ear tags for the cows.
3:30- 4:30pm: We took the truck out to see the cattle in the pasture and checked for signs of breeding. So, here is the deal: There are three different bulls in the pen with the females. The cows have been hormonally treated to come into heat at approximately the same time. Each bull has a ‘harness’ on his head with a paint container underneath his chin. If he mounts a cow, his paint color will be spread on her back. In this way, we can tell if a bull has bred with a cow and we can tell which bull did so, without having to be present.
4:30-7:30pm: After returning home after a long day, Rachel and I commenced cleaning the yard. Since the weather has been unusually cool, we thought it might be nice to complete our yard chores before the heat commenced. We mowed the lawn, weeded the garden, and redistributed some gravel rock. We mowed the lawn with a Kubota mower. For those of you not familiar with a Kubota, it is a seated lawn mower, reminiscent of the mower in the movie Forest Gump. I am now ready for a good dinner and some sleep!

2006-06-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

The drive from Champaign down to Simpson, Illinois was gorgeous! Compared to Champaign, Southern Illinois is very lush and green. I passed some inviting lakes upon my drive and would have liked to stop for a swim were I not on a schedule. There are a number of camping spots that I hope to explore on my weekends.

While driving, I saw a traffic sign with a picture of a horse-drawn buggy that cautioned drivers to go slow. Never seen a sign like that before!

Today I met Karla (my supervisor and instructor), her husband Butch, their dog Flash, their adorable donkey Randall, and my housemate Rachel. I couldn’t be more impressed with the welcoming and the DSAC facilities. Karla and Butch took us on a short tour of the property pointing out the pig farrowing facility and breeding facility. Shortly thereafter, Rachel and I came up the hill to our house. Since it is only the two of us, we each have our own room, though she shares her room with ‘Chicken’ bird.

Of interest, Karla mentioned that they have been having a problem with the local turkey vultures picking off live piglets. They contacted the Wildlife Fish and Game for permission to shoot a couple of the vultures to control the loss of their pigs. Apparently, if you hang a dead vulture in the trees nearby, the local vultures may move on.

Then Rachel and I went to get groceries. We drove to the closest large supermarket (Wal-Mart). It was in Kentucky! I have never been to Kentucky! We came home, had smores for dinner, and now off to bed.

2006-06-15T18:22:00.000-07:00

Let me preface this blog and DSAC summer externship by saying that I have little to no experience with livestock production or large animal medicine. Prior to moving to the Midwestern suburbs and aside from the occasional petting zoo, I have had little interaction with cows and pigs. Having grown up in the Bay Area and spent most of my adult life as a tried and true city gal, my knowledge of cows includes a grand appreciation for the whimsical Cows on Parade Chicago art experience and the cow statues that grace the lawn of the University of Minnesota's campus lawn.

My knowledge of pigs is limited to having read Charlotte's Web at least several times and a strange experience in a California supermarket parking lot. Having completed our shopping duties, my mother and I walked with our bagfuls of produce out to the car only to see a gigantic pig trotting out towards us. (Do pigs trot?) Having no knowledge of pig breeds, I can only describe it is a very large, swollen-eyed, and eggplant-colored animal with extreme wrinkles on his face. He was adorable! I'm sure my first instinct was to crouch down slowly in a lateral presentation, avoid direct gaze, place my hand out slowly to the side and coo "Here piggy, piggy,piggy," similar to what I would do for a misplaced dog. I'm equally sure that my instinct would have been to somehow get this two-hundred pound animal into the minivan, call the local shelter to see if there were any missing pigs, check the pig for an identification chip, and if all else failed, take the pig in and give him a home. Thankfully for my parents however, a local pet-store employee came rushing out to the parking lot, apologized, explained that the pig often liked to escape and greet people, and then ushered the pig back into the pet store. All commentary on shady pet stores and inadequate animal care and enclosure aside, my pig experience is sadly limited.

So, in sum, I have a lot to learn at DSAC!!

2006-06-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

Emi, a native of the Menlo Park, California, has completed her first year of the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine professional degree at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine. Although she received her bachelor's of arts degree in Sociology/Anthropology at Carleton College in 2000 and pursued health education, she spent all of her spare time volunteering at local animal welfare shelters and caring for her sick Bearded Dragon. She was hooked!! And with the encouragement and support of her family, she decided to alter her career path.

Convinced she wanted to pursue a career in animal behavior or veterinary medicine, Emi committed to the further pursuit of academics. In 2001, she accepted a research technician position at Northwestern University where she studied a model of asthma in mutant mice. Taking full advantage of her employee tuition benefits and flexible work schedule, Emi pursued the necessary pre-veterinary curriculum and finished her final coursework at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities. Throughout her work and studies, Emi volunteered numerous hours at various animal welfare organizations, including the Tree House Animal Foundation, the Raptor Center and the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.

Following the completion of her veterinary curriculum, Emi accepted a job as a humane educator and camp director at the Golden Valley Animal Humane Society in Minneapolis. While she applied for veterinary school admission and kept her fingers crossed, she taught educational programs designed to enhance the human-animal bond and minimize animal suffering. Some of the programs she taught included animal care, bite prevention, the importance of spaying and neutering, animal fiction in the media, the link between animal violence and violence against humans and more. She was enthralled with her job and, upon admission to veterinary school, she volunteered for the Veterinary Student Outreach Program to continue spreading the humane mission.

Now, having finished her first year of veterinary study, Emi is excited about exploring production and large animal medicine at the Dixon Springs Agricultural Center. She looks forward to learning more about the daily activities of a production facility, which will include feeding, harvesting, cleaning the facilities, inspecting the livestock, diagnosing illness, administering treatments and implementing herd health programs, among other things. She will also help to evaluate the current DSAC sow deworming program. This will include taking and analyzing fresh fecal samples throughout the current deworming protocol. Emi is thrilled to have the opportunity to work and study at Dixon Springs Agricultural Facility and looks forward to an exciting summer experience.