Trust me, I'm (going to be) a Vet

The week between Mulawa and Leppington Pastoral i took off. Strangely, lots of things seemed to pop up that week.

We didnt have the 7am start at the dairy which was good (4am also for that matter), plus M and I dont live far away. The propety itself is huge! Apprently it being the largest dairy in the Southern Hemisiphere, where there is about 2,000 cows milked 24 hours a day. Calving occurs constantly where we would pick up anything from 7-20 calves per day. It was good the dairy prac and i must say it went alot faster than the horse prac-i guess because we were *gasp* having fun.


We did alot of AI and herd health/reproduction monitoring and not much milking. The golf buggy was used for N's AI rounds. We got to drive it through the all-terrain of cow-pat and from pen to pen. I bet you anything that our Golf Buggy does more 4WD/Off roading than any other Cabramatta-4WD, and it doesnt bust your pocket in fuel costs. One battery charge lasts you 4/5 days and gives you speeds of up to 40kmph (So N says).

Out of all the heifers, i particulalry noticed one:



The vet came in to attend to some cows. A fair amount of them had LHS Displaced Abomasum. The corrective measure for this is to suture the abomasum securely on the LHS and then pass it down on the RHS above the milk vein via the threads passed through on the RHS. Of course you got the occaisional mole-cow and everytime you went to do something it would thrash around. We gave a fair few injections as well which was good. The vet, B, was terrific bloke and taught us alot.


We saw some dystocia including a calf coming out in non-diving position but in the position below on the top LHS. Correction just invovled us simply manouvering the leg forward. They said they dont get too many other strange ones depicted, well at least usually by then the calf would be in great condition because of the prolonged and intense labour.


Calvings are very interesting to watch and listen to. I think my photos are a bit too graphic to put on the internet. I guess you can use your imagination. But here is what happens after calving (not following a particular calf) :D




While M and I were watching a calving, this cow in the same pen gave me the "Whatcha Looking At" expression.

The calf shed is pretty much inaccessible by foot so we had to be driven there. We spent a morning there and we didnt realise we were going to be there until lunch. It was pretty hot too and R and D said theyd pick us up later but didnt! We had to be driven back to the dairy by L. We hand fed the calves, gave them their injections and made sure they got their feed. Each pen had their own austomatic feeder where the calf goes into the feeding stall and its ear tag is picked up. The computer checks to see if its had its quota of milk for the day and if it hasnt, then the hatch opens up for it to feed. If it has, the hatch remains closed.

The calves are so funny, they suck your fingers! I saw the physio the week before for a basketball injury and i figured, hey, i dont need to pay to see him anymore, i can just get a calf to massage them for me =p


The cats got to be fed too. Theres a whole bunch of them running around drinking and sleeping:

Labels: animals, cattle, dairy, pracwork

Its been almost a week since I've left for Mulawa but the week off has been certainly filled with catching up sleep from 5:50 am wake-ups.
Mulawa is an arab horse stud situated in Berilee, Berowra. M and i went for our 5 day prac to which the day started at 7 am and finishing at 4pm. The predominanlty to halter showing but also have an eventing team, do studwork, agist, race horses, riding and your normal pony club horses. The team who work there were dedicated and were absolutely lovely to us.
Each morning/afternoon, we would negotiate the windy road through Berowra to meet the Ferry. Ive never been on a car ferry before so it was rather novelty at first. I realised felt sick if i didnt look out the side rather than forward. M was fine.


One of the riders brings Bruno along to watch. Hes a Pug X Jack Russel. Hes funny looking but very sweet.

We got to see how bit the propety was and it was HUGE. It goes all the way down to the river where we crossed with the ferry and across into the national park for many kilometres. Mind you this is the propety on other side of the road where we were based which is also theirs.

Labels: dog, farm, horse, pracwork