Have you ever inseminated a cow?

June 10- June 11

Sorry I've been backed up on posts, the wifi wasn't working too well !

On Monday (June 10th) Dr. Eduardo gave us a lecture on animal health, female reproduction and how to perform artificial insemination. The idea of artificially inseminating a cow was both exciting yet frightening at the same time for me. Being that I’ve never artificially inseminated anything, the fact that we would be standing directly behind the cow was even worse. I was worried that I would get kicked or that I wouldn’t be able to find the cervix and by accident hurt the cow, but I know Dr. Eduardo wouldn’t let that happen. That afternoon, we headed to a lab and learned how to do blood smears and how to count eggs in feces.

It took us a while to actually get it right lol

 I thought the lab was pretty cool, but I don’t think I would like to actually work in one. I’d much rather be outside working hands on with the animals or maybe in a vet hospital. To finish up our day, we went to a farm and got to see a cow that died from black leg. Dr. Tesecum showed us how we could feel the air bubbles throughout its body, which was an indicator of black leg. When the leg was cut open, you could actually see the inside muscle was a dark blackish color, hence where its name comes from.


June 11th

Today we woke up at 5:30 a.m and took a visit to central farm. We got to milk the cows, which I thought was pretty cool because I’ve never seen how it was done before. 

GOT MILK !

Later that day, we also performed artificial insemination on the cows. These cows were nothing like the ones we've handled before. These seemed a lot more tame, which made it easier to do the procedure. 

The cutest thing I've seen. Mommy and baby <3

She kept chasing this dog, it was hilarious !

I just really liked this cow :)

First we palpated the cervix. Just through palpating the cervix, you could tell if the cow was pregnant or not. If the cow was pregnant, you could sometimes feel the head of the calf. I stuck my hand into the cows rectum (not something pleasant to feel, but I have to admit it was cool to do) and reached in to feel the cervix. The cervix actually feels like a chicken's neck, and you can actually hold it in your hand. 

Yes they poop while your hand is inside.

Not a pretty sight LOL

We then headed to the vet clinic and did 3 neuters and one spay. I did the suturing for one of the dogs 

that got neutered and administered the injections. There was also a dog that had a wide open cut from jumping a fence, and we had to give him 14 stitches to close it up. I was surprised the dog went the whole night, and was walking perfectly fine when he came into the office.

This was the dog I sutured up. So cuteeee !

- Alejandra