This week for my animal health lab we went to the sheep barn. We learned how to handle and do a physical exam on sheep. The sheep we got to work with had been sheared so they were not the typical woolly sheep you might think off. The class was asked to climb into the corral filled with about fifteen sheep. The sheep ran around as a big group trying to find a place to hide from all the students. I admit I was a bit nervous because I'd never worked with sheep and they were bigger than I though they would be! The teacher demonstrated how to catch and control a sheep and I was amazed that all you had to do was hold their head and they would give in and not try to run anymore. So we got into groups and caught our victims, took their temperatures, listened to heart rates, and learned how to draw blood. On sheep you draw from their jugular vein and I'm happy to say I hit the vein on my first try! I decided that if I had to pick between dairy cows and sheep, I would definately pick sheep.
I'm so glad that it's Spring Break!! I wish the weather was cooperating though! It snowed quite a bit yesterday! So far, my spring break hasn't been too exciting but I've been enjoying having no school and stress.
Tomorrow we are meeting our foreign exchange student who will be staying with us for about a week. She is from Japan and knows a little bit of English. It will be interesting to meet someone from a different culture. We hope it goes well and that we will be able to communicate with her.
Yesterday for my Animal Health and Hygiene Laboratory we went out to the dairy and learned how to do physical exams on dairy cows. Well, it was a very new experience for me! Dairy cows are huge and messy! We took temperatures and used stethoscopes to listen to the heart and the gut sounds. Then, we did rectal exams. I put on this plastic glove that went all the way up to my shoulder and just went for it. I had no idea what I was supposed to be feeling around for but all I can say is that there is a lot of space in there and it feels mushy and gooey. After that we learned how to draw blood from a vein on the underside of the tail. It was pretty hard to do. For one thing the tail was hard to hold with one hand will jabbing for a vein with the needle in the other. Also, the cow did not like it! I was straddling a drainage gutter and I had just hit the vein when all of the sudden the neighboring cow whacked me with her tail! I nearly fell in the gutter and I lost the vein. After that the vet showed how to "tip" a cow. All he did was tie a rope around her belly in a special way and as soon as he tightened it she just fell slowly to the side. It was wild! It was a very exciting day for me but I'm sure that I don't want to be a cow vet! They're too messy!
Last Saturday was a wonderful day! My family, along with my dad's side of the family went to the Draper Temple open house. We ate a nice dinner at the Goodwood barbecue and then headed to the temple for a tour. There were 10 of us total. The temple was beautiful inside and out and it was a really neat experience for me and my family. I have been blessed lately with many opportunities to go to the temple. I'm looking forward to attending the dedication for the Draper temple in a few weeks!
