From the Dairy to the Sheep barn

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.