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Week 5: PCC - LB Pt.II

The final week of externship was marked with a change of mates at PCC. It was also the week of Febfair. Day 6 was mostly chill, we just did the usual farm work with feeding and cleaning pens. It was the last day of our friends from Bicol, so they made sopas to end the day. Day 7 (Valentine's day lmao) I helped with a friend's thesis about ultrasonography. It was pretty cool seeing the insides of a buffalo calf and noting their differences with their adult counterparts. Being Valentine's day, as well as apparently the last day for my friend's thesis's data collection, his adviser treated us to food. (Which was hella awesome 👌👌👌) Day 8-9 Ovarian Checking and Pregnancy Diagnosis. But wait! There's more! We used................................... ULTRASOUND!!! Which was yknow pretty cool and whatnot though jamming your hand up an animal's backside with a transducer wasn't an easy thing to do. It was hard on the thumbs, to be honest. But it was really satisfying and fulfilling being able to find and successfully identify structures. It makes me feel like I learned. haha Day 10 There was a prolapse case, vaginal prolapse of a pregnant buffalo. We were told that the animal was loaned to a farmer but was returned to the custody of PCC for rehabilitation. My friends and I weren't able to catch the whole procedure of returning the prolapsed part and suturing the organ inside which happened at around 10 in the morning, we were only able to catch them packing up, unfortunately. Although the animal was scheduled for slaughter if she failed to stand up within the allotted time (1pm, in this case). It was unfortunate that the animal failed to stand before 1 in the afternoon. We were then left to help with the feeding in the afternoon. Photos in the next post!

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nose nose nose nose nose 

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Week 4: Philippine Carabao Center Los Baños

Truth be told, the first week at PCC - LB was eventful, to say the least. Informative, too. We also had friends from Bicol, also vet students making their rounds through the various practices.

Day 1: Casualties at the Slaughter House Plunged into the world of carabaos, day one consisted of a trip to the university slaughter house to, you guessed it, slaughter two buffaloes. When I asked what made them candidates for slaughter, I was told that one hadn’t had a successful pregnancy since 2014, while the other one had really low milk production, roughly less that two and a half liters per day.

At the slaughter house, we took note of the slaughter method and the process itself. First, the animals was coaxed into a chute, after which the horns were tied to secure the head. Next came a slender knife, which came down the animal’s neck, severing the spinal cord and immobilizing the animal. This method is called pithing. After successfully immobilizing the animal, the skin on its neck is peeled off to reveal the jugular vein, where it is cut, draining the animal of its blood. It was difficult to be in the same room when all of that was happening because the animal was still vocalizing. (I felt so detached from everything I lost feeling in my hands a few times.) The feet were removed with a cut just below the hocks, where the carcass was hung with hooks through their calcaneal tendons. We were then allowed to try skinning. The skin near the rectum was separated, to be taken off together with the innards, which would then be washed in a separate room. After skinning, the carcass was split into two down the vertebrae, each part halved again with a cut between the 12th and 13th vertebra. Each part were weighed before hanging them in the chiller at around 7°C.

We were at our second carcass when the tendon snapped and my life flashed before my eyes. The next thing I knew my cheek was throbbing with a white-hot kind of pain that made white creep the periphery of my vision.

They gave me ice for it, though. I had to put Salonpas on it everyday for three days to make sure the swelling went away by Saturday, but it was cool. They insisted I take the rest of the day off, so I did.

Day 2: Collect Them All We had to show up to the farm at 5:30am to catch the semen collection. The bulls were lined up and given baths for the two teaser bulls where they mount and ejaculate, caught by the ever-trusty artificial vagina, of course.

Samples were taken from each of the ejaculates and evaluated for their morphology and mobility to see if they are fit for processing. Processing basically consisted of adding extenders to the ejaculate, applying the mixture into 0.5ml straws, sealing them and put into liquid nitrogen until the time they would be used.

Day 3: Slice and Dice Meat fabrication. AKA Slicing the meat into parts for consumers to, well, consume. I came in late because a really bad episode of what I was later informed was vertigo hit me that morning (I had to go the hospital after the fabrication), so I missed the “lecture” part. My fellow interns assured me that I didn’t exactly miss anything major and that the meat cuts were hardly distinguishable from each other, anyway. So I helped around with the packaging. I found that all the meaty meat parts are separated for processing, while the other, more bony parts are up for sale. And by bony parts, I mean “choice cuts,” such as soup bones, cross cuts, T-bones, several steaks, and the like. We were sent home before lunch.

Day 4: Premature Good Mornings I thought it was a Friday and came by the farm at 5:30am. (Semen processings were on Tuesdays and Fridays). No wonder the farm was eerily quiet, I thought. So I just did what I could and helped with the milking. We gave the buffaloes baths and I helped clip on the milking machines to the teats. It was enlightening enough. Then we helped around with the feeding and then we were given a short talk about how the land can be cultivated to accommodate the food for the buffaloes, which would be, needless to say, cost-effective. So we helped plant grass in the free spaces already laid with a layer of manure. I have to say, the science between finding the right mix of plants to cultivate is a very interesting venture.

Day 5: Ties We had ropework classes back in Zotc115 but I’m sure it’s not only me when I say I need brushing up on it. We spliced some ropes for restraints. It was fulfilling to do, even though we acquired rope burns and blistered fingers. We also did some pregnancy diagnosis in the afternoon, as well as helped a fellow clinician with his thesis.

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TAGS TAGS TAGS TAGS TAGS

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Week 3: Hacienda Macalauan (Part II)

The week went by like any other week, I suppose. Since we’re not exactly allowed to do anything “major.” I guess the only upside is that on the weekends and on Wednesdays, the owners aren’t there so the docs and the calf farm supervisor (they love me us) so they sneak us to the other farms to observe and take part in the procedures.

Day 7 In the morning, there was a report that one of the bulls had watery diarrhea with undigested food for a couple of days. The vet opted to address the dehydration by giving fluids intravenously. Ideally, Lactated Ringer’s Solution with 5% dextrose should have been given, but since it wasn’t available, 0.9% NaCl solution was given. After about 3 liters, and after the bull consistently dislodged the line, the vet switched to drenching the bull instead with roughly 54 liters of electrolyte-packed water twice a day for as long as Sherman’s (that’s the bull’s name) diarrhea resolves.  

Drenching is done by passing a metal pipe connected to a pump into the mouth of the animal, into the esophagus and finally into the rumen. Fluids are then pumped into the rumen. Great care must be taken especially when passing the pipe in the throat to avoid introducing the pipe into the trachea instead of the esophagus. You’ll smell digesta at the end of the hose when you’ve successfully introduced the pipe into the rumen.

One thing I’ve noticed during the drenchings is that when you do, in fact, get into the rumen, the animal would salivate. Like, a lot. Below’s a video of Sherman getting drenched.

Day 8 Aside from the regular duty of taking care of the calves (i.e., shovelling them feed and corn silage),  they snuck us into the milking parlor next. I’ll have to admit, the milking parlor looks so cool. Technology, man.

Day 9 Please don’t tell on us but we did a lot of sneaking around. We observed Doc June with OCPD (ovarian checking and pregnancy diagnosis). There was a portable ultrasound machine and all. Though the cows weren’t exactly used to being handled like that. I just wished they’d put some lube before they stick up their hands into the cows’ rectums.

Day 10 It’s quite unfortunate that I wasn’t able to take photos of it but we did TB testing on 30+ cows. We did that by measuring the caudal fold prior to injecting the antigen. The area where the antigen was injected should be checked again after three days. If there’s a reaction seen, then the animal would be positive for the antigen. (ohnoessss)

We were also given the chance to observe artificial insemination.

Day 11 The usual. Taking care of calves but I also made ear tags. (Photos in the next post.)

Day 12 Aside from the usual calf duty, we also cleaned some of the calves’ wounds. It was, in fact, pretty chill. We flushed them with iodine solution and sprayed with aluminum spray.

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the milking herd aaaayyyyy

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Week 2: Hacienda Macalauan Adventure

Okay, so I say adventure because adventures are wild, usually exciting and remarkable. Which is to say, a short description of my first week here. 

Since no one’s probably going to read this except for my professor (hi, doc!), I’d like to mention things I’m probably not allowed to mention outside with a mouth with a voice and with spoken words (laughs). Basically, I was the only one left permitted to get on with my externship here because the owners (COUGHassholesCOUGH) suddenly changed their mind and because I was already there running errands for free in their farm. And since we, as students, are just pawns in the system we call capitalism and stuff, have no choice but to yield to what they want. 

But enough about that. I’ll be laying off too complicated headings because I’ll probably uploading videos in a later post. 

Day 1 (before the sudden “change” in the owners’ minds) Right from the get go, the Head Vet told Doc Jeca and I to head over to the other farm for a necropsy of a cow that died a few hours prior. We did it outside, as in in the field, just maybe a quarter kilometer outside one of the barns. We found the dead animal in the grass and did the necropsy right there. It would’ve been better if the farm had their own necropsy room complete with the equipment and materials, but alas, I have been informed that that was their least priority. I shrug and say okay. It was a lot of work opening up the side of a grown cow with just blades. The bolo knife came after we’ve exposed the abdominal cavity. The findings were hemorrhagic lungs and a really weird looking heart. I’ll probably make a separate post about that later. 

Anyway, afterwards, we went back to the main farm that housed the calves and was promptly and rudely informed that I, along with two other students from Nueva Vizcaya State University, would be limited to “handling” calves in the main farm. Excursions to the other farms is discouraged, apparently. 😒

After that we were acquainted with the barn and the calves in the barn. 

Day 2 - 3 - 4 The three of us were given the task of scoring each of the calves in the pens, based on the following: Nasal Discharge, Eye or Ear problems, Respiratory Signs and Fecal Consistency. Additional parameters were also checked, such as Navels and Joints, especially for the newborns. I believe that this kind of record keeping should be done weekly. To be practical, you know? But alas, the owner wants it done every. Single. Day. We’re like, sure, though. 

Also, there was a patient moved to the nursery hospital. The bull calf wasn’t eating and was said to be scouring pretty badly. Doc Jeca, who was in charge of the calves, told me to run a CBC and a fecalysis. Unfortunately, they had no glacial acetic acid so I wasn’t able to do a WBC count and the microscope was difficult to use (seriously I tried a lot of things like switching and twisting everything). The values I got were 4.41x10^6/µl for the RBC count, and a 45% for the PCV. Based on the values from UC Davis, they’re low. Anemic and dehydrated. I tried to do a WBC count and the eosinophils were high. Also, the fecalysis showed some protozoans although I wasn’t able to get a clear view of them. The bull calf was then given IV fluids, B-complex, flunixin meglumine, enrofloxacin and animycin. Three days after, though the calf died and we had to do a necropsy on him. I’ll make a separate post about that one. 

Anyway, we just did what we were told to do, and occasionally the farm supervisor (she loves us) sneaks us out to the other farms to see the cows and stuff. It’s just such a shame we weren’t allowed to actually handle animals there. I would have wanted to stay a couple days maybe with the milking herd. 

Day 5 - 6

The owners weren’t at the facility. We were allowed to perform castration with the bull calves for sale. It felt really illegal but at the same time it was exciting (I did say adventure) because of the time pressure and the pressure to not mess it up because they are animals for sale. Also, I don’t think the head vet was informed about that (doc, please don’t tell on us). The doctor in charge of the calves and the supervisor just wanted us to actually learn something in our stay there, which of course, we strove to  achieve, as well. Haha Okay so anyway, we had acepromazine and xylazine at hand, lidocaine as and chromics for suture materials. Awesomesauce. The two from the other university were nervous about having to perform surgery but I was pretty chill about it because we’ve done it countless times at school. The technique is the same, but the balls are just going to be bigger than usual. No harm in that. 

Waiting for the calves to pass out ate most of the allotted surgery time, to be honest. Also, it was really painful when they step on your feet and toes? Wow. It was an Experience. 

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a friend i met on the way to the lab

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embryo transfer and stuff

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Week 1: DTRI Embryo Transfer Training

Okay, so before I start, it is worth mentioning that I wrote a Lengthy Blog Post™ about our first week but unfortunately, technical difficulties are, in fact, a Thing™ and the tab with the Lengthy Blog Post™ was lost in the wind. I got really mad and resented technology so much because I put a whole lot of effort into it that I refused to make another one. You’d know how that feels, right? 

Anyway, a couple other clinicians and I began our externship adventure a week earlier than everybody else and I’ll have to admit it was a bummer to hear that because to be honest, the heavy burnout from the previous semester was still in the process of dissipating and hearing our Christmas break was going to get cut short wasn’t exactly a cause for celebration. 

Here it is: 

Day 1: Laying Down the Basics

We spent the whole day trying to make these micropipettes we’d be using for the rest of the training. It was great, though. We used a whole tube of hematocrit tubes to make them. Doc Jobau showed us how to. Basically, you have to heat the middle enough to pull them thin and taut, break them in the middle, and finally make sure the tips are smooth. 

Day 2: Eggs 

At this point I would like to mention that the previous night, we stayed up for hours at the abattoir waiting for ovaries (which we were successful in acquiring👌👌👌) and we were running on two, maybe three and a half hours of sleep the following lab day. Anyway, we tried out our micropipettes from the previous day, checking if the tips were too small or too big to get eggs, if they were long enough, if they were usable at all. Then we tried transferring eggs from one petri dish to another so we’d get used to it. You know, try not to swallow an egg or something. 

Day 3 - 4 - 5: Get Rekt

We tried our hand at loading eggs into straws. Then we loaded eggs into straws and into the liquid nitrogen tanks. Then we loaded the eggs into the straws, into the liquid nitrogen tanks and checked if they we managed to recover eggs. 

At this point, I’d just like to say I really appreciate how Doc Jobau went on about the training itself because personally, I can say that it’s really effective. Repetition and gradual addition of additional steps. I mean, if you’re teaching someone a process of something, it would be good if you teach them the steps one at a time, gradually adding another step and doing everything from the top each time you add a step. 

shrug 

At least I can say I learned a lot. Haha Anyway, the afternoon of the final day, we each had a few tries of depositing eggs in the uterine horns. It was fun.