Internship Day 3

Today was a lot like yesterday consisting of both a shower-in and shower-out deal. I will be showering 2 times a day for the next 2 months! YAY!  I did a lot of new things today, all which were different than yesterday. I was in the breeding part of the facility yesterday and today I was in the farrowing unit all day.

I started off the morning assisting with weaning. We had nearly 70 sows that farrowed 16 days ago, so we took their babies away today. During weaning we give the piglets their shots, set them outside of their pen, and walk them to the nursery in groups. There was a lot of squealing and screaming this morning as they DO NOT like being picked up! hehe (but they sure are adorable!). We weaned a total of more than 700 piglets this morning. This was a hot, tiring job, having to pick all these babies up, ear plugs in! We then separated any piglets between 6.5 and 8 pounds out from the group to keep them separate from the larger piggies.

After weaning, I helped remove the sows from the farrowing room and back to the breeding section of the facility where they will undergo another cycle of estrous, breeding, and gestation. We had to scrape poop off of the floor, clean the feeders, and then the guys came in and power washed everything down. This afternoon we then re-loaded that room full of sows that are 3 days off from farrowing.

I also assisted with weighing the piglets we will be weaning tomorrow. Piglets that are slow in growth (the tiny ones), have ruptures, or any physically handicapped issues that render them as no-sales are put into a CO2 chamber where they are euthanized. I have come to the conclusion that this is my favorite method of euthanasia as it is as if they were just drifting asleep peacefully.

I also learned how to adjust feeders and amounts of feed that lactating sows are fed. Each day they adjust their feed intake according to how much the sow is consuming previously. If she has no feed left, she is given more feed per day, if there is a little feed, but not a lot, left, then she is left where she is at, and if there is a lot of feed left over then she is reduced in feed given. I also learned how to drive and properly use the "dead cart" as the employees call it. This is a robotic jack that lifts any dead sows up and out of the building. I did manage to hit a few gates and carts in the hallway, but overall I had a little bit of fun learning how to drive it.

I learned how to process piglets today as well. When a room is 100% done farrowing they process that room all together. Processing consists of giving them two shots, iron since piglets are anemic, and Exceed which inserts antibodies to prevent illnesses within the piglets. I also got to see them castrate the boar piglets in the group as well as learn how to cut their tails off to prevent chewing from other pigs.

My favorite part of the day was when I was able to assist with monitoring rounds. When sows are in labor, there is always someone checking on them, writing births down (live births, still borns, mummified fetus'), warming newborns up under heat lamps, and making sure everyone is getting their colostrum. We dried a lot of newborns today to help them warm back up quicker after birth. This increases their likelihood of surviving  and allows them to eat off of the sow faster. I was able to witness multiple piglet births, give oxytocin to sows to help progress labor and to aid in afterbirth expulsion, as well as sleeve a sow and pull out a "stuck" piglet. Through the entire afternoon I had the feeling of joy as I watched newborns become active, learn how to walk, and cuddle up next to mom and each other.

Overall (a whopping 3 days) I have had a great time being a part of this internship. There is still a lot more for me to learn, but I am looking forward to each and every day for the next few months. I am excited to see how much I learn through the course of this internship, and hopefully it will help me in my future career in the pork industry!

Thanks for Reading!

<3 Roz

Here is a picture of me from last night. The interns all had a scavenger hunt at "Chucks Bargain Barn" near Audubon. I won the prize for "most creative knicknacks". Here I am holding my pencil sharpener "Number One Father" Silver Trophy, I also received a $25 gift card to GAP! :)

We had a list of 5 things we had to find throughout 10,000 square feed of "knicknacks".
1) Something that represents you... I found 2 ceramic turtles :)
2) Something that represents your home town/ university... I found a dutch painted ceramic bell
3) Something for a house warming gift..... a wooden pig that said "welcome" underneath it
4) Something your date would enjoy.... I found an antique tin can that said "cumin seed"......... (this and the next were the ones that won me the "most creative knicknack" award.... hehehe)
5) Something you wouldn't want your mother to know you have..... I found "Skinny Dip Cologne"