The Punt's: Internship Day 9/10 World Pork Expo

Wednesday was just another old day at the Sow Farm. I was able to learn more about sleeving sows to check for piglets/ assist with birth, give oxy shots, and saw how they induce sows using Lutalyse. I also got to learn more about reading the history of sow's production and performance rates off of their "cards" which follow them from breeding to gestation to farrowing. I aided in doing rounds for a few hours in the afternoon, helping by drying piglets, split suckling, and everything else that is entitled to "monitors". I saw my first mummy piglet today. I was very saddened by the sight. Sows usually produce anywhere from 12-16 (sometimes up to the 20's) piglets per farrowing. Many sows with larger numbers end up having still borns or mummy piglets. A still born is a piglet that is born with no heartbeat. This can be due to a lack of oxygen in the last few days of gestation or due to being in the birth canal for too long. Mummy piglets are piglets that stopped developing sometime along the way of gestation. A mummy can be anything from a tiny little fetus the size of your fist to a fully developed piglet that died within the previous weeks of gestation. Stillborn piglets look like the typical piglets with their pink, hairy skin, and fully developed. Mummy piglets are a grey/brown color and can sometimes be extremely underdeveloped or well developed. A mummy stays in the same developed stage through the rest of the gestation and does not develop further than the point of death.

Thursday, Today, the interns were all sent off to the World Pork Expo (WPE) in Des Moines, IA. I went with Laura and Amber, two other interns, while the rest of the interns all went with each other. Laura, Amber, and myself had a blast. It was my first time attending the WPE, but it was a memorable one no doubt. We arrived around 10 AM and started in the swine barn. We walked around looking at pigs as well as watching the junior showmanship class. I learned all about showing pigs. I learned that they clip the hair on show pigs to make it short and stubby. They also use sticks to lead them in the direction you want them to go, to get them to put their head up, and to walk them to or away from the judge. You always want to stay at least 15 feet from the judge so he can see the whole body, and you want to give him a sight from all angles. Along with this you always want to keep the pig between you and the judge, while not using your hands, only the lead stick. I also learned that they use water bottles to spray down the pigs when they are hot or to clean off their butts if they poop. Many people keep combs on them also to "comb" their hair and get shavings off of them. It was very interesting to watch and learn all about the swine showmanship.

Today we also attended a seminar based on the new National Pork Board program called we CARE. This seminar was about ensuring customers that WE CARE about our pork and that we are trained specialists in the field. We learned that we need to bind with other agricultural production areas (beef, sheep, dairy) to become stronger as an ag. production community to outreach and to prove that we are qualified to do this work. If we are able to PROVE that we are qualified, certified producers, then we can INSURE that our products are safe and not a risk. The motto that the guy stated in the lecture was "Consumers don't care what you know, until they know that your care." I think that's a great saying and is 100% true. Consumers just want to know that their food is being raised properly, and its being cared for how they feel is safe. We are all required to take the PQA Plus (Pork Quality Assurance) and TQA (Transportation Quality Assurance) course before entering the work field. I believe this is a great program to promote to the customers to prove that we ARE doing our jobs right and we DO know how to provide quality care to our hogs because WE CARE. The seminar was a really good lecture to attend because it taught me about how to promote myself as a person who cares and how to reach out to others about caring.

This afternoon Laura, Amber, and I all did a lot of goofing off at the expo. We had a lot of fun and took many pictures to document our day. We were very sad that our Internship Coordinator wasn't there to attend and enjoy the day with us, but we were sure she was having a lot of fun being stuck in the office! (hehehe, right Ann? :) ) Here are some pictures to give you the throw down of what we did this afternoon.

This afternoon we participated in the pig races. We participated as the piggie Cheerleaders. Amber had to cheer for pig #3, the blue one. I cheered for pig #3, the yellow one. Laura cheered for pig #1, the red one. We had a BLAST being able to cheer on the piggies and it was hilarious to see them running circles for a piece of oreo cookie! See the Video Below (from 2010 World Pork Expo, but the same people performed it for us!)

http://youtu.be/9kqfVq9JNQc