Internship Day 12

Today we had a meeting at the main office in Audubon at 8 AM. I was able to sleep in until 630! Woo. It felt nice to have a morning to slowly get ready for work and have time to wake up before leaving! I normally roll out of bed and head off to work in my pajama's because I shower in when I get there and then I just wear my pajama's home and put new pajama's on! :)

Our meeting this morning started at 8. All the interns had to present what they learned at the World Pork Expo last week Thursday. I talked about the We CARE program (http://www.pork.org/Programs/32/wecare1.aspx#.T9fkrNVtoTY) because I attended a seminar that was based off of this program and the progress they are making to inform not only producers, but consumers as well. I also talked about the showmanship class for the swine show that I watched. One of the other interns used to show pigs, so she taught me what showmanship is about, how to be a good showman, and what the people do to prepare their hogs for the show.

After our meeting I headed off to the sow unit that I am assigned to for the summer. I didn't arrive until 9 AM so weaning and releasing the sows was already done. We were short handed today due to some people taking the day off and therefore I assisted with monitoring and rounds. I got to learn how to treat sows and temp check. I walked around with a thermometer and stuck it in the sows' butts to read their temperatures. We take their temps a day after farrowing to allow time for them to rest and recover. If their temperature is above 103 degrees F then we treat them with prevail and penicillin. I got to "attempt" at treating a sow, but I ended up chickening out because their skin is extremely tough and I couldn't manage to get the needles through their skin. :) The other workers just laughed at me because I chickened out, but I will attempt it again sometime soon! It was interesting for me to experience.

I assisted with many more births throughout the day as well. I have really been enjoying the monitoring rounds that I get to assist with. I posted a couple of videos below to show you what it looks like when a litter is born. My favorite part about farrowing is watching them try and get up immediately after birth. They wabble and hobble all over the place in their slimy covering of the placental membrane until either we wipe it off with towels, or they rub it off against their mothers belly/ udder line.

http://youtu.be/B9V2vjW4k3c

http://youtu.be/YNrbWbfbDFI

Here are a few of my daily sights at the farm. Pictures courtesy of random websites. I SO wish I could take pictures in the facilities, but for welfare purposes, we are not allowed photos. I will just have to keep the images safe engraved into my brain. :) 

<3 Roz 

Internship Day 11

To start the day off I had to hand feed nearly 250 sows in gestation. One of our feed bins went empty yesterday so we had to scoop (one scoop at a time) feed into the gestation stalls for the sows. This took us a good half hour between 6 of us to feed all the sows that the empty feed bin effected. None-the-less they all got fed!

I was once again on the wean line for the early part of the morning. I assisted with handing piglets to the people who were holding them for their shots. I then had to "escort" the piglets to the nursery where they will be housed until the truck comes tomorrow to pick them up. I also had two sows that entered into the farrowing rooms last Thurs/Fri. (I was at the Pork Expo/ Friday was my day off) that are included in my "random sampling" for my project. These sows I "flagged" last week (see previous post for more info) so I would know when they entered into farrowing rooms. I placed colored feed cards on their feeders so that they would stick out from the rest so that I could record their feed intake for part of my project. I also got to assist with farrowing/ monitor rounds today. This is one of my favorite parts of the job! I love to walk around and watch sows give birth, assist the piglets by drying them off and welcoming into the "chilly" world, and help them get on their feet towards the sow's udders. I also enjoy sleaving sows, aiding in labor when needed. I am very excited to start getting some data in once my random sample sows start farrowing!

Today I got to learn where ALL of the fire extinguishers are located throughout the facility. They had pulled them all down yesterday because we needed to have them inspected (done yearly) this morning. I got the privilege of returning them to their rightful places (this took up a fairly large chunk of my morning... nearly 1 1/2 hours because I could only carry 2 at a time!)

After lunch I helped weigh up the wean piglets for tomorrow. We have to weigh "behind" piglets to make sure that they are large enough for "sale" to finishers. Our scale is attached to a cart and we are able to weigh fairly effortlessly... accept for today our scale wasn't charged over the weekend! We ended up weighing every small piglet by hand with a hand scale (took fairly long!). I also got to give day 1 shots to two litters to demonstrate to a visiting student from Sweden. I got to explain why we give Exceed and Iron shots at day 1, why we dock tails, why we use farrowing and gestation stalls, and much more about our facilities. The student from Sweden said that a large operation for them is around 200 Sows... which we house in a single aisle in our gestation buildings! They also use pens after the sows farrow and wean piglets around 20 lbs instead of ~12 like we do. They also use bedding and house gestation sows together. They don't cut tails, give different shots, and the overall operation is much different than ours! It was very interesting to discuss the differences between our operations.

Tomorrow morning I have to head out to the Main Office for a meeting at 8AM to present what I learned at the World Pork Expo. I hope to learn even more from the other students presentations.

<3 Roz

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

Waiting in line, patiently for our Cotton Candy! 

We were also able to enjoy our delish. pink cotton candy we waited in line so patiently for! 

We walked around and saw TONS of sleepy piggies. These two were lovers though, they were kissing in their sleep! <3 

We got dressed up for the photo booth, which was a total riot! 

Photo Booth Pix! :) 

AND, the BEST... We ate cool-aid out of semen containers. Thanks for all the awkward stares, strangers.... 

Overall, today was a GREAT day. We all had a blast! Can't wait to make more memories with the other interns!

<3 Roz

Inernship Days 7/8

Yesterday I returned  once again to the sow unit I was assigned for the summer. After early mornings at the Boar Stud it was nice to not have to be to work until 6 AM. Yesterday I helped wean, did some farrowing rounds, dried newborn piglets, and helped scrape crates after sows were removed from one of the rooms as well as empty feeders before he room was power-washed. After lunch I sat down with he farm manager and farrowing manager to look over the spread sheets for my research project for the next few weeks. We determined what needed to be added to the sheets, how to separate the stuff, and what needed to be deleted that was unnecessary info. Yesterday afternoon I helped put sows back into the room that was emptied that morning and assisted with misc. work around the barns. I also went around and "tagged" (stapled a note card to their info cards) my 10% random samples of each group of sows that I will be "researching" for feed efficiency and production rates.

Today I helped wean once again, as well as empty the crates of their sows, scrape the floors, and cleaned feeders. After break this morning I helped breed sows/gilts and heat checked Heat No Service gilts. I helped move the bred sows into their gestation barns and put up their sheets above their crates. After lunch I started collecting my data. I wrote down the tag numbers of the sows that I "tagged" yesterday, took down their 114 day gestation date, their body condition score, and what parity their currently were in. I also posted all of my data into the computer and helped clean up around the office.

Tomorrow will pretty much be a lot like the last few days have been. Thursday I get to head to the Pork Expo in Des Moines and then I have Friday/Saturday/Sunday off! :)

<3 Roz

Can Ya'll Do me a Favor!?

Hey Everybody!

I know there are many of you out there reading my Blog! I am able to see how many of you are reading my posts, and where you are from, but I don't know who you all are?!?!?!

When I post my blogs on Facebook, is there any way, my friends, you can LIKE my post before you come to Blogger and read it!? It would be greatly appreciated, and that way I can see WHO is reading my post!

Hope you guys are enjoying reading my daily activities and excitements in my life.

<3 Roz

Trausch Farms: The Turtle Girl

Trausch Farms: The Turtle Girl: Roslyn Punt loves her some turtles.  Even if they "snap" at ya!

Internship Day 5&6 (Boar Stud)

Thursday:

Today was day 2 at the boar stud location for my internship. I was once again put on the floor to help the guys collect semen. We started at 3:30 AM because we needed to fill over 2,400 doses of semen for the day's orders.

I helped feed the boars right away in the morning. This consisted of pushing a cart around and dumping scoops of feed into their crates. I then assisted with semen collection for the first hour our so, just to help the guys get going for the day. I then learned how to mark which boars needed to be collected that day by placing stickers on their crates. The stickers tell you which genetic line they are, how many days since their last collection, and how many doses they averaged through their life.

I worked the rest of the day in the lab marking which boars had been collected, running samples to the lab technician, mixing samples, mixing batches for the "bagging" machine, cleaning, and just learning how to do stuff with the computers. I helped pack up tomorrow's orders for shipment (they needed to be shipped tonight in order to arrive tomorrow), and got to hand the deliver guy the "grocery bags" of delivery semen for today's orders. I didn't do a lot today as everything I did was very repetitive. We made over 2,400 doses of semen, I believe that was about 15 batches of semen. They have four different genetic lines, so you have to keep straight which lines go into which batches. It gets confusing, but once you get the process down, its fairly simple.

Friday:

Today was my last day at boar stud. This morning I did a lot of the same stuff as yesterday. I did learn how to prepare slides for the microscope and how to analyze semen. I learned how to count the dead sperm, how to analyze motility, and count drip tails or broken tails. I then learned how to do all the math for concentrations. Concentrations vary between 2.5 billion and 3 billion sperm per bag (depending on the farm preferences that orders the semen).

I also got to help mix more batches today and got to see the "bagging" machine that puts the semen into little baggies that are used for storage and handling. Each baggie receives about 70 grams of the specified semen concentration and is then melted at the top to seal it. While the baggie is receiving the semen the machine simultaneously places a sticker on the bag to specify batch number, date collected, and genetic line of the boars that were used in that batch. The baggies then were placed on a tray that is put on a rack and wheeled into the cold room to cool off. Once the semen was cooled the bags were placed into insulated bags that contained cool packs to keep it cool during deliver. We then handed the "grocery bags" of delivery semen for today's orders to the deliver man, and we were done for the day! It was a short day today as we only had 1,200 ordered doses, half of what yesterdays count was!

This is the machine that we used to fill the baggies, iron them shut, and put stickers on. This machine can bag up to 1,000 doses per hour, but at our boar stud, we switch between four different genetic lines, causing us to need to change our tubing after every batch. 

These are similar to the baggies that we use for semen storage. When I bred at the farrowing barn last week, these were the baggies that I placed at the end of the AI rods when inseminating the sows. 

This is a typical picture of boar sperm. This batch would be bad, for example, because a majority of the tails are immature, causing the sperm to be immobile. Only straight tails are good for motility, otherwise they swim around in circles and don't go anywhere! :) 

Well, that is all I have for this week! 

<3 Roz