A joke from flash

There's two cows in a field. Which one's on holiday?

The one with the wee-calf. You get it?

Pigs, pigs, pigs (smell)

The exams are all over, 3 days off and I'm back on the farm. The pig farm. There was quite a crowd of us students. All four of us: Me, Beth, Cynthia and Bronwyn all appointed to follow 'Flash' the stockman for the week (That's Pongo the dog too):

There were lots and lots of pigs: big pigs, little pigs, tiny pigs and a few boy pigs. All smelling equally as sweet, we explored the realms of keeping pigs. All the sows were kept in a big pen with the male boars. Once they were nearly due to farrow, they were transferred to the farrowing sheds where they gave birth to lots of piglets (average about 10 or 11). Here they stayed until the piglets were weaned. The piglets then went on to be fattened and the sows back to the sheds for a wee rest and then are inseminated again.

We all had a great week and learnt quite a lot about everything from training a pig to feed from an automated system to Artificially inseminating a sow whilst sitting on its back. When a sow is on heat, it has a 'standing reflex'. In the presence of a male, if you press on its back it will stand rigid to theoretically allow the boar to mount. This also turns out to be a useful tool for a stockman to determine exactly if the sow is ready to be artificially inseminated. If so, then you can carry on and inseminate the sow with handy fresh sperm in a packet from AI company and take a nice warm seat on the back of a pig. (Not only very convenient but also makes AI easier as the sow stands better and imitates a boar too).

Another discovery from our week here was that pigs have piglets much easier and more simpler than sheep have lambs. They just get on with it! However, saying that, we did get a shot at delivering a few little pigs as there was a sow having trouble. It was very different to lambing too! The passage was much narrower and piglets are a lot more difficult to guide out when in a pickle. Even so, we all successfully got at least one piglet out into the world. Hoorah! There may be a video to follow when Beth returns to bonny Scotland with her camera.

All in all it was a really fun week and it helped with my lack of pig contact. The only downside? Trying to keep the pig smell in your coat on the way home on the bus. Sorry all the people on the number 7!

The Big 5-0!

Happy 50th Birthday Dad!

Feeling a Little Faint

This weeks neuroscience lectures have brought up some interesting topics, but this one is a little strange!

There is a breed of goat called 'fainting goats' that just run along as normal, but then if they get a fright, they just fall over, or 'faint'. Sounds a little crazy? What's even more crazy is the 'International Fainting Goat Association', which actually breed goats with this brain defect, as they want to preserve this breed of goat.

What the goats actually have is mytonia. This is means that the ion channels in their muscles are not working correctly, so that when they are startled for example, their muscles contract too much and they 'faint'. Once they fall over stiffened, they get back up after about 10-15 seconds and walk away with slightly stiff legs. All very strange. If you want to know more, the website for the international association is: www.faintinggoat.com and there's a wee clip here: http://www.rfaintingfarm.com/goat.mpeg

The Results Are In...

After my success in animal husbandry (did you see? 5 out of 5?!) I didn't expect to find out even more results this week. We had oral exams on Large Animal Anatomy last week, and, although I didn't think I performed at my best, I got a respectable 7/10. Very pleased with that. Bring on the rest of the exams!

What are we going to do today brain?

Throughout the past two weeks the University decided to fill the gap between exams with neuroscience. As dubious as I was that my revision time would be taken up by further new topics, I have grown to really like the subject, mainly thanks to our fabulous lecturer. We have done everything from MRI scans to disection of sheep brains and a little bit of cartoons in the middle.


Anyway, to begin and end this wee course, we were shown a nice little cartoon of 'Pinky and The Brain'. As well as being a very funny cartoon about two mice trying to take over the world, they have aparently provided us with an educational section. All singing, all dancing. You should be able to find it at the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li5nMsXg1Lk

Be warned though, the tune WILL get stuck in your brain!

Five out of Five. I passed!

After a roller-coaster week of animal husbandry practicals and orals, results were sharply posted and....I passed them all! Cattle, Sheep, Feeds, Breeds, Cats, Dogs, Lab and exotics. Phew!