Sheeps

Today was a good day.  It started with our first lecture in Veterinary Public Health. I can honestly say that this part of the field does not do much for me, as crucial as it is, but the lecturer was really good.  He was an Italian with a strong accent.  I got such a kick out of how he basically added a vowel to the end of each word.  Second lecture was a kicker - embryology again with a focus on cranial nerves.  I'm enjoying this part of the course; it's challenging and interesting.  It's so amazing to learn which type of cells each of our body parts are formed.

This afternoon, we got to play with sheep for our 3 hour practical out at Easter Bush farm.  How much fun was that??  The vet school's 'shepherd', was a fantastic teacher.   Sheep are flock animals, so once you get one going in a direction, they allllll follow.  They do not like to be isoloated at all.  We were taught how to catch them - get them bunched into a group in the corner of the pen preferably, pick out the one you want and get right up next to him.  He should be in a position where he doesn't have any room to run either with fencing or other sheep surrounding him.  Then, get your hand under his chin and lift up. Voila...you have control of a sheep.  You use your whole body to get him against the corral so he can't easily escape.  We were shown how to age a sheep up to about 2years, 9 months by looking at his teeth, how to sex him/her, how to condition score him (feeling lower back, and vertebral protubrances) to determine how his overall body condition is on a scale of 0-5.  Zero is basically dead and 5 is a fatty, fat, fat. We learned how to 'flip' them.  That's not really the correct term, but it's well known.  It means to put them on their butt and have their back leaning up against your body.  They really cannot move once you get them there and it's easy to look at their mouth, sex them and generally check out their underside.  We also learned how to judge their weight....this is harder than it sounds. Different breeds not only have different fleece (making them look bigger or smaller), but also are shorter, stockier, leggier, etc, making it all more difficult.  Plus, we have to do it in kilograms, which my mind does not easily think in yet. We also practiced 'worming' them orally with water.  It was a very productive practical and I feel like just a few hours with these animals, I gained so much confidence in handling them.  They can get quite skiddish if you don't do some techniques properly and can jump straight in the air out of nowhere. Lots of fun and informative. 

I'm now enjoying the most favorite part of my day...spending quality time with my boys and having a cocktail.  They must have been awake most of the day looking for me out the window because they are both now passed out on my desk while I type.  Really good thing I bought a desk with a large surface area.  They have no clue they are dogs sometimes. 

Time for a little bite to eat then a bit of studying.  I just cannot believe tomorrow is already Friday again!  The weeks are just flying by.

Over-N-Out

Feelin' mo betta

It appears as though I've kicked some nasty stomach flu before it got to me.  Swollen, hard, lymph node is smaller and not sore any more.  Sore throat is absent.  Looks like my immune system may actually be working these days.  Whew! 

So, I must first complain. With that being said, I do promise to do a post on what I love about the UK and what I cannot fathom/stand about the UK.  As a sneak peek, I really despise the delivery system here for mail and shipped goods.  Here's the major problem, a lot of people live in tenements that have a keyed door to the outside and once you are in, has all of the separate flat doors which are also keyed. The Royal mail slots are on our private flat doors, so once the mailman is in, he can just mail through the slot. There is a buzzer/speaker system on the outside of most buildings corresponding to each individual flat (and even a 'service' one that will buzz all flats at once) so that you can unlock the outer door from inside your flat.  The problem, of course, is that deliveries and postal service are usually in the middle of the day and many times...guess what...no one is home. So, the mail or delivery goes back on the truck and you are none the wiser for the most part until you finally get it and see the delivery history.  It infuriates me to get an important piece of mail a week late stamped 4 times with 'no entry', or a package with multiple delivery attempts that I paid extra for the shipping.  The horribly frustrating part about deliveries is that they tell you they will deliver sometime between 7am and 7pm.  Great, so you really think everyone is a stay-at-home mom or a bustout hanging lying on the couch playing video games all day? 

The company that tried to deliver my much needed textbooks on Monday (while I was at university) was kind enough to leave a note outside to either re-schedule a delivery or arrange to pick up.  I would have been fine picking it up (since I don't have any days off), but the hub was about 30 minutes away, out near the airport.  So, I took my chances and scheduled it for the day I only had two lectures and got here 20 minutes before it was delivered.  Terrible system.  Terrible.

Now on to brighter things. Embryology I am finding rather interesting so far.  Things are moving very quickly, but at least we have great lecturers and the material is mostly new for me.  Tomorrow, we get our first lecture in Veterinary Public Health and do a sheep handling practical....read: flipping sheep!  I'm looking forward to the farm stuff, as usual.

So, my next post I think I will actually explain what my program is, what it entails, what I will be when I graduate (note, I did not say when I grew up) and what all the letters behind my name will mean. 

I've been really productive today and need to finish on a high note, so I'm going to look over what I'm doing tomorrow. 

Ciao. 

Over-N-Out

Two Great Nights.....

I had the best night ever last night.  I got to see an old high school friend and her mom here in Edinburgh!  We both played soccer our entire lives in VA and graduated the same year from West Springfield.  She has been living in London the past 2.5 years with her husband and two daughters.  Her husband is a federal agent for Homeland Security and got a post over here. Her kids were kind of at the end of their rope after a long day of traveling and sightseeing, so her husband stayed home with them while she and mom met me out.  I was bummed I didn't get to meet her husband and kids, but I was told it was for the best!

We met at the Filling Station (where I had been the night before) because it was convenient and I knew where to go.  We had an absolutely fabulous time catching up.  She gave me some sage advice about coping with an international move.  She was told (by her old employer who is a global kind of guy) that she'd be crazy to try and continue working once she got here and that it'd take 6-12 months to adjust to the culture shock. She said she was surprised, but her old boss was 100% right and she was thankful she listened. This made me feel soooo much better about things because I was a bit homesick and sad last week for no apparent reason.  I thought I should have been 'over it' by now, but this is just not the case.  I was reassured that it simply takes time and was given lots and lots of suggestions on how to best cope.

It seems like I'm completely going to switch subjects here, but it's so relevant. Today, we had a TWO HOUR presentation (that i thought would be a waste, but wasn't at all) on vet students' mental health and well-being.  Did you know, veterinarians have one of the highest suicide rates across the board?  Yes, it's frighteningly true.  Our lecturer is a veterinarian and did her PhD in this area of study.  There are many reasons for this fact, but basically vet and med students come from kind of the same mold - competitive, type A personalities.  No, dear brother, I am not just a carefree, wind-in-my-hair, Harley-Davidson-driving free spirit...I'm pretty sure you know this after last year :).

As vets, we will have the ability to legally cease the life of animals that are considered family to people.  And they will look to us for comfort and to be strong for them.  There will be a ton of loss, grief, long hours, compromised family lives and an enormous amount of responsibility thrust on our shoulders.  Our 'type' is to hold it all in and not admit weakness, or a mental ill-health.  The studies are numerous and the numbers staggering.

The take home message from my visit last night and my lecture today were very similar.

1.  Stay in close contact with your friends and family (I'll catch up on phone calls soon, I promise!)
2. Get involved in activities outside of the vet school bubble.
3. Exercise....or do something to clear your head.
4. Be wary of alcohol and/or drug dependency.
5. Know that being a veterinarian should not define you...continue with other interests and be well-rounded.  You WILL have bad days/months/years as a vet and must be able to associate yourself with something other than just being a vet.
6.  Get plenty of rest and get away for a weekend, if needed. 
7.  Be very careful of being too competitive with classmates - you will all become a vet and need each other's support to get there.  We are here and are now teammates.
8. Recognize when you are having difficulties and get help, if needed.

I have a classmate who lost TWO close friends this week from college in unrelated events.  She is from the US and is devastated.  It is crucial that we can be her 'family' for her now. We will all need to rely on one another to get through all that will be thrown our way over the next five years.  I think for us international students, it is all finally sinking in that we are indeed living in a foreign country and this is not vacation any more.

So, I am happy and relieved.  I had a long day today and actually took the night off from studying.  I went to the first bible study group on the Book of Isaiah led by Fr. Tim. It just so happened the postgraduate society at he church (STAGGS) was also meeting tonite in the common rooom. I joined them afterwards in the middle of quiz night.  Most of them are PhD students, so the questions I found a bit difficult (even the 'nature' ones).  But, there was a very inexpensive cash bar, so all was not lost. Not bad when you can have bible study in the basement, go up one flight and hang out in a lounge having a few cocktails, eats and laughs.  Another good night. 

I'm still feeling a bit under the weather and will go to bed NOW in order to get a good night's sleep. Looks to be a really good week.  We are getting into unchartered territory now with our lectures. Today was embryology and in about 2 weeks we start Anatomy!!!! Thank goodness.  I believe we will do an entire dissection of the dog over a few months.  YAY!

Ok, good night and Over-N-Out

the Real Mary King's Close Tour

We went on this tour last night, which was a lot of fun. It's the old underground of Edinburgh.  People used to live in a lot more confined spaces than they do today and were stacked upon each other.  Edinburgh is very hilly and the tour is mostly underground the city today, but was not such back in the day.  Here is a link to the tour.  http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/

We met at the pub first for some pints and chow.  It was called the Filling Station.  We are in there waving, but it's hard to see: 

We had to have a group photo prior to the tour.  These are all vet students (i think)....

The Plague hit Edinburgh hard and the doctors used to wear these masks because they thought it might be transmitted by smell, so they put sweet smelling herbs inside the masks.  It's also where they coined the term 'Quack' for a doctor (that may or may not be true :-))

Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed down in the dungeons, but they did take a group picture of us.  One of the students bought it, but when it was printed out, it didn't look so good.  They told her to come back with just our group and they'd take another one.  We were back at the pub and only 5 of us were left, so we got this spooky pic.  This would have been the street at that time. It was very narrow and really steep.  It was also where everyone threw their waste out into twice a day and it flowed down to the water.

This is a diorama of the close.  They ended up building the city council building on top of a good portion of it, which is portrayed in the last picture.

It was a full moon last night, which made everything that much spookier.  The moon over St. Giles church was really cool.  Too bad the picture didn't come out better, but still pretty neat.

A few more pints after the tour and it was time to call it a night.  And a fun night it was.

I can't believe it's the beginning of another week. I had a good day today. Went to Mass, played soccer with the BB, gave BB a bath, took a nap, studied some and now.........I'm going to go get ready to go see a high school friend!!!  She is in town with her family and I can't wait to see her.  Waiting for them to call and give me the 4-1-1, but it will be a pub somewhere near where I was last night. 

In other news, I cannot believe it, but I have a sore throat starting again.  I just cannot seem to stay healthy.  It's not just me though, everyone is getting sick and either not getting better or feeling good for a little bit then it starts all over.  I also am getting a bit of a fever blister, so not too happy about it right now.  At least I still feel good enough to go out.  Tomorrow may be a different story.

I have a fairly tough week coming up with lots of practicals and some pretty tough lectures.  I will need to make sure I get enough rest.

Till next time...

Over-N-Out 



I am Not tired

My sleeping schedule has been out of whack lately, thanks to me.  I stay up late because I am without question a night owl and get my best work done at night....then, I get up early....then, I go to lectures/practicals/study all day......then, I come home and take a nap......then, I stay up too late.  Thus, the cycle continues.  I feel like I'm missing out if I go to bed before midnight!  This has got to stop though.  I end up getting enough sleep, but need to wake up a bit more refreshed.  The fact that I only have two lectures tomorrow makes it easier to stay up late.  However, I am meeting with two other classmates directly afterwards to go over some difficult material and then meeting a group for coffee at 2pm.  I got accepted to Edinburgh about a year and a half ago and deferred a year.  I met a few US students online that would have been in my class had I matriculated in 2009.  I stayed in contact with them and am finally meeting one (and 4 of her classmates) tomorrow.  I haven't met her yet because her class has already been transferred out to the new teaching facility at Easter Bush (where I will be next Fall).  So, all in all, it will be a long day anyways.  Good new is, espresso tends to really kick me into another gear.  So, maybe I won't nap tomorrow and will go to bed at a reasonable hour.

I've been kind of homesick lately...just missing the usual - friends, family, warm, sunny days, stop signs, big blue Toyota Sequioa's, mountain biking in my backyard and US TV!!!  I am not even going to start on the TV here, because it upsets me too much.  All I have to say, is that if I had DirecTv here, I would not be nearly as homesick.  Seriously. 

Enough of my complaining....  So, the best news is that I just talked to some of my old colleagues and business partners.  They were all together and having an incredible dinner together. I really miss those times.  It made me sad on one note, but much more fulfilled on another.  It is so good to hear familiar voices, remember great times and share a laugh with those you care about.  So, to all of my family and friends...know that I'm missing you, thinking of you and any little bit of interaction goes a long way.  Sooooo, don't be shy and leave a comment or two on my blog so I know you are here :-) 

Exciting news of the day: dissection of the rabbit was absolutely amazing.  I'll post pictures soon.  I only took a few before dissection and then hands got too funky to use my camera, but another student managed to get some good shots and I'll pirate some of her pics (with her permission, of course).

Good Night All. Sweet Dreams. Now I'm tired.

Over-N-Out

Sorry, little bunny foo foo

Tomorrow, we finally cut!  Dissection of the rabbit...yes!  Not sure why we are tackling the rabbit and how it relates to our current lectures, but I don't care, I'm cutting away.  Hand me the scalpel.  I am pretty sure we can take picutures, so be prepared.

I am finally feeling a bit better.  I had a nasty sore throat, congested thing going on for about 9 days.  Still have a tinge of the sore throat, but felt good enough to cancel my *free* doctor's appointment today.  I have to finish up quite a bit before tomorrow, which is a jam-packed day, so I'll say goodnight.

Good Night :)

Why are they sabotaging me?

Apparently neither one of the Bingo Boyz wants me to actually become a veterinarian.  Or, they think I can do it by osmosis by reading through them.

First Harley Bones last week:

Harley must have said something to the Mugs, because now he's trying to make sure I can't study:

Then, when he figured I could still read the computer screen:

So, we had a little chat and this is what he demanded:

The fun never ends at the Flat on Marchmont!

Back to the books.....

Friday Night B-Bday Bash

So, last Friday a group of us went out to celebrate a student's birthday.  She is the first person I met from our class back in August on our cruise over on the Queen Mary 2.  She's a Canadian (we try not and hold that against her) and quite funny without trying to be.  C does not drink alcohol really (or coffee or tea, for that matter!), so this was a fun night to buy her drinks since she felt obliged to drink them.

We started at 'The World's End', by request of birthday girl.  It has some historical significance, but I can't remember what it is, so I will not go into it.  Something about being at the gates to the entrance of the city hundreds of years ago.  Not sure if this is true or not, or if I've just made that up. 

As I was trying to find this place (address is 4 High Street), I wandered down the Royal Mile street becaust that is where I should have turned, but it said Royal Mile and not High Street.  So, I popped my head into a souvenir shop and met 'Gray-hem', the lovely Scotsman with a wicked sense of humor.  This is him with Cristina after we left World's End.  He called all of us Americans 'little diseases', among other things. Ahhh, you gotta love the Scottish.

I simply asked him where High Street might be.  He immediately smiled and in a very thick accent said, 'What's yerrr name dear?'  I tell him.  He said, 'Welll, that splains pert uv it'. 'Where rrrrr ya go-in?'  A place called, 'World's End', I reply.  Have you heard of it?  He puts his arm around me and says, 'oh dearrrr, rrrrr you goin-to-be a pisssssst eff it yer self now.'  Oh boy, I think, I've really made an error and am no where near where I need to be.  Gray-hem, arm still around me, proceeds to shuffle me outside.  'Rrrrrrrr ya reddy fer this wun dear??'  Here we go.  Sure, I say.  'Itssss-a-right overrrr therrrrre.  I can see how-ya mustiv missst it.'  He, of course, is pointing directly across the street.  To my defense, I did not know that a High Street in a town simply referred to the main street which is the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.  Sheepishly, I make my way across the street to meet my friends. 

This is our group as we sat down for dinner.  C wanted fish and chips (french fries) and boy was it amazing. 

We met some Germans there and they left to go watch some game and came back within 5 minutes.  Yes, we ARE that much fun.

I managed to commit a huge party foul and spilled a brand new, beautiful pint of Tenemet's beer.  I was trying to hand my camera to someone and off the table my full glass went.  Fortunately, it landed in the corner without drenching anyone.  The waiter said it was surely the first time in 400 years someone has done that...I felt bad. 

We had a great time at the pub and finally went off to start our pub crawl.  On the way to the next pub, two college boys stopped us because they thought T was a famous American actor...Doogie Howzer anyone? They were so excited to meet him!

 Managed to find an old phone booth and the games began:

How many vet students can you fit in a phone booth?

We stopped at many pubs.  This was at Frank and Steins, which I liked.  Good mixture of bar, music and dancing.  Cheers!

We got down to the bottom of a pretty good hill and had to get back up to the Brass Monkey.  It was much easier to take a rickshaw than hoof it.  The poor guys pedaling them gave us 'that look' when we asked them to take us up the street.  They were both sweating when we got there and it was not too warm out that evening.

This was right before we decided we needed a rickshaw.  Birthday girl was pooped.

That is the end of my story with pictures.  We all parted ways after Brass Monkey.  Three of us woke up with sore throats the next morning (that was a week ago tomorrow) and I have gotten progressively worse.  I still have a sore throat and a bad chest cold.  I signed up for my free health care today with NHS and picked a GP down the street.  I have an appointment for Monday afternoon just in case I am not feeling better.

It's now Friday night after a reallllly long week.  I had full days everyday except Wednesday and I'm feeling it.  I also had my floors sanded Tuesday and Wednesday to add to the chaos, noise and sinus issues (lots-o-dust).  Next week is a piece of cake schedule-wise compared to this one and I am so looking forward to it.

Right now, I'm going to head to the couch and put my feet up for a few minutes.  I need to attempt to study tonight, as I'm feeling way behind the curve.

Over-N-Out

G-Night

I really want to post my pictures from Friday night, but I'm going to bed early instead.  This is a very long week coming up and I still have a sore throat!  The whole weekend was pretty typical Scotland weather - overcast, warm, then cold, windy, drizzling then not...  It was fine with me because I really needed to not get distracted by the sunshine :-).  I also got a ton of household items done - laundry, cleaned my flat thoroughly, moved furniture for the flooring guys, grocery shopped, went through my mail, paid bills, washed the Bingo Boyz and straightened up in general.

Inevitably, the Bingos got on my desk and sat on my books and work.  I had just come back from the park with them (played soccer) and they had muddy paws.  Harley jumped up on my desk.  He can only do this because it butts up to my couch.  They love to come say 'Hi' and just sit on my papers, computer, whatever is on my desk.  Harley was tired so he came up and just plopped himself down to sleep, not without first leaving a muddy paw print on my computer. Eye yeye yeye.

As I mentioned, a long week ahead.  I have 4 practicals this week.  That means 4 of my days I end somewhere between 3 and 530 pm.  Wednesday is always short and ends at noon for me.  But, I have the flooring guys coming allllll day Tuesday and Wednesday to rip up the nasty carpet in both bedrooms and sand my wood floors.  This is going to be fantastic, but takes some preparation with moving all furniture out of both bedrooms and then dealing with workers for two days.  It will be worth it though!

Meeting more and more people...different students in other years of vet school and students in completely different programs.  I love it. Another student and I are the only ones from our class who go to St. Albert's for mass...well, until tonite that is.  Another mature student in her 30's showed up!  Yay.  She's been out of the church for 10 years and I think she will continue to come to ours.  M is also staying here most of the holidays and told me tonite that she is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at her flat on Saturday after our Thanksgiving!  She's from the south and cooking some really yummy homemade grub - turkey, apple and pumpkin pies, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and onions....and, and, and....SO excited about this!  We also discussed those of us 'left behind' for Christmas getting together several times, but certainly for midnight Mass.  I'm thankful to have a small group of other US students to hang out with during these times.  It should make it a little easier. 

Our parish is offering free Spanish lessons starting next week....oh, how I wish I could take advantage of this.  I just cannot spread myself too thin this first semester.  Our first exam isn't until FEBRUARY...arrrghhhh....so, I will not have a clue how I'm doing until after then. Freakoid.

Oh, last bit....my neighbor across the hall (only 2 flats on each floor) invited me over for tea this afternoon.  I was out back hanging up my laundry on the line (yes, even though I have a dryer I am addicted to fresh, wind-dried laundry) and she asked me over.  I had such a nice chat with her.  It was me, her 8 month old, Suki and the greyhound.  Her husband, Pete, is away on business (he's a photographer) and her 15 year old daughter was off doing something.  She gave me a tour of their flat.  It's the exact same layout, but flipped.  It's amazing how much smaller it looked because it is stuffed to the gills with furniture and stuff (like a piano in the hallway).  They also use the boxroom that is my storage room as a nursery for baby. She does have a huge kitchen where I have some wasted space that serves as an eating area.  That probably also attributes to it looking smaller since it's filled up and mine is fairly empty sans a table and small pull out couch.  I will take full pics of my flat after the flooring is finished. 

Ok, now it's not an early bedtime anymore and I need to go to bed.

Till next time.

Over-N-Out

Productiveness

Another week completed!  Last night (Friday), we celebrated a classmate's birthday.  I'm in the process of uploading the photos, so I'll post those soon.  Needless to say, it was great fun.

As far as classes are concerned, the lecture material was really starting to pile up even though I was trying to stay on top of everything.  I finally buckled down today and felt like I got a ton accomplished. I did something related to my classes for about 6 hours total. I have more to do, but tomorrow is another day.  I have felt a bit run down since this morning and have a sore throat?!?  Please, please do not let me get sick again. It seems like everyone has had something...such tight quarters in our lecture theatre. 

I went back out to Langhill farm last week and learned a ton more about the dairy cows.  We concentrated a lot on their nutrition, looked at their current feed situation (storage, contents, when to feed what and how much), talked more about breeding, calving and care during gestation.  It was fabulous.  I took some pictures, of course.  When we actually start handling the animals (next week), it is my understanding that cameras will no longer be allowed.  This is strictly due to biosecurity issues. I got permission to take pictures during this practical and they came out quite good.

Here are some adorable calves.  One decided my thumb might be a source of food:

This is just to show an incredible T-Shirt :)

I still haven't found Maggie Moo, but I will soon! I just need to remember to take her ear tag number out with me next time. 

I am fading fast and will have to continue some updates tomorrow.  It sounds like there is a huge disco in the streets right now.  I will peek out my bay window in a second to see what is going on, but the music is blaring and I can hear conversations taking place.  It has to be a block party...

Ok, good night.  Till next time.

Over-N-Out

Baaaaaahh Baaaaaahh

I told y'all that I would write about the sheep portion of my Langhill/Easter Bush visit last week, so here it is.  The sheep farm is much, much smaller with only one shed/barn.  There is quite a bit of acreage, but we spent our time in the sheep shed at Easter Bush (5 minute drive from Langhill).  We have approximately 350 Scottish Mule ewes (females) and 20 Suffolk ewes.  The Scottish Mules are a crossbreed and look like this:

They are a cross between a Scottish Blackface Ewe and a Bluefaced Leicester Tup.  The Blackface looks like this: 

These are native to the hills of Scotland.  Extremely hardy and good mothers.  Medium sized with mixed wool.  We do not keep these as purebreds to breed directly from, as they live best in the hills. Therefore, we buy approximately 90 ewes a year from a certified and inspected farmer. They are kept and fed for a year on our farm.  They then are called 'Gimmers' and are bred.

A Bluefaced Leicester Tup (male, or ram) are these:

They are a very prolific breed, often exceeding 250% lambing. They are larger than the Blackface.

The Suffolk is the breed other than the Scottish Mule that we keep on the farm. This is one of ours here:

Suffolks are common where we are, very big, meaty and fast growing. But, they are high maintenance animals and that is one reason we do not breed them for purebreds.  Too dang persnickety.

The only purpose of our lambs is for lamb chops, basically.  They get bred at the end of October and after 147 days gestation period, give birth end of March, beginning of April  They put out 3 Tups (male studs) per 100 ewes in our fields to breed.  One way you can tell if your ewe has been bred is by using paint or crayons.  You mark the Tup's belly and it will rub off on the ewe if he has mounted her.  Sheep cycle every 17 days. If she doesn't take, try, try again. We buy one fresh Tup from elsewhere a year in order to bring some diversity to the flock.

In January, we bring in a technician to scan the sheep for pregnancy.  They should be able to tell us if they are pregnant with a single, twins, or triplets.  This is important to know, as a sheep only has enough teats for 2 babies.  If she is going to have 3, a foster mama will need to be available.  Ewes will kill babies that are not theirs, so you need to trick them into thinking they are.  Normally, rubbing the afterbirth of one of her own all over the foster baby will do the job. 

We sell our lambs for butcher at around 12 weeks if they are nice and fat and have a good body condition score.  They are not even put through the stress of getting weaned.  They should sell around 100 quid at that time.  Later in the season, the average is about 75 quid.  They need to be 40-45kg in order to go to butcher. 

We are required to do at least 2 weeks of lambing during our program.  Many students do more because it is usually a paid placement.  This is why the veterinary school gets 4 weeks of at Easter (one more week than the rest of the university)....we are all off lambing somewhere. 

So, now you know as much as I do about our sheep. In just over a week, I get to go do some sheep husbandry and learn how to actually handle them.  I am looking forward to that.

Here is a picture of some more of our flock.  You can see several different types, including all whit faces.  They apparently do some 'test crosses', so I am not sure what they are.

Time to finish up some work for tomorrow, which is a pretty long day.

Over-N-Out



It's a Gorgeous Day!

I am not sure that it gets any nicer outside in October than today!  It is absolutely gorgeous with tons of sunshine.  Lectures ended at 11 and I felt the need to get my weekly dose of Vitamin D, so I came home, took the Bingos for a walk and then gathered my shopping bags and headed downtown to the mall.  Between walking and riding the bus, I feel good.  The sunshine feels sooo good.  The Bingo Boys are also sunshine worshippers and if there is ever just a sliver of sunlight, they seek it out.  The sun comes in my bay windows in the afternoon and hits one of the couches. See if you can find the BB's...Hint: They are both trying to both occupy the same space:

If you looked at the arm rest on the couch, you found 'em.  A close up reveals that is actually two dogs scrunched on the same arm.  Harley Bones wedged his way in there (Maureen, you know what I'm talking about!):

The sun is soooooo bright:

Now that I've finished playing photograher for the day, I will read a bit and then off to a 4pm meeting.  Tonight at 730, we have a speaker back at Summerhall.  I am really looking forward to attending this.  Here is the trailer: 

Have you spent time doing EMS (Extra Mural Studies- a requirement of our program) in America or have been interested in an opportunity to do so?

Are you familiar with the XLVets in the UK, yet want to know more about the
Academy of Rural Vets (ARV) in America?

Do you crave more time working in a large animal/rural practice, but not sure what kind of mentoring you'd get?

Are you curious about what life would be like working in rural America and the diversity of cases you would see?

Join Clinical Club as we welcome Bob Gentry, DVM, MRCVS as he shares with us "The Academy of Rural Vets and Working in rural America"  He promises an evening of information, stories, and maybe a few country tunes thrown in.

He is supposed to be the US version of James Heriot. I think they even serve nibbles and adult beverages.  Drinking age is 18  here, so it seems everything involves alcohol.  Plus, we ARE in Scotland...duh.

All in all, a busy day.  The lectures are starting to stack up and we just got our new set of notes for the upcoming ones.  Lots of physiology and regulation.  I really enjoyed physiology in undergrad, but I recall it being a lot of work and spending quite a bit of time to really understand all of the interactions taking place.  I don't mind though, it is so much fun to be (re)learning again.  I'm trying to soak it all in...and hoping my 'sponge' doesn't get saturated too soon. 

No more sports until Wednesday, which is soccer.  Then again on Thursday.  I got my cleats today, so I'm good to go.  Adidas sells the same model I used in high school and college...unbelievable.  Apparently, we start matches this week, which has me geeked up a bit.

Tomorrow is a busy day with lectures in the morning and a FARM VISIT in the afternoon!  We get to do our first real animal handling and wrestle around some cattle.  Can't wait!

Time to get ready for my meeting.

Over-N-Out

Annnnnd, the Winner Is.........

The Arlington Hamiltons (Sean, Cristina, Frances and Grace) took the prize with Magdalene - after Mary Magdalene - Maggie for short. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Magdalene.  A name with an historical background, shortened to fit a cow AND a cute nickname.  It had all of the important components and she even looks like a Maggie!

A Scottish surprise will be sent your way sometime in the future, hopefully before the end of the year.

Great job everyone and thanks for the suggestions.  Maggie will be so pleased with her name.

Sore, sore, sore

I DID IT!  I finally got back on the exercise train....whew, that was hard.  So, I got peer pressured into going out for soccer practice last Wednesday.  Thank goodness it was on astroturf, because I do not have cleats (excuse me, boots) yet.  The field is over 2 miles away.....so, I jogged/walked there to make it on time.  We are the Dick Vet Vixens, which are made up of all vet students from all years.  The experience levels range from never having played to those that have played in high school.  There were 4 other Americans at practice and about 4 or 5 UKers.  After warming up and doing some drills, it was time to scrimmage!  Some girls left early, so we were left with 4 vs 5.  I was on the 4 person team and 3 pretty good Americans were on the other.  They all have good skills.  I must say I am ecstatic with my performance.  It all seemed to come back and for a moment I felt like Pele!  I was able to trap the ball, dribble and even juke out some defenders to score some goals! I actually had some explosiveness in my step.  I think this ole lady even impressed some of the young'uns.  They asked after practice how long I'd been playing. I figured it was longer than some of them have been alive...YIKES. So, all in all, a fabulous decision.  The walk home was brutal and by the time I got back to my flat, my one foot felt like it was going to simply fall off. 

The next morning, my left heel hurt so bad I could barely walk, but after getting the moving parts lubricated a bit, it was ok.  There was practice again that evening, but I did not go.  For one, I was out at the farm all afternoon and had to run home to let the bugaboos out, but also my foot was still pretty sore, as were my legs now.  On Thursdays we practice in the Meadows which is SO convenient for me and on grass.  I still need to get cleats though.

And yesterday, I took this out:

It was my first time on the mountain bike since last May basically.  I went out with the EUCC  - Edinburgh University Cycling Club.  The men and women break up and go their separate ways.  There were 4 of us.  There is some pretty good mountain biking around here, but you have to get there first.  If you don't drive to the site, you bike.  It's about a 10-12 mile ride (depending on where you enter the Pentland Park), which I didn't know.  It took forever......and ever....  We did not ride very fast and stopped a bit, so it was fairly brutal.  When we got there, we only rode on basically flat trails and maybe 6 miles and then went home.  It was a 28 mile trek.  I was a bit disappointed in that I'm used to riding a lot harder and better trails.  I'm told there are many very good options at the Pentlands, so I'll have to give it some time.  It was so good to get some exercise on such a beautiful day and the scenery was breathtaking - fields of cows, horses, sheep, rivers, etc....  I should have brought my camera, but wasn't sure that was a good idea given I had not been on a bike in a while and uncertain as to what to expect as far as difficulty on the trails.  I will take it next time.  We got so muddy, we had to spray our bikes off at a gas station.  I got home, took a shower and laid down with the pooches for a bit. Then, I got up and ate everything in sight..nom nom nom.

Today it's overcast and drizzling a little.  It's a perfect day to stay in and revise my notes and read, which is what I'm going to do right now!

OH, and a friend convinced me to sign up for this:  http://www.mhsurvival.co.uk/page34.asp.  It's the Men's Health Survival of the Fittest 10K.  I am NOT a runner, but it has all kinds of obstacles on the course and is done right downtown. It looks like an absolute blast. I think we start at the castle esplanade!  It's a few short weeks away...Oct 17th....and I can't wait!

Ok, off to study and I will be back to post the cow naming contest results later today, so stay tuned!

Over-N-Out

Week 2 is overrrrrr and Cows...mooooo

Can you believe it?  Wow, time is already flying. 

This week was fun.  My dreaded lab was actually really neat and a learning experience....imagine that!  It was a good ole chemistry lab on separating proteins using electrophoresis and then measuring some stuff.  Without question, it helped me get into my tiny pea brain the differences with some methods of separating proteins.  The lab was explained very well and there were several professors wandering around to answer any questions on the procedure and/or explain results.  It was my most dreaded block of time this week and ended up being a delightful surprise.

Thursday afternoon was my favorite, however.  I got to go back out to Langhill farm to get a tour of the dairy cow operation and then over to Easter Bush to do the same with the sheep.  I looked for my beloved cow (I can call her by name on Sunday), but did not see her.  I brought a picture of her, but really needed her ear tag number since that is how they keep track of the herd. 

My group stopped at the dairy farm first.  It was basically an investigative trip. We had to gather a bit of information regarding the farm, herd, feeding, breeding, selling and management of the dairy cows. 

This is before we left, waiting on our bus outside of Summerhall.  It was a gorgeous day!

The farm is 240 ha, which includes the sheep farm.  It's not an easy farm to manage because it's very spread out. Dairy cows do not like to walk and they must walk a lot to get to/from their fields and the milking parlour.  They are milked at 5am and then again at 3pm. The highest yielding cows are milked around 430-5pm.  This gives them more time to produce.  The herd is comprised of 80% Holstein Friesan cows, which look like this:

These ladies are in the calving barn and are within 1 week of giving birth.  Holstein Friesan's are an extreme dairy breed. They have the highest average milk production over all breeds and are very good tempered.  They try and keep them 'in calf', as they produce more milk that way. 

The herd replacement rate is 30%.  We have about 220 cows in the milking herd, and about 160 'followers', which are the younger generations. There are about 80 calves (0-1yr old) and 80 Heiffers (1-2yr old).  Once they are milking, they are called a 'cow'.  They do not sell the dairy calves even though that is a goal. They all end up being used as herd replacement due to unforseen deaths in the herd, lameness, mastititis, etc.

The lactation period of the dairy cow is 305 days, and their 'down time' is dedicated to doing AI (artificial insemination) in order to try and get the cow pregnant.  It normally takes 2-3 times per animal for it to take and each insemination cycle is 21 days.  Average milk production is 30L/cow per 305 day lactation.  After a calf is born, it only stays with mom for a short while and then it's moved to a calf barn.

Because the fields are so spread out at Langhill, they use an ATV to round up the cows for milking.  This is a picture of the cows doing the Milk March to the parlour in the afternoon.

I tried to take a picture of the beautiful scenery in the background, but my buddy decided I needed a picture of his mug and my camera focused on him rather than the really pretty landscape behind the barns....

It is past my bedtime and I will have to cover the sheep tomorrow. I need my beauty rest, for I am FINALLY headed out to do some mountain biking tomorrow morning with the University's women's mtb team.  See, I am prepared:

Good Night All

5pm EDT Deadline Approaching!

We have a pretty tight race in the cow naming competition.  All of you procrastinators need to get your votes in!  Bruce thought the winner should get some Haggis, but I'm not that cruel.  It will be specific to the individual winner since one prize does not fit all. 

Tick Tock......