This is going to be a non-stop ethical debate that both sides have positive and negative comments. This post is really just what we discussed during the practical - there is no conclusive view that would be expressed here. In a nutshell, this is just sharing of knowledge.
Free Range eggs are now all the rage since consumers are more educated, more well-informed and we would like to know that the animals that produce our food are well taken care of, ethically put down (if that does happen) and have their welfare managed. This is for all animals who produce meat, milk or fibre for us.
I too would like to have chickens like that do back in the day where the chickens roam free and are happy plus they have ample food and space. And we benefit by eating their eggs from the layer eggs and for the broiler chickens, they would be make into chicken meat.
What was interesting that I learnt in this prac is that
1) chickens are pretty scared of everything - you, me, larger animals, planes that fly by
2) Chickens can get quite vicious
3) in this day and age of biosecurity, sometimes that free running life-loving, egg-laying chicken is a thing of the past.
The school had an experiment with free range eggs where the chickens had a little door to run out to a small yard.
What was counter-intuitive was that the chickens rarely went out to the yard (since the food was inside). Them chickens all prefer to laze around near the food.
furthermore, the yards should only have short grass since the chickens eat anything and everything and their systems cannot digest the grass (so you get a dead chicken).
The one thing that bothered me the most is that in the free range system the chickens have a larger area to roam so you have more chickens but there will also be canabalism in the coop. To be honest, the quote - survival of the fittest really applies here. If the chicken is seen as weak and is pecked at, blood will drip (duh. from the wound). The bright red blood seems to ignite something in the other chickens and within the day, the weak chicken will be pecked to death.
Gruesome but true.
In egg laying systems where the chickens are well taken care of (although in cages) but have suffient space to move around and a perch - the chickens' condition and feed is more controlled hence it is possible that the cage eggs could actually be 'healthier'.
Just food for thought. Pun totally intended.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Prolapse Uterus in Cows and Horses
I've recently been watching quite a few episodes of the Incredible Dr Pol - on NatGeo TV recently.
I find the show pretty fascinating since I'm still considering which track I would like to take as a Vet.
Do I want to be a large animal Vet? This would mean most of the farm animals.
Shall I just work on Cats and Dogs?
Or do I want to travel the world and be a wildlife vet (and its quite competitive too)?
There is the option of a Marine Vet which goes hand in hand with my love for Scuba Diving.
Or I could also look at exotic pets such as hamsters, rabbits (yes those fall under that category), iguanas etc.
Since I'm studying as an International Student here, I must also consider if there is a viable industry back home on what I choose to specialise in.
Instead of obsessing over it, I'm still a year one student so there will be sometime before that decision needs to be made and the farm practicals have been helpful too.
Dr Pol's TV show on life as a farm vet in the middle of Michigan is great since its a peek into what a farm vet's life is like for me and is that what I want to be when I'm done studying.
Since he is in an area with a large dairy cow presence in the farms, he often assists on cow births on the dairy farm (cows need to give birth to initiate lactation to give us milk - just in case you were wondering) and there has been quite a few occasions where he encounters a Prolapse Uterus.
Now what is a prolapse uterus?
Basically its the uterus moving from inside the cow to the outside of the cow if the cow makes too much effort pushing out the calf and keeps on pushing til the uterus pops out.
Here is a nice site that describes it pretty well (and has no photos for those with a weak stomach)
http://www.sites.ext.vt.edu/newsletter-archive/livestock/aps-07_02/aps-405.html
There are videos on this plus pictures you can google.
It is also an issue as
1) the cow will DIE if the uterus does not go back in (cow = $$ to the farmer)
2) the cows weigh easily 500kg so the uterus is easily 18 kg (this was mentioned in the show)
3) the uterus is quite delicate so shoving it back in takes some effort.
Overall this is a quite common problem with cows and if you are going to be a farm vet, well one of the things you would have to do is to 'fix' the issue with the prolapse uterus of cows.
Additional papers can be found here:
http://beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_prolapse_problems
Some 'light' reading on cows and their anatomy:
http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G2016
http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G2017
http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G2015
http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/fieldservice/Dairy/perepro.htm
*disclaimer - I own none of the information from the sites I've included, if you are the owner of the sites and you want me to take the link down, please email me. I claim no credit on the information on those sites*
I find the show pretty fascinating since I'm still considering which track I would like to take as a Vet.
Do I want to be a large animal Vet? This would mean most of the farm animals.
Shall I just work on Cats and Dogs?
Or do I want to travel the world and be a wildlife vet (and its quite competitive too)?
There is the option of a Marine Vet which goes hand in hand with my love for Scuba Diving.
Or I could also look at exotic pets such as hamsters, rabbits (yes those fall under that category), iguanas etc.
Since I'm studying as an International Student here, I must also consider if there is a viable industry back home on what I choose to specialise in.
Instead of obsessing over it, I'm still a year one student so there will be sometime before that decision needs to be made and the farm practicals have been helpful too.
Dr Pol's TV show on life as a farm vet in the middle of Michigan is great since its a peek into what a farm vet's life is like for me and is that what I want to be when I'm done studying.
Since he is in an area with a large dairy cow presence in the farms, he often assists on cow births on the dairy farm (cows need to give birth to initiate lactation to give us milk - just in case you were wondering) and there has been quite a few occasions where he encounters a Prolapse Uterus.
Now what is a prolapse uterus?
Basically its the uterus moving from inside the cow to the outside of the cow if the cow makes too much effort pushing out the calf and keeps on pushing til the uterus pops out.
Here is a nice site that describes it pretty well (and has no photos for those with a weak stomach)
http://www.sites.ext.vt.edu/newsletter-archive/livestock/aps-07_02/aps-405.html
There are videos on this plus pictures you can google.
It is also an issue as
1) the cow will DIE if the uterus does not go back in (cow = $$ to the farmer)
2) the cows weigh easily 500kg so the uterus is easily 18 kg (this was mentioned in the show)
3) the uterus is quite delicate so shoving it back in takes some effort.
Overall this is a quite common problem with cows and if you are going to be a farm vet, well one of the things you would have to do is to 'fix' the issue with the prolapse uterus of cows.
Additional papers can be found here:
http://beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_prolapse_problems
Some 'light' reading on cows and their anatomy:
http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G2016
http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G2017
http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G2015
http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/fieldservice/Dairy/perepro.htm
*disclaimer - I own none of the information from the sites I've included, if you are the owner of the sites and you want me to take the link down, please email me. I claim no credit on the information on those sites*
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Equine Flu in Australia - 2008 Outbreak
This was something that was mentioned in Class and how PCR
could be used in genetics. To me this is quite interesting as it shows how a simple epidemic can break out easily and cost a country thousands of dollars before it can be resolved.
*Note this is a compilation of information from a number of sites which will have their actual links placed at the bottom of the section - none of the information is mine, if you own the information and wish it to be taken down, please email me*
What is Equine Influenza
Equine influenza (EI)
is an acute, highly contagious, viral disease which can cause rapidly spreading
outbreaks of respiratory disease in horses and other equine species. EI is
exotic to Australia (this disease can be contracted around the world but
because it is exotic to Australia, it makes the horses in Australia more
vulnerable since no vaccine or knowledge is ‘handy’ at the point of the
outbreak and even now. ) and would have a
major impact on the Australian horse industry if it were to become established
here.
Humans do not get
infected with equine influenza.
However, humans can
physically carry the virus on their skin, hair, clothing and shoes, and can
therefore transfer the virus to other horses.
It is vital that
you shower and wash carefully, wash your hair and put on a completely fresh set
of clothes (including shoes) after contact with any horses (including your own
horses) that might be infected with EI. The virus can also be physically
carried on equipment and vehicles. (examples later on in the post)
What is the value of
the Horse Industry in Australia (this was taken off a site on the Melbourne
Cup)
Estimates are that over
the year, racing is an $8 billion export industry, with around $1.7 billion
generated from networking at the Melbourne Cup (this was based on a post
from 2014, possibly even higher now!)
How does this disease
spread?
Equine influenza is
highly contagious and can be spread by a couple different means. The first is
through respiratory
tract secretions. Coughing horses can release the virus into
the air, where it is spread up to 30 to 50 meters2. It can also be spread by
direct contact between horses and indirectly via a person’s hands or clothing
or on inanimate objects such as buckets, tack or lead ropes2. Hence the
advise from the DPI on washing everything that you use or wear.
Summary of the result
At its peak, 47,000 horses were infected in NSW on 5943 properties, and horse owners and industry workers were facing dark times with major impacts on their livelihood and lifestyle.
This also indicates the importance of biosecurity in
Australia.
This also puts in perspective why a country like Australia would have such strict laws on animal import (think Johnny Deep)
More details on the outbreak itself and the summary of it all
can be found on the DPI website -
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Biology and me ~ General grousing
If it isn't obvious, you can't do a degree in veterinary science and try to escape from the clutches of biology.
I'm not a biology person. In fact I'm a maths and physics kind of person who loves animals and want to know more about animals.
My first semester (this is my second), I had the introduction course of biology and its main concepts. To be honest I kinda struggled, it was a ton of material which we were covering in one semester and to be frank, the teaching quality wasn't the best :(
This semester, we are delving into the different living systems in Biology (both plant and animals). It is interesting how I find more interest in Genetics as compared to generic Biology. I guess one of the reasons is that the general Biology topic is so diverse when you read one item, it leads on to another item which is linked to a third item. Where exactly do you draw the line when it comes to studying is a bit of a mess.
I don't find it boring to read to be honest, I find it quite interesting actually. The mugging and cramming for this module however does makes me feel like I'm in pain. With two quizzes this semester (it was three last semester so this is an improvement!) I've to keep up with what is going on. The plus point is the final exam has a low percentage so you are not penalised if you are not able to regurgitate what was taught in the 3 hour exam.
Well the first quiz was done and dusted. We knew our grades 3 hours after the paper since it was all multiple choice question. I found myself second guessing quite a few questions and there was those where I just felt - if only i spent more time analysing that slide!!
I'm also glad this is over, now it is time to move on to the next assignment that is due.
This semester, we are delving into the different living systems in Biology (both plant and animals). It is interesting how I find more interest in Genetics as compared to generic Biology. I guess one of the reasons is that the general Biology topic is so diverse when you read one item, it leads on to another item which is linked to a third item. Where exactly do you draw the line when it comes to studying is a bit of a mess.
I don't find it boring to read to be honest, I find it quite interesting actually. The mugging and cramming for this module however does makes me feel like I'm in pain. With two quizzes this semester (it was three last semester so this is an improvement!) I've to keep up with what is going on. The plus point is the final exam has a low percentage so you are not penalised if you are not able to regurgitate what was taught in the 3 hour exam.
Well the first quiz was done and dusted. We knew our grades 3 hours after the paper since it was all multiple choice question. I found myself second guessing quite a few questions and there was those where I just felt - if only i spent more time analysing that slide!!
I'm also glad this is over, now it is time to move on to the next assignment that is due.
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