Projects!

Hey guys!

So yesterday I told you that Profe Moro and I discussed my projects into more detail. Yesterday's post was really long (plus I finished it at 11) so I figured that I should dedicate an entire post explaining some of the stuff.

I've probably mentioned this a hundred times but I've narrowed my project down to 2 big projects with smaller aspects within them.

The first big project is my dairy cattle welfare assessment system. In order for my welfare assessment system to work I need to include several different markers and qualifications. I've come up with a few mandatory markers that were prevalent throughout the articles I read, such as cleanliness, body condition scores, staff protocol, and clean water. I also hope to add in a few more markers such as calf care, vocalizations, employees and their ability to follow milking protocol, and hoof care.Working on the farm has really helped me pick out important factors and finding new ones. Through working on the lecheria I've seen some practices that should be improved upon. Sometimes procedure isn't followed and the cows end up paying the price. We have a system that mainstream farms use that includes checking for mastitis, dipping, and cleaning the unit that is mandatory when Jenny works in the milking area which is wednesday and saturday. This system needs to be enforced every day in order to prove its effectiveness and make sure that the welfare of the cow is kept in mind during the milking process. Profe Moro and I are also talking abut tweaking it a little bit, allowing the teats to dry after the chlorine dip, limiting milking time, and other things. This is going to be the most time consuming project and I'm really excited to start working on some aspects of what I have planned already and figure out more things that need to be included as we go along.

My second big project is dairy cattle genetics. This is something I'm really excited for. I've already begun to identify desirable traits and undesirable traits. All I have to do is write the cow's number down, identify the good traits, the bad traits, record the cow's history, and find a sire for them using one of the databases Profe Moro uses. Profe Moro and I plan to look at some of the cows soon to not only see how we could improve the milking process, but to also judge what each cow's desirable traits are. I might be able to artificially inseminate cows while I'm at it! I think that this project is really cool because I'm going to see if we could produce a cow that is perfect for the tropics. A cow that can survive in a hot and humid climate (Brahman mixes), produce a lot of milk (Jersey, Holstein, Simmental, and other dairy breeds), has good hips, doesn't have an udder that's too deep or too shallow, has good feet, and a good temperament. I really hope that we find the perfect match and make a good breeding line.

I have a lot of work to do and I'm diving into some reading material and research that Profe Moro has given me like this textbook from his office. It's all in spanish,  but I like a good challenge! The other articles and the other textbook is in english and I'm finished reading, taking notes, and marking up important information. These next few weeks are going to be really important! This is my 3rd week here and there is no time to waste!

"Winning the war against mastitis"

I can't wait to tell you guys about what I'm doing tomorrow! You'll hear all about it in tomorrow's post. 

Goodnight guys!

-Allie