Hey guys!
It finally happened! I learned about AI and palpitated a cow! It started out as a rough day though.
I had a headache last night so I took some medicine before I went to sleep. Apparently I forgot that naproxen knocks me out, so much so that not even the thunder or my alarm woke me up. You know how I'm supposed to get to the farm at 6:30? I woke up at 7. I jumped out of bed, threw on my work clothes, grabbed my stuff, brushed my teeth, and rushed to the farm. I ended up being an hour late, but Profe understood. I felt so bad, I don't usually do stuff like this.
Anyways, I didn't do a full dairy protocol assessment today since we already have information from 4 days. I took notes on 8 cows and then organized some of my paperwork. I had to give a presentation on my work in front of everyone too, so I drew charts and tried to compose fluent spanish sentences in my head in the hope that it would be good enough. Profe gave a brief overview of my project to the students and once he was done I got up in front of everyone and tried to explain my data in broken spanish. When I slipped up Profe helped me, the visuals were pretty clear, and students initiated discussions about my data, so I believe it was an overall success. Profe said I did a good job and I hope it's true!
After my presentation, Profe led 4 other students and I to the circular corral. There were 5 cows lined up and the table in the center of the ring had the semen tank, gloves, oil, and aprons ready to go. Profe explained AI procedure to us, showing us how hot the water has to be to thaw the semen, how to load the gun, and how to put the plastic case over the needle. Profe helped me suit up and I was ready to go, armed with a weirdly constructed yellow apron and a plastic glove that went up to my shoulder. I wasn't going to perform AI so I spent my time trying to find the cervix. It was confusing at first because I didn't know what I was touching. The other students knew what they were feeling for whereas I was kinda standing there, waiting for Profe to tell me if I found the cervix. I found it and Profe explained to me what would happen if I was administering AI. I palpitated 4 other cows just to make sure that I knew where to look and it got easier each time I practiced. It was so cool! I feel like I'm a real animal science student now!
That was the highlight of my day (and quite possibly my internship) and I'm so thankful that I got the chance to do this.
It's really late guys, sorry this post is so short! Thanks for reading!
-Allie
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