So before we went lambing last term, the dean of my school have us this whole big pep talk about lambing and how it was going to be hard, but fun, and to remember that we are representatives of the university and that even if we don't agree with something it's not really our place to question the way the farm we are visiting is run (that's what the post surveys are for). Which led him to say probably one of the funniest things I've ever heard which was, "im sorry, but do you always put shit on your hands before going to pull the lamb out?" I was reminded of this today when, after a very wet morning, the fellow who I was helping in the parlour came outing the rain yelled at me for a good 2-3 minutes, culminating in his telling me that I was testing his faith. I let him yell it out, smiled politely, and told him I would be over there dipping cows until he was ready. It sounds more dramatic than it was, I actually found it quite comical, he was also smiling most of the time, still yelling, and though I was a little to blame, he wasn't really mad at me so much as his boss and the weather, so it was pretty funny.
I'll backtrack, since I have a lot of time at the moment. We had just finished milking and kicked the cows out of the parlour when the employee went to usher the cows back to the barn and then get the older cows for their milking. But they were already queued up, enjoy made him mad for some reason (in retrospect I'm not sure why) but anywho he was livid and cursing and getting soaked, came back round with the older cows but (and this is we're it's partially my fault) the lock at the end was open and one of the cows got out and came back round again, easily remedied so not really a problem, more of an annoyance. So
I was trying to get the renegade cow while he was yelling come here come here and he ran and closed the gate. So then I got yelled at. Other than that the day went pretty smoothly, he's actually a nice guy, just likes things done a certain way. Though it is a bit frustrating to work with him sometimes since he'll tell you how to do something, you do it that way, then he tells you to do it another way. Or he tells me I'm cleaning wrong when I haven't finished cleaning yet, so of course it's still dirty, and then he just does it. That's when I have to remind myself that I'm representing Glasgow (hopefully well) and that there's not point grabbing him and shaking him and saying WELL NOT DONE YET OF COURSE THERE'S STILL POOP EVERYWHERE!!! But I digress, such is my life right now. Still enjoying it despite the absolute torrential downpour today. And because it was raining so much we had another inside day, so it was fairly relaxing. I learned about buying semen for impregnating cows, there's even a catalog! It was hilarious, and really cool since a bunch of stuff I leaned in class was in there so I actually knew what they were taking about! Also it's called straws, and on average you buy 2-3 straws per cow at £35 each! Who knew bull semen was so expensive! Well after all that it was milking time again, which went very smoothly! While I was hosing off afterwards I was thinking about my experience here this far, since my first week is almost up! Time flies! I really like that my school encourages us to try so many things, I mean would I have worked in dairy or gone lambing otherwise? Also, and I think this is another bonus of working in so many different places is you get used to working with lots of different people and get a feel for thinking on your feet. I come into these placements not really knowing what to expect and every day I work with different people as the employees are cycled out. They all (usually) care about the animals and have their own opinions about them, which will be a commonplace in a veterinary practise of any kind. So not only am I getting experience with the animals but the type of people who come with them. Pardon me while I wax poetic, I wonder what tomorrow will bring!
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