Turkeys

I've been up to the turkey farm today, and I havent seen them since they were a few days old, and the change is (obviously) massive.

Turkeys in the barn (click to enlarge)

The different breeds have now been more obvious apart from the colour, because they are still different colours, and they are different sizes now.

The males have a bigger wattle under their chins, and they are generally bigger birds.

They are all free-range turkeys - they are let out in the morning and put themselves to bed and then locked up at night, so that they are safe from foxes.

John + the turkeys

Free ranging in the field

More Practice

I've done a few days of work experience this week at a vets in Bourneville, about 35 minutes away from me. My mom has been dropping me off there, because she works in Birmingham so it's not too far for her.
It's been really good because I've known one of the vets there for years, so I've been able to ask him questions and things like that, and then he offered for me to go there and see practice with him in March, and now I'm back again.

I've seen a lot of operations and sat in on consultations with a few of the vets. There were a lot of castrations/spays, and lots of people coming in for booster vaccinations.There was only really 2 emergencies which came in, a puppy with parvo virus, and a spaniel with its leg cut open. The parvo case was interesting, as it was a new puppy to the owners, and they bought it in, it was kept in overnight and treated with a drip. It had runny/bloody diarrhea and the bloods sent off to the lab had low white blood levels. We were having to disinfect everthing as we went as it was so contageous, and wear gloves and the puppy was kept in isolation so the risk to other dogs was really low. Unfortunately it died and the owners contacted the breeders, who didn't accept responsibility.
I saw a few animals being put to sleep, which isn't nice, but has to be done. If they're in a lot of pain, sometimes its the kindest thing for the animal.

Vetquest and another New Practice

I've booked on the "Vetquest" 1 day conference at Bristol University, in March 2009, and had a letter through the post today confirming my place :D I'm going with 2 other friends from school.
I also had a letter through the post today saying that planning permission for another vets around the corner from me has been approved! It's at a craft centre, and at the moment there is already an animal feed shop there. So there are now 2 brand new vets opening, within a few miles of each other in different directions.
I went up the the feed shop to ask what they think will be happening next, and they knew it had been proposed, but didn't know it had been approved! It could take a few years to build and get open, they said.

Vet's Interview

I've just been for an interview at a Vets around the corner from me, and I start some time next Spring :D
I sat down with the owner (Phil) and he just asked about my Work Experience and what I've learned from it; Was I confident with horses? - they had 3 heavies, 2 horses and 3 ponies at the last farm I worked at; and then about some of the other things I do, like mentoring and charity work.
He had a flick through my Work Experience folder aswell, and asked about a few things I'd done on work experience which I explained.
They showed me around the practise and then the stables which are being built and then they said I can join the team.
It's a brand new practice, which is still being built at the moment, and they are due to open in April next year.
I think it will be a mixed practice, with a planned Artificial Insemination unit for horses on the side.
They are building a stable block to house 3 horses, they have a few paddocks, and they're also having a "menage" area to exercise the horses and observe them in.
It should be good fun, and they seem like really nice people! So far they've found a vet nurse, and are still looking for a graduate vet, so we should all start around the same time next year, which will be really good as we can get to know each other as the practise gets going.
It will be really interesting to watch the practise be completed, and then be there when it opens, I can start to see it to become a functioning practice.

New Practice

A planning application was approved around the corner from us a few months ago, and I walked round with my friend yesterday to have a look.
As we walked up, a man pulled up in his van and spoke to me and said if I was interested to go back today.
I've been back up with a letter this morning, and he's just phoned me and arranged for me to go back in 2 weeks for a chat-like-interview and to see about me getting some work experience with them.
The surgery has a stable block attached and is being built at the moment to be opened some time next year.
I've got the planning applications off the internet and it looks good, there will be 2 consult rooms, an x-ray room, as well as the others such as waiting room and reception.

Turkey Poults!

Me + Mom have just been up to the Turkey farm to see the turkeys!
Young turkeys are called "Poults". These ones were hatched in big incubators in Wednesday, and delivered to the farm on Thursday and there are just over 650.
Already they've had quite a few die, because of "vent pecking" - chicks have a natural instinct and they peck at things which are red (which is why chick feeders and drinkers are red), the vents are red and when they peck at them they get even worse and can pick up infection which can be fatal. At the moment the poults are being kept in brooders, they are big round pens with gas fired heaters in them to keep them warm so that they use their energy to grow and grow feathers. They are round because in square brooders the chicks all try to get to the corners and all pile up, which suffocates and squashes the chicks on the bottom.
There are 4 different breeds (Super Mini, Roly Poly, Wrolstad, Plumpie) of turkeys which will all grow to different sizes so that there will be different weights later on in the year. There are also males and females of the breeds which will result in even more weights - with males being generally bigger and heavier.

They are eating high protein Turkey Crumb at the moment.
It seems strange to think that they will all be eaten at Christmas, and that I will be involved in killing and preparing them. John asked wether I think I'd be able to do it at this stage, but I'm looking forward to learning how it's all done.



In a few weeks time they will be switched onto Growers pellets, and start to be let out into the field next to the shed, and brought back in during the night to protect them from foxes and rats.

Lambing - Day 15

I got to the farm for 8 today. There are only 25 of Johns Welsh Mules, and 0 of Louises Mules left to lamb!
Violet has had twins :D
I did the usual and fed and watered the ewes in the big and little pens then started on rubber ringing and preparing lambs and ewes ready to go outside.
When I was done I helped John to load up the sheep into the trailer to take them out into the field.
I took down the spare pens from the new shed and stacked up all the hurdles together onto a pallet.
There were enough spare pens, so I moved the newborn lambs into the remaining small pens and Iodine and Spectam'ed them.
After that I went over to the old shed and took down all the empty pens in there. All of the ewes were in the big pens as I took down the hurdles.
After lunch, John and I injected some thick antibiotics into a lamb with an inturned eye lid. The eyelid needs to be facing the right way as the eyelashes rub against the surface of the eye and can damage it. I held the lambs head really tightly and John injected it. The antibiotics puff the eyelid back out of the eye.
All of the water buckets needed to be washed out to make sure there wasn't enzootic bacteria in there, so I did that.
After hays and waters we fed the sheep and I went home at 4.
It will be strange not going back to the farm, but its been a really good few weeks and I've enjoyed it all. I think I've learned how to properly deal with sheep and lambs (and to some extent newborn animals). Its also shown that animals will and do die no matter what you try and do for them which is just a fact of life. I used to think sheep were boring and that goats were better, but they're not anymore. I love sheep (bah) :D
Hopefully I'll be coming back to the farm to help with shearing in the summer if I am around or if not next year to help with lambing.

Lambing - Day 14

I got to the farm this morning at 8. Its good to be back after a week off.

It was a normal day - first feeding and bedding down then spending a lot of time rubber ringing and trimming feet.

We took quite a few ewes and lambs out into the fields today.

The cade lambs are all fine - they've grown loads in a week, but I can still tell them apart.

I'm sure Greg and Bluebelle still recognise me!

Mom with Greg + Bluebelle

Lambing - Day 13

I arrived just after 8 this morning at the farm, and most of Louise's sheep have lambed, and a lot of Johns sheep have also. I went around and changed every ones waters to make sure they were all clean and fresh. After that we fed the sheep.
I topped up all the hay racks and then bedded everyone down with straw.
Next I rubber ringed, Scabivax'ed and numbered lambs and also trimmed ewes feet and wormed them which took quite a long time.
After that I moved onto the next job - jet washing! The livestock trailer which the sheep came from the field to the farm needed jet washing so I did it. It is a huge trailer with two floors. I took out the ramps and doors and washed them down first, and then got inside. I did the upstairs first which was ok as I could just about stand up in there. I had to do the roof, floor and all the walls to make sure there was no mud or any nasties left in there from the sheep. That was ok, but the downstairs was next. There was literally no room so I was half sitting down on my feet at first, but it was ridiculous so I went to kneeling along then crawling on all fours in muddy sheep poo'y water! The whole thing was tilted a bit so the water would run out of the door, but I had a broom and scraped all the mud down, then jet washed it, but that got mud everywhere so it took forever to do and end up with a clean trailer!!
I came out soaking wet and covered in mud and who knows what else, but it was alright :D
I then had to go around and top up hays and waters and ended up leaving just after 4 o'clock.

Lambing - Day 12

Back at the farm after a few days off revising, and all 200 of Johns Welsh Mules are in the new shed. The prolapse ewe we brough back died a few days ago because of an infection.
After the normal routine of waters, hays and strawing down the pens, I helped Polly (Louise's daughter) to bottle feed the cade lambs in the old shed. Greg and Bluebelle are doing fine - they are the most tame lambs, and I think they might recognise me!
I went around with Charlotte and prepared the lambs + ewes in the small pens which needed doing.
After I'd finished we went out into the field and walked in Louises Mules and rare breed Charollais sheep down into the spare big pens in the old shed, it took quite a while to make sure none of them ran off, but it was alright. They are due to lamb on the 11th April.
Me + John put up the 4x4 pens in the new shed, ready for when the Welsh Mules lamb. Then I put straw into the pens as bedding.
John, Charlotte + Me went into the woods around the back of the shed to try and push out a ewe with her twin lambs which had got through the fence into the woods, but couldn't get back out. We managed it in the end.

Lambing - Day 11

I got to the farm at 8 with Greg + Bluebelle - I put them back into the cade pen with the others who seem to have grown since Friday! I then fed the sheep.
Lois, Charlotte, Louise and me filled up the water buckets and hayracks, then strawed down all of the pens.
We all started on rubber ringing, Scabivax'ing and numbering the lambs, and worming and trimming the ewes feet. It didn't take long because there were 4 of us, so we got through them quite quickly, taking it in turns to do lambs then ewes.
After that we cordened off a field for the smaller lambs and ewes out of the bigger pen to go into just for the day - we walked them back in later this afternoon.
John came down to the farm and then all 5 of us got into the car to go and see 200 of John's ewes (about half an hour away by Kings Bromley). These are the ewes that will be brought into the new shed for lambing in a few days. They are Welsh Mules.
We fed all of the sheep and there was one ewe with a prolapse which John couldn't catch on his own yesterday, so we had to spot her and then catch her. When we'd got her John helped to put everything back inside the ewe, and then inserted a prolapse spoon to hold it all in and stop it all falling out, he then tied it onto her. It looked like she had already started lambing, so we put her into the back of the truck and drove back to the farm.
When we got back we topped up the hay racks and hay racks, then fed the sheep.
No more ewes had or were lambing so I went home at 4.

Lambing - Greg + Bluebelle

Greg + Bluebelle are doing fine!
Once people hear we've got lambs at home they want to come and see them, so people have been popping in all the time to have a cuddle.
Greg is my lamb, and Bluebelle has become Nathan my brother's lamb. Greg is the white one with Red number 91 and Bluebelle has black spots - Blue number 83.
They're drinking better than they were before so hopefully they'll be alright :D

Lambing - Day 10

I got dropped off at the farm at 8am this morning.
All of the sheep are now in the old shed, while the new shed is being cleaned and disinfected ready for Johns sheep to come in and lamb.
We filled up all the hayracks and changed waters in all the little pens, and then bedded down all of the pens in the old shed.
We moved all of the bigger lambs and their ewes into a spare big pen which can all go outside at the same time when the weather gets better, we now have room for newborns to go straight into smaller pens.
I went up to feed the triplets in the paddock and up in the top field.
Lois + I went around all the smaller pens and rubber ringed and prepared the lambs and ewes so that they are ready to go outside.
We bottle fed all of the cade lambs and made sure they had enough milk, and then topped up the molasses feeders in the big pens - its so heavy and the ewes try to drink it out of the bottle before it gets into the feeder which makes it even harder to do!
There was a single lamb ewe which had been struggling for quite a while, so I helped her to deliver the lamb because it was stuck. I pulled one leg at a time to make sure it was presenting properly and it also makes the shoulders narrower. I got the head facing the right way - head first out of the ewe - and then pulled the legs at the same time and out it came. I cleared its mouth and scrubbed it with straw to make sure it was breathing and then the ewe started licking it. I penned it up and Iodine and Spectamed it.
Me + Lois then went out into the paddock next to the new shed to have a look at a lamb which wasn't putting weight on one of its legs. It took quite a while to catch and then we gave it 2ml of Engemycin intravenously.
After that we went back into the shed and bottle fed the cade lambs.
We topped up all the hays and waters and penned up some more newborns. We're running low on small pens because the lambs can't go outside because the weather is so bad.
At the end of the day I took home 2 of the weaker cade lambs to bottle feed during the night to. They are called Greg and Bluebelle :D
They are bottle fed with a powdered milk called Lamlac, made up with hot water (4oz Lamlac to 1 pint water), and fed every few hours. They'll go back to the farm with me on Sunday.

Lambing - Day 9

I got to the farm just before 8 today.
We did the usual routine - bed down all pens with straw, change hays and water and feed all the sheep. I got all the nerborn lambs out of the big pens, and out them into smaller pens with their mothers and then dipped their navels in Iodine and gave them 1 pump of Spectam.
After that I got on with the rubber ringing the lambs, Scabivax'ing them, trimming the ewes feet and then spraying on ID numbers.

Louises rare breed Charolais lambs needed weighing today, it is something to do with the breed standards and seeing how much weight they've been putting on. So we drove up to the field and set up the race so that there was a pen, a raceway with a gate on the side (so we could let the ewes out and only weigh the lambs) and the scales were at the very end.
We chased them down to the corner and rounded them all up into the pen and started weighing them and recording their ear tag number and weight.

Lambing - Day 8

Lambing - Day 7

Back Lambing today at 8 and when I got there we did as usual and fed and watered all of the pens. We also bedded them all down with stray and gave everyone fresh hay.
Next we put the newborn lambs and ewes into the newly bedded down pens, and gave the lambs a squirt of Spectam in their mouths and Iodine on their umbilical cords.

Me + Lois castrated the males and docked the tails of the lambs due to go out into the field and trimmed the ewes feet. We took it in turns, so I would do the lambs, while Lois did the ewes, and then swapped so I would do the ewes and Lois would do the lambs.
Then we loaded the ewes and their lambs into the trailer, and sent them outside into the fields.

We then fed the sheep and changed all the waters and left at 4.

Lambing - Day 6

Today is Easter Sunday, and I'm Lambing :D
I got there at 8, and Lois was already there with Louise.
We changed all the waters, and replaced all the hays and then strawed down all of the pens.
Me + Lois fed the big pens, and Louise fed all the small pens.
We took out the newborn Lambs from the big pens, and put them into smaller pens with their mothers.
We walked out 8 ewes and all of their lambs into one of the fields, and carried out 2 sets of triplets and the 2 ewes into the paddock next to the sheds. Most of the twins and triplets which were in the paddock were all cuddled up under one of the big trees, and the ewes were all spread out, so we spent a long time chasing the ewes and lambs around, getting the right lambs and ewes with corresponding numbers back together. The lambs all had a good feed and stayed with their
moms.
Lois + Me prepared the lambs (castrating, docking tails and Scabivax and ewes to go outside, and we also sprayed I.D. numbers on them.
While we were doing that, Louise was out on the quad bike checking all of the fields making sure no lambs were lost.
When Louise got back we loaded up the lambs and ewes and sent those out into the fields.

There was a ewe which has been having trouble lambing all day, so we stepped in and I helped the ewe to deliver it.
We fed, watered and gave hay to all of the sheep.
Mom and Brother came to pick me up to go home and Louise saw something which looked like a newborn lamb in the top field.
Me + Nathan my brother got in the trailer, while Lois got on the quad bike and drove up to the top of the field. When we got there there was a ewe lying down with a newborn lamb, and there was a dead lamb with her aswell. We put both lambs into the trailer and eventually got the ewe in aswell. Lois + Nathan got into the trailer with the sheep and lamb, and I drove us back down to the shed.
We put the ewe into a pen, and gave the lamb some spectam and dipped its umbilical cord in iodine. We put the lamb into the pen under a heat lamb, and left at 3.30.

Lambing - Day 5

I did another day of Lambing today which started at 8, which is a bit later than we've been starting before.
It was pretty much the same routine, feed and water both sheds, give all the sheep hay and bed down all the pens, and then we checked on all the lambs which were born during the night.
I Lambed a big single lamb today, which the ewe had been trying to deliver for hours, so we stepped in and helped her.
After that we prepared the ewes and lambs which were ready to go out into the field, and sent them out.
We left at 4pm.

Lambing - Day 4

Back at the farm today for day 4 of Lambing. I'm really enjoying it so far.
Nothing too different happened today. Me + Lois fed and watered the sheep in both sheds and in all the small pens.
We then sorted out the lambs which were born during the night, and penned up the ewes with them.
After that we prepared the lambs and their mothers to go out into the field together. So after we'd prepared them we set up some hurdles to that the ewes couldn't escape and loaded them 3 at a time into the trailor and they went outside.

I saw a ewe lambing, and managed to get a few pictures:
After we'd fed and watered the 2 sheds, I left at 4.

Lambing - Day 3

Today is the first day of the Easter Holidays :D
I got to the farm for 7am and did the hays and waters in the new shed.
I strawed down both sheds.
At 8, Lois who I used to work at Ash End Farm turned up! She is here on a 2 week University Placement (she is a 1st year vet student).

We all fed the sheep and got the newborn lambs from the big pens into the little pens and Iodine and Spectamed them.
We freed up a few more little pens by turning out some of the older lambs into the field. We've put a set of triplets out into the paddock next to the shed so we can keep an eye on them.

We rubber ringed some of the lambs tails and castrated them, and trimmed the ewes hooves. Then we sprayed I.D. numbers onto the ewes and lambs.
I helped to deliver my first lamb! :D
I put on a huge shoulder length glove and then using my fingers, felt my way inside and felt that the 2 front legs were facing forward with the head. I got hold of the legs and made sure they bonded to one single lamb, because otherwise if it was 2 lambs you would pull them apart and rip their legs. It was only one lamb so I waited for the ewe to contract, and then working with her, pulled the lamb out.
You have to pull it out and then straight away clear the membrane off the lambs face and inside the mouth and next pinch the nose to make it sneeze. If it doesn't sneeze poke some clean straw into the nose to clear it so it is breathing. You get some straw and rub the lamb to get it breathing and then put the lamb in front of the ewe so that she licks it clean and bonds with it.We changed the hay and waters and went home at 4.

Lambing - Day 2

I got to the farm for 7am.
I got out all the lambs and ewes which were born during the night, and put them into the smaller pens. I dipped the lambs navels in Iodine so they they do not get infected, and I squirted 1 pump of 'Spectam' into their mouth, which prevents them getting 'Watery Mouth Disease'.
I then strawed down all the 4 X4 pens and gave them fresh hay in their hay racks, and strawed down the big pens.

Because the weather last night was really stormy, one of the older ewes died in the lambing shed and 8 lambs were found dead in the field which were just a few days old.
Louise went up on the quad bike and checked all the lambs in the fields, and brought back the ill lambs with their ewes and put them in the small pens in the shed under heat lamps.
We fed all the big pens, and gave the small pens 1 level scoop of sheep nuts.

Then I went up on the quad bike to feed some sheep in the next field up - and I slipped on the mud when I was getting off the bike :P !!

There is another girl there today on Work Experience called Charlotte, who has applied for Vet School this year. Louise, John, Charlotte and I went up to the far field on the quad bike (John drove, we were in the trailer) and we bought back more ill lambs and ewes. We loaded up 1 ewe and lambs into the trailer, and walked down 8 ewes and their lambs into the shed. They all went into one of the big pens we made free.

John, Charlotte + me went over to the new shed to vaccinate the 90 ewes we had left from yesterday. ME and Charlotte made up the 10ml syringes of Engemycin, while John turned and injected the ewes.
The problem that they have can be vaccinated against, but as they weren't aware they had the problem until recently, they were too late as they should be vaccinated before 'tupping'. (Tupping is another name for mating, which is done in August for the lambs to be born in March.)

After vaccinating the ewes, Louise showed me and Charlotte hot to stomach tube lambs which are not taking milk from the ewe, or that refuse a bottle. You can tell by looking at the lamb if it is not drinking as its stomach is small, once full it is big and round.
After milking a ewe, you have to put a catheter tube attached to a syringe with the plunger removed into the lambs mouth and push it slowly down the lambs throat. When it is down the throat, you have to listen to the end of the syringe, and if you can head breathing you are in the lungs, not the stomach, so you have to pull it out and try again. The syringe is filled with milk and it slowly trickles down into the lambs stomach. Another few lambs were born today, so I took the lambs out by picking them up with their front legs and making sure the ewe follows. The lambs are held by their front legs so that the ewe can see and small the lamb and will follow, and it also allows you to carry twins in one hand and open gates etc with the other hand. If the ewe does not follow you have to imitate the sound of the lamb and the ewe usually follows. I then dipped the lambs navels in Iodine and gave them Spectam.
After filling up the hay racks and changing the waters, I left the farm at about 4pm.

Lambing :D - Day 1

Today was my first day Lambing at the farm in Hints at it was really good. I got there at 6am and it was still dark. The farmers are called Louise and John and are really nice. The sheep are all in 2 big sheds - an old one and a brand new one. The older shed is separated 7 into different pens with 30 ewes in which are due to lamb either one lamb, twins or triplets. Then there are some smaller 4 X 4 pens which the newborn lambs and ewes go into so that the lambs and mothers do not get mixed up and lost. The new shed has 5 big pens and then the smaller pens.

The ewes are all scanned with an ultrasound machine and are marked with a coloured dot on their back which tells us how many lambs they are due with. Green means 1 lamb, no dot means twins, and a red dot means they are due to have triplets. This helps because we can see that once they have delivered one lamb we know if they are due to have another or not.
My first job was to go round all the pens and check for lambs born during the night.
We then put 2 bales of straw into each big pen and bedded them down. Then came one of the funniest jobs - feeding! Each pen has one big bucket of sheep nuts which is taken from a bigger barrow. As soon as the sheep hear the noise they go crazy and really loud. Then you have to try and get into the pen with 30 sheep all trying to get into your bucket, and spread the food out in a horseshoe shape so that they can all get to some food. I got stuck in the middle of the sheep and had to struggle to get out and spread out the food !! :D

It is quite clever because as a ewe only has 2 teats, they are fine with single and twins, but they cannot cope with triplets, so the 3rd triplet is fostered on to the single ewe. The triplet is taken to the single lamb ewe as soon as the single lamb born, and covered in all the lambing fluids so that the ewe thinks it is her lamb and licks it clean, and bonds with it. She is then put into 'stocks' so that the triplet can suckle, and it will start to smell of the ewe.
If the ewe rejects the lamb, or the natural mother rejects a ewe the lamb has to be bottle fed - it is called a 'cade' lamb and is bottle fed with a replacement milk - Lamlac.
Once the lambs are a few days old and have a dry umbilical cord and are generally strong enough, they are ready to go out into one of the fields. Before this can happen they need to be 'prepared'.
The lambs tails are docked so that their bums do not get dirty and clogged, and males are castrated. This is both done using a small rubber castration rubber ring which is put on using special applicators. The tail is left just over an inch long (by law they have to be under a certain length so they don't become dirty + matted, but not too short). Eventually both testicles and tails will lose circulation and will drop off after a few weeks.
They lambs also need to be vaccinated against "Orf" - a swelling of the mouth which comes out on their lips - which is done using a special applicator which gives a measured dose, you click it down and then scratch the inside of the lambs leg with the "Scabivax" to make sure the dose is absorbed by the body.

The ewes also need to be wormed by inserting a tube into her mouth and pumping the gun so that the wormer goes into her throat. You also need to turn her by having her on your left hand side, hold her chin with your right hand and push her head to the left and up against her body. With your left hand push down on her bum so she sits down and sits in between your legs. Then her hooves need to be trimmed and cut flat so it as a greyish white colour. If you cut too much the hoof will bleed. The lamb and ewe need to be sprayed with matching I.D. numbers on their side, a different colour is used for single lambs, twins and triplets.

Then we loaded the sheep and lambs into a small trailer attached to a quad bike, 3 ewes and her lambs at a time and they were drove up to the field.

There is an abortion problem at the moment which is caused by an infection they can catch. They become affected and 1 year later they abort their lambs. They have caught it from a few ewes which were bought in last year.

The ewes have to be injected with 10ml of 'Engemycin' which is a really thick yellow liquid. It is injected 'Intramuscularly' into the muscle of the leg. I prepared the syringed with 10ml, while John turned, injected and marked each ewe with a green dot on her head. Today we injected 9 out of the 12 pens.

We fed and watered the sheep in both sheds, and then went up to one of the other fields where the pedigree 'Charolais' sheep are kept. We fed those and filled up the milk bucket for the lambs.

I went home at about 4pm.

One step closer - Lambing

After a few phone calls over the last few days I've finally found a Lambing placement! :D
The farm is in Hints - about 15 minutes away from here, and I've just been up to the farm to introduce myself.
They have around 600 sheep, which are all going to be brought inside the sheds in a few weeks, so we will be Lambing indoors.
I'm really excited and I'm starting on the 15th March at 6 o'clock in the morning! but it will be worth it.

Lambing ?

I've been trying to find a placement Lambing for the last few weeks, and haven't really got very far. I had a look on the internet and phoned all the places I could find, most can't take me or have already started/finished Lambing.

The only experience I have with sheep and lambing at the moment is at Ash End - I saw one sheep lamb which didn't need any help. They also take in 6 cade lambs (abandoned my their mothers) every year, so I've bottle fed those from a few days old with the help of visitors to the farm.
I asked the careers people at school who at first thought burst out laughing I was joking, and then suggested "to try a placed called Ash End Farm who had 100's of sheep" - I told them I worked there last year and they don't do Lambing as such as they only have a few sheep which are put to the Ram separately for a week at a time, so only have 1 lamb born every few weeks.

Then I tried one place called 'Lamb Farm', and when I asked about a possible lamb placement the man on the other end of the phone just laughed at me and said they didn't have any sheep!? :S
So then I found an organisation called the National Sheep Association, who I emailed and they sent me a list of all the farms who need help Lambing. After sending out about 20 emails to farms I have finally found a place in Kings Bromley (about 40 minutes away) who I can go and help, or they are asking their relatives who have a farm in Hints (15 minutes away) if they need any help.
Hopefully I'll hear something soon!

Santa Clause is coming to .. the farm

Right, I officially know its nearly Christmas now because Santa is at the farm! XD
I got there at 8.40 - I was late because the lane has been shut because of road works so I had to walk down, I told Greg and he went and put up diversion signs for customers.
We cleaned out the pigs and gave them all their food and water really quickly then rushed to do the goats waters. I did the first sit-ons and not many people came so I had to go looking for them - I think Santa is more exciting than Me + Diamond :( and Dolly wasn't even there because she's starring in the Nativity!
The goat kids, Jacob sheep + Dolly have all been moved down to be in the Nativity scene where the children act it all out then sing to wake up Santa. I remember doing it when I was little, used to be so much fun!!
I cleaned out the duck pond with my Santa hat on and had a little audience aswell!
We had quite a big clean up of all the goats, sheep, chickens and quail and swept the whole farm for all the Christmassy visitors we're expecting. I fed and watered all the chickens which was good.
Durng the sit-ons after lunch there were children all gathered around Rudolph + Prancer the Reindeers' paddock singing to them and rattling their jingle bells - then we had a massive swarm of people come over to us.
We did some lamb walking and the lambs are getting really strong - a bit too strong so we had 2 children on each lead, and as we started to walk back from the play area to the sheep building Lavender and Boy George went crazy and started running, the children couldn't keep up so we told them to let go and the lambs ran straight back into their pens :)
More sit ons, I took Lady Sarah down to the field, cleaned out her stable and left at 4.15.

Empty ...

I've just done 8.30-4 at Ash End and the whole atmosphere at the farm has changed.
Loads of the animals have gone - apparently the lorry came in the week to take them off to 'market'.
In the goat building Mary, Anastasia Angora and 2 goat kids (they have gone to market) have gone, apparently Mary has ringworm and a cyst on her face - shes the one I'm most gutted about from all of the animals on the farm, she was the first goat I ever milked and I 'broke' her when she got mastitis, she really had a personality and I think she recognised us.

In the sheep only Beatrix Beltex has gone because she's old, she used to sit in the corner and couldn't move very well. Some of the mixed breed chickens and cockerels have gone because there were too many for the farm, and the ill Guinea Fowl from Board-a-Bunny has been taken aswell. The chest freezers full of chickens, rabbits, goat kids, piglets and who knows what else have all been emptied aswell - sent off to be incinerated.
Rodney the 'pigeon guinea pig' died of natural causes aswell last night. Joan and Bob are away on holiday.
We just had to get on with jobs as usual with a few empty pens around the place. I went and cleaned out the pigs with Greg first, gave them all water, and then gave the goats water while Sammy did their hays and straw, then we did the same with the sheep. We sorted a few of the goat pens out and let the others have the space from Anastasia, the kids and Mary's pens.
We did the first sit-ons and then took some lambs for a walk which was fun. I picked Paddy + Claudius' feet, and Sam had to help hold up Claudius, then we hibi scrubbed Paddy + Sarah's legs.
The goats milk from last year was all bottled up and put in chest freezers for this years use - they had 3 power cuts so the milk has all gone off and Greg asked me + Sam to empty it. It was full of maggots and rotten milk which we had to scoop out into the bins and get as clean as we could!
At the end of the day me + Sam shut down the farm, we took Peony out from being with Gorse (the male goat) and put Blackberry in with him - hopefully some more goat kids will be on the way in a couple of months. I took Samson out to the field and cleaned out his + Sarahs stables.
Not the best day, but it all had to be done and I can understand why but they didn't mention it last week.

The health inspector is coming on Monday -coincidence?

Guide Dogs - Day 2

I arrived at the centre today at 9am and Mark came to reception to pick me up. I met 2 of his dogs which we loaded into one of the Guide Dog vans and drove to Warwick. We walked his dogs around Warwick to get them used to being in a busy town centre and around lots of people, making sure that the dogs sat at kerbs, waited to be told before walking on. After those 2 dogs have been walked we went back to the centre to pick up 2 other of Marks dogs. We repeated the same thing with those 2 and walked around Warwick again. After Warwick we drove to Leamington to walk around the shops. We took the dogs in the shops and the shop keepers were more than happy for us to be there.
Back at the centre we had an hour for lunch and watched a bit of TV in the staff room.
Simon came to pick me up from the staff room at 2, and we went to kennels to see Claire and her dogs. Simon is teaching Claire to be a trainer which is all hands on training for 1 year on the job. She then has a one day assessment working with the dogs and does a written test, if she passes she will get a City & Guilds qualification and will be a qualified trainer. We drove to Leamington and took 2 dogs with us, we went around the shops again and then into the park. I had a go at walking one of the dogs with a harness on. There are 2 types of harnesses, the A and B, which are fitted to the dog and the dog walks on the left hand side of the owner, so that the right hand can be used for other things. it sounds strange but you could really feel the movement of the dog through the harness and could tell if the dog was standing still or sat down. If an owner is left handed there are some dogs which are trained to walk on the right hand side.
I swapped dogs and walked the other one on the harness. The dogs are taught to walk in the centre of the pavement, away from the road or bushes on the other side, and at any obstacles they sit down, you can feel
Back at the centre and after a 10 minute tea break we went for a walk around the block and I took a dog with us, just on a lead. Simon and Claire had some paperwork to do so I went on the computers and read a bit about the dogs. When the puppies are born they are kept with their mother at the breeding centre or someones house for the first few weeks, and then a puppy walker looks after them. The puppy walker has to take them places like the train, in shops, around children in school and also get them used to the vacuum cleaner and household things like that. When they go to the toilet they have to say 'busy busy' so the dog associates it with going to the toilet and can go when told to.
I left just after 5.

Guide Dogs - Day 1

I started my first day with Guide Dogs today, its in Leamington Spa so took about 45 minutes to get there. I arrived at 9.30 and met Jon the Senior Guide Dog Trainer in reception. He gave me a safety talk and a tour of the whole centre, there are dogs everywhere - under people's desks and behind reception.
We had a cup of tea and then Ian, another trainer took me and one of the dogs for a free-run down by the river.
I met another of the trainers called Ann and went out with one of her dogs in a van, parked up and walked back to the centre. When the dog gets to a kerb, they are taught to sit and wait for the trainer to tell it to 'walk on', and they also swing their right hand forward.
When we got back we went to the staff room and had lunch which took with me.
After lunch I went out with another trainer called Marina who is from spain, we took a new dog out from the kennels for a free-run to tire it out a bit, and then for a walk around the block, we took her back to the kennels and did the same with a male dog. We took him back and got another dog out to go and have a play in the maze and field - the dogs have to have Environmental Enrichment (EE), so there are lots of runs with mazes, swings, toys and tunnels for the dogs to play in. Marina showed me around the block of kennels, there is a team of people who look after the dogs in kennels, and make sure all the dogs are healthy.
Marina has one dog which she is training who is being spayed on Friday, so we took her to the 'chill out games room', which is a little house with soft toys and balls in it which the dogs go in to bond with their trainers and to play in.
She went back into kennels and we got another female out, took her for a walk and got her used to socialising with the cat.
There are 100+ dogs on site, and there is another breeding site around the corner. I didn't realise that Guide Dogs breed 80% of their dogs to be trained. The puppies start to be trained at 12 months old and training lasts for 4 months.
Mom picked me up at 5 o'clock.

Passed

The Health Inspector came on Monday and everything is ok - we passed.
I got there at 8.30 and Sam + Chrissie are away - Amy is covering for them.
We did the sheep and goat's hay, straws and waters (it seems strange to have no Mary) together then I went and got all the Heavies in, I was nearly late but did the first sit-ons with Paddy on time :)
We cleaned out the pigs and gave them all their food and water then did some goat kid walking with the children - they were jumping everywhere and even ran up the climbing frame!
After lunch I cleaned out the small duck ponds and then did some more sit-ons with Amy. While we were doing the sit-ons I saw a little boy kick a football from Tractor & Trike into the Lawrence the Llama's pen, so after I climbed over his gate to get it back, he normally runs outside into his little field but today he came over to me and let me stroke him because I had a little bucket of feed!
He used to be halter trained and Jenny would walk him around the farm, but after she had her children she had less time and he doesn't like the halter anymore :(
The belgian quail bantam house needed cleaning out so I did that and got attacked by the cockerel! He ran at Amy and cut her leg by jumping up at her - little man syndrome.
I took Sarah and Claudius out into the field and cleaned their stables then left at 4 o'clock.

Rain rain go away

Quite a rainy day at Ash End today from 8.30 until 5.
I got there and helped Greg (Joan + Bob's son) to clean out the pigs and change their waters. After I did that I went and did the goats hay, straw and waters. The hay from the hay racks goes to the cow and straw goes and beds down the ducks. I had to get rid of all the soggy wet straw from the duck pen because of all the rain and put the new stuff in.
After that I bottle fed the cade (orphaned) lambs and then went and fed and watered all the horses and ponies with Sam.
We had lunch at 12 and did some sit-ons at 12.30, I had Paddy :D + Sam had Dolly - she bites and kicks if you go behind her, so have to be careful!
They got a big drainage company to come and empty to main duck pond with a big lorry and a tube that sucks up all the water, but the bottom was covered in mud and stones so we had to get in and sweep it all out to get it clean. After that we changed all the sheep and goat waters so the duck pond could be filled up - its quite clever because on one side there is a pipe and box, so you pour the water into the box and the water goes into the pond and and straw and hay stays in the box.
I had to carry the cade lambs into the hatchery for Emma's tour so they could bottle feed them, and then it was time for more sit-ons, this time we swapped and I had Polly. We fed the horses again and after the last sit-ons it was time to leave.

Horsing around

8.30-5 day at Ash End and Sam is back :D Vicky wasn't there so I'm not sure if last week as a bit too hectic for her!!
We did the usual sheep + goats hays, water and straw and then went and gave the pigs some water. We did the morning horse sit-ons and after that I had to go and clean all the horse tacks and tidy the horse feed store because theres a Shite Horse day on Monday. It took ages to do with a damp cloth because it was all thick with dust and mud and they are really detailed.
I learnt where everything goes on the horse. Me + Sam went round to feed and water all the horses.
We had lunch, did some more sit-ons and took out the heavy horses, I took out Samson :) After that we did a big clean out of the stables and made them all fresh so they look good for Monday - but I'm sure they'll need doing again tomorrow!

Me + Paddy:



Ash End

Another 8.30-5 day at Ash End with no Sam.
There waas a new girl in today called Vicky, so she was with me doing some of the jobs Sam would have done. Lois, Alex + Lucy were all there but doing party tours.
We did the goats and sheep as usual, fed the rabbits and guinea pigs, fed the horses with Hi-fi with a bit of water and then did some sit-ons. I had to milk Mary which was really strange + good at the same time. We fed the pigs and piglets with nuts - pelleted feed.
After that we came the ponies + Paddy hay and water + went and did Guinea-Pig Corner grooming. After the 12.30 sit ons we went and had lunch in the cafe - cheese sandwich.
After our lunch we gave the lambs their lunch (a bottle of lamlac) and went and did some more sit-ons.
There are some new turkey chicks called 'poults' in the hatchery which will be raised for Christmas. There were a couple of Silkie cockerels fighting so we separated those and put them into separate pens.
At 3 Vicky + me had to start shutting down the farm! We got the pigs in and gave them all some water, took the Heavy Horses down to the field - 'Stand' means to stand still and stop walking, and 'Walk on' means just that. They're so strong and taller than me, but gentle at the same time, we cleaned out their stables and because it's been really windy, we had to sweep all of the paths around the farm to get rid of all the straw everywhere.

Another day down on the farm ...

I did 8.30-5 at Ash End today.
Sam is ill so when I got out of the car Joan asked if I could do the full day to cover for her instead of working until 12.30, and she is going to pay me :)
I did what we usually start with - the goats, but cleaned them out aswell today.
I went and did some sit-ons which I'm a lot more confident with now because I think Paddy knows me and can trust me, and I trust him.
I've not had anything to do with horses before but I'm starting to really like them. They've got Polly the Sheltand, Dolly Donkey, Paddy, Diamond, the 3 Heavies-Samson, Sarah and Claudius and Thomas the race horse so 8 in total :D
After the sit-ons I went and gave all the pigs some fresh water, and did the same with Doris Dexter the cow.
Mary the goat who's leg I held has mastitus which is like a blockage of the udder. She has to be milked out - until she's empty, and then they put some special udder cream on the udders.
I helped with a chick chat by passing around the chick for all the little children to stroke, and the older chick for them to have on their arm/head. There was a wild duckling running around the heavy horses field so the farm are looking after it. They've put it in the dome brooder to keep it warm. I had to go and get some guinea pigs out of Guinea-Pig Corner and get the children to sit down on straw bales and groom them. After that they all went and had sit-ons on Diamond.

Second Easter monday

I did a full day at the farm today, from 8.30-5.
I met some of the other staff, Jenny is in charge of the farm during the week, Amy is the same as me + Sam and has worked here for 6 years! and Lucy was there aswell who works on Saturdays and weekdays.
I went and did the usual goat routine - hay, straw and waters. After that I went and collect the eggs from all the chicken pens which will be incubated in incubators.
They have 2 big yellow 'Brinsea' incubators which run every day of the year, and the day that the eggs are due to hatch, they are moved down to the hatchery so the children can watch them hatch.
Joan taught me a bit about incubation, large chickens take 21 days to hatch, and little bantam chickens take 18 days to hatch. She showed me how to candle eggs which was really good. You get a special candling torch and hold it up the the egg and you can see inside the egg! It lets you know if the egg is fertile and if the egg is developing into a chick! Very cool.
I walked the ponies and donkey in from their field with the cow into the barn where the sit-ons are done, then cleaned/poo picked the field. Theres a MASSIVE muck heap at the bottom of the farm where all the cleaned out mess goes onto.

Easter Holidays at the farm

Another 8-12.30 day today at Ash End.
Sam was away ill today so I had to do the jobs on my own which was a bit strange, but she's showed me what we have to do well, so I was ok.
First I did the goats hay,straws and waters, swept the goat building and had to go and do the first sit-ons, I learnt to tie on Paddys lead rope onto the post so he wouldn't run off with a child on his back.
I had to give all the horses hay and water. There are some Heavy Horses in the goat building, Claudius Clydesdale, Lady Sarah Shire Horse and Samson the Shire. Claudius is a bit naughty so his top stable door bars have to be shut so he doesn't bite any childrens fingers, but the other two are really nice. I had to bottle feed Easter which was really good, we used Lamlac, which is a powdered milk substitute which Joan mixed up with hot water.
I went into the hatchery to help with a Chick Chat and stayed in there afterwards to clean out the Quail pens. They're funny little birds and try to fly off when you open their door, but they don't get very far!

Easter Monday

I'm back at Ash End again today, Joan is the boss and she asked me to come in and help out. Its Easter Monday and there was a goat kid born this morning which they have named Easter :) and I saw him when he was 2.5 hours old!
I only did half a day (8-12.30) so did the goat waters, hays and straws. The goats have kids which are bottle fed if they reject them, using the mothers milk, so the goats have to be milked! I stood there and held Marys leg while Sam milked her.

There is a black + white horse called Paddy, a little ginger shetland called Polly, a donkey called Dolly and a pony called Diamond who the children can sit on the back of in 'sit-ons'.
I just stood next to the horse while Sam did the sit-ons so I could get used to what you have to do, but Sam showed me how to put a head collar on a horse.
After the sit-ons we went and did a Chick Chat in the Hatchery, I remember coming to the chick chats and singing to the chicks when I was little.

2nd day on the farm

Today was my second day at Ash End and its the Easter Holidays. I got there at 8.30 and met a few new people.
I'm working with Sam the most, shadowing her. She shows me what we have to do, which animals eat what, where all the taps are, who is friendly + who bites/kicks etc.
When we first got there we did the goats hays, straws and waters then swept the paths around the goat building. After we'd done that building we went into the sheep pens and gave them all fresh straw, hay + water.. The goats were really friendly and came over but the sheep just ran off.
We got lunch in the cafe + when we'd done that we had to empty out the duck ponds with a bucket, then filled them back up.
We changed the waters again + swept the paths and that was pretty much it because it took so long to go round the farm getting to know everything. The day went really fast.

2nd Day in a Vets

Today was the 2nd day I've spent observing practice - I got in at 8.30.
This morning I observed consults, and after each consultation I cleaned the consult table which needs to be done so that no germs or bacteria are left on surfaces or equipment. Cross contamination can cause big problems, so it needs to be stopped.
Then I went and observed surgeries - I was shown how to insert an endotracheal tube into a dogs wind pipe (trachea), which is used to give the animal anaesthetic gas. I then got to insert an endotracheal tube into another dog.
I saw an operation on a cats hip which was interesting.
When the cat's operation was finished, straight away a border collie which had been run over came in. It has a dislocated hip and a crushed foot, so the kindest thing to do was to euthanize it.
Another cat was bought in which had to be euthased.
After the rush I cut up some blue surgery cloths and folded them into bags. All of the surgery equipment and tools needed for each operation is sorted out and packed into bags and sterilised in the autoclave.
A cat castration pack contains surgery cloths, all the equipment and tools required, surgery gloves, a mask and surgery cloths.
I left at 7.30, so today was a really long day.

1st Day Seeing Practice

Today was the first day I've spent observing in a Vets Practice.
The place where I went is in Bourneville - about 40 minutes away. I got there at 8.30 and met the Vet Nurses and Vets and then the patients started being checked in.
I saw a few Cat and Dog spays (female) and castrates (male) which are done for different reasons including preventing pregnancy and tumors.

I also looked at the X-rays of different patients and then sat in on the consultations with owners.

Not having one myself, I learnt how to sex a cat today! It's quite easy though.

I saw my first euthanasia - it was a female Rottweiler with a huge bone tumor called an osteosarcoma on her shoulder. I was sitting in the corner while the consult was going on and understandably the family were really upset and loud when she was put down.
Her muscles relaxed after she was PTS so she messed on the floor, I helped Andy the vet clean up, put her into a big yellow bag and then she was sent off for cremation.
It wasn't really what I expected to happen, and it wasn't nice, but I was ok with it.

Ash End Farm

Today I started some voluntary work at Ash End House Childrens Farm :)
It seems quite strange to work there because I've been going there for years as a visitor, but its fun. I only worked from 8.30-12.30, but I still did quite a bit.
I did they sheep and goats waters and hays + straw.
I watched a "Chick Chat" which teaches the children about incubating and then you sing Happy Hatch Day to a newborn chick which everyone gets to stroke. Another chick which is a few weeks old is passed around and placed on the childrens head, hands or shoulder. I'm mainly shadowing Sam and she shows me how to do things, and also Alex who shows me how to do other jobs.

They had a delivery of 280 bales of straw which I helped Greg to unload and load into the straw barn - I chipped one of my teeth when the delivery man dropped a bale on my head, but it's alright now!!

Introduction

Hi,
I'm Lewis, I'm 15 and I've started this just so I remember things basically and look back on the experience I've had, I don't really expect lots of people to read it!

I want to, and have for a long time wanted to be a Vet. I've grown up with animals (at home, at childrens farms, zoos etc) and working with them really appeals to me.
I know it's not all just playing with and and looking after animals all day, I also want to help them if they need it. I'm interested in science which is obviously a big part of being a vet.

If I want to become a vet and get into university, I'll need to get some Work Experience, which will hopefully teach me things and how to handle animals. It will show me whether or not the job is right for me, and if it turns out that I really don't like working with animals, well then I'll have to start again and find the perfect job for me.

This is basically going to be my blog of Work Experience, with hopefully a few photos and stories, so I can look back at it in the future and remember what I've done.

:D