Passed First Year

I PASSED!

I've finally passed all my exams for my first year at vet school. It's been hard work but I've had a great time, met some amazing people and I'm already looking forward to next year.

One down, three to go...

It's the final countdown

Veterinary Genetics Exam

I had my resit of Veterinary Genetics today and never been so nervous for an exam in my life!

I was in with a panel of four examiners because it was my Rectors go (last chance) but I studied hard for a week and passed!

I was in there for an hour and 15mins expecting them to grill me and while they did, they also helped me through it and rephrased questions I didn't understand as it's an oral exam.

Just two more exams to go until I can go home for summer!

Chocolate Pekin Bantam chicks

The Chocolate Pekin Bantam chicks are about 8 weeks old now and growing quickly!

Here's one of the pullets 

The award for the scruffiest chick goes to...

They're off heat now living in the utility room and I'm going to keep them in for about another month. 

Last year I put some Pekin chicks out at about this age and they really didn't thrive so hopefully another few weeks inside will do them a world of good - also means they'll get used to people as we're in and out of there all the time.

Tokyo Ueno Zoo

We visited the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo today and I was pleasantly surprised.

Asian zoos don't have the best reputation so I wasn't sure how much space the animals would have, especially in the capital of Japan but it was pretty good.

They had Giant Panda, Gorillas, Asian Elephants and Polar Bears.

The exhibit the female elephants were in wasn't massive but the bull was in a much bigger area so I guess they rotate and it seemed to have lots of things to keep them amused. The keepers were in with the elephants, sweeping them down with a broom doing health checks, weighing them all individually on a weighbridge and hosing them all down as it was 34oC.

GRIDS Akihabara Capsule Hostel Tokyo

We arrived in Tokyo three days ago and after two nights in a great AirBnB the other side of town, we are now staying in the GRIDS Akihabara Capsule Hotel.

We're in a 30 bed room with loads of these self contained capsules, lockers and shared bathroom.

It's actually really nice, surprisingly private considering you share a room with 30 people and the bathroom is the nicest we've had since arriving in Japan.

There is a laundry room and shared common room upstairs, bar and cafe downstairs and the staff have been great.

Only thing that could make it better would be another pillow but to be fair I haven't asked for one, was too tired and fell straight to sleep!

Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery

Tonight we went to the Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery on Bentota beach in Sri Lanka. We arrived at 6:30pm as advised by Lonely Planet and we're not disappointed! We were the only people looking around the hatchery and had a great tour of the whole sanctuary.

Fishermen collect eggs laid by the females on beaches and take them to the hatchery to receive 2,000 rupees (£10). They're collected as otherwise iguana, monitor lizards and mongoose dig up and eat the eggs.

The eggs are buried in nests in the hatchery, covered by fencing and netted over the top to keep predators and birds out.

The turtles hatch overnight as it's cooler and are looked over for deformities, blindness and sexed according to tail length; males go into one nursery pool and females are kept separate.

Males are kept for 3 days while they absorb the yolk sac and fed some fish food pellets before being released into the ocean at night. A much lower percentage of females hatch so they are kept for a few years to grow until they are bigger and stronger to give them a fighting chance at survival.

The hatchery had quite a few large females ready for release as well as some residents - two blind and four with deformities, from one missing fin to all four fins missing. These are all hand fed tuna and seaweed.

After being shown all around the hatchery we collected 15 three-day-old Green Turtle hatchlings and headed down to the beach.

There were two Sea Eagles hanging around so we waited for them to leave and then released the babies into the Indian Ocean.

Yala National Park, Sri Lanka

Juvenile Brahminy Kite

Ella Gap

Sri Lanka; Government Veterinary Hospital

We arrived in Kandy last night on day 8 of our tour of Sri Lanka.

My parents and brother went to the Botanical Gardens but I spotted the Government Veterinary Hospital while we were driving, so walked back to have a look.

 As I was walking up I asked a man if I could take photos, he asked where I was from so I explained I was a vet student from the UK. He introduced me to the Chief Vet Surgeon who gave me a guided tour of the clinic, surgery rooms, pharmacy, dispensary and kennels!

They have four surgery tables which were all in closed rooms behind glass, I couldn't see any gas anaesthetic machines but it all looked very clean and well organised. Surgery instruments looked like they were kept in glass cabinets and autoclaved as needed.

 Consult tables were on the patio around the outside of the building under cover, I guess it's cooler and less stressful for the animals to keep them outside.

There was a price list above the door; Farm animals are free, Small Animal consult 20-30 rupees (10-15 pence) and a Rabies vaccination costs 50 rupees (24p).

The clinician said they see a lot of skin conditions and parasites through the clinic which they manage quite well and mange, which I've seen a lot of when travelling the island.

 I stayed to see a few consults which were Parvo, Distemper and Rabies vaccinations in young puppies, foreign body removal from a puppies ear and some really bad mange.

A big German Shepherd type dog came in on the back of a Tuk Tuk collapsed which they had to immediately put on IV fluids, I didn't get chance to ask what was going on in the rush but it looked like heat stroke which I'm sure they just see a fair few patients for.

They had kennels out the back for monitoring post-op animals, dealing with skin conditions and separate area for Rabies monitoring.

Love their cones of shame which looked like a small plastic laundry basket.

I got some videos on my GoPro so will compile and upload those when I can!

Tube Driver vs Vet; Training and working life

Amidst the train strikes, a look at a Tube Driver vs a Vet in detail...

Two Little Owls

I popped down to Falconry today and we have two Little Owls in for rehab.

I'm not sure where they came from but they were bought into the clinic so we're looking after them for a few weeks and getting their weight up before they'll be released back where they were found.

They're obviously quite timid so they're in mews outside with lots of branches, cover and hides holes away from the other birds for now.

I've never seen Little Owls before and didn't realise how small they actually were; they must be smaller than Mrs Clarence the Kestrel.

Love their little faces!

Katie the Jagdhund

Brigid is looking after Katie the 9 week old Jagdhund Terrier and I'm in love

We took her for a walk with Potter the Chihuahua in the park and she's smaller than he is!

Halfway round her little legs got tired so I carried her the rest of the way

Want one

Buff Orpington enjoying the sunshine

Pekin Bantam Chicks

A family who hired a Brinsea Mini Eco from me have just hatched some chicks and they seem delighted.

They have three children under the age of 6 and hatched three chicks, so one each!

The eggs are from a local breeder, 5 minutes down the road, who said they should be Chocolate Mottled or Chocolate so will be interesting to see how they develop.

They'll be coming to me when they're bigger in a few weeks so hopefully will get one or two girls who can join our flock.

UVM Košice Dorms

I've had a few people message me to ask about dorms and what the rooms are like so hopefully this will help. When I first visited before coming I was worried about what we'd seen of dorms but now I'm settled in it's not an issue and I kinda like the place.
It's cheap, easy and convenient being close to campus and other students, especially during exam period for sharing notes, past papers and bones for revision; as everyone living in dorms are vet students it's not too loud either as we should all be studying at the same time.

Dorms are a 5-10 minute walk from campus and 20-30 minute walk into town - there's a bus stop right outside which either goes into town and train station or up to the Zoo/ski slopes.
There are two grocery store/supermarkets with cashpoints a 5 minute walk away, big Tesco is 20mins away and Vet Bar opposite does decent food and drinks; €3.50 for a pizza. On the ground floor there's a takeout pizza place, canteen and vending machines and 'F Club' a bar underneath dorms. here are three gyms, a sports hall and outdoor basketball courts which people arrange games of football, basketball, volleyball and badminton each week.

International students get a room to themselves whereas Slovak students share so as the rooms are meant for 2 people they're pretty big, much bigger than UK student halls I've seen. They come with:
2 single beds which can be pushed together to make a double or stacked to make a tall single
2 desks, 2 chairs, 2 desk lamps
2 shelves and a large wardrobe
Sink and mirror
Fridge (some have a freezer, mine doesn't)

We are allowed to decorate and keep our rooms for the whole time we're here which is good as we don't have to take everything home for summer as in UK halls. Some people are lucky that the people before them have left things but I guess that's down to the luck of the draw. As more people who have decorated are graduating, I guess the odds of having a better room are increasing?

When I moved in my room was bright orange with a bed either side of the window and desks in the middle:

There is a tiny kitchen on the corridor with a sink, cupboards and hot plate but I've never been in there and most people tend to cook in their rooms. The bathrooms have just been redone so they're alright with 3 showers and 4 toilets for the 10 rooms on the corridor - there's a washing machine on nearly every floor.

We painted our rooms the first few days we arrived to make it our own before we unpacked and settled in. The girls both went for purple but I just painted mine all white with one grey wall and a bit of grey around the sink

I've inherited a shelving unit since then which I still need to paint and have bought things like the oven, kettle and microwave.

Once you get unpacked, put photos up and start using the room you find out which layout works and settle in pretty quickly.

At the moment we pay €120 (£85) per month and only half rent when we're away for Christmas, Easter, Summer which is a bargain and I paid more than that per week for my previous student accommodation!

The best thing is the view over Košice...

Glastonbury 2015

I had an awesome time at Glastonbury this year and don't want it to be over.

I was working rather than visiting this year so was there for 9 days doing 12hour night shifts, 8pm-8am. 

Even so, we managed to catch a few acts in the daytime and could just about hear the Pyramid stage from our shop.

It was Danny's 21st birthday so we had a BBQ and cake then headed to Arcadia bar for a few drinks.

We went for a walk up to the top of the hill overlooking Pyramid and it was crazy seeing the field so empty, no punters or tents and pretty quiet...

A week later on Sunday afternoon in a similar spot, the whole place was completely different 

Highlights have to be Jessie Ware, Lionel Richie and Alt J, we managed to catch the first showing of the new Amy Winehouse film which was really good... Overall concensis was that Kayne was a massive disappointment, his Bohemian Rhapsody was awful 😂

We had a little bit of rain but nothing compared to last year and we didn't reeally need wellies this year.

Oxfam were there with their campaign, 'Get lippy. End poverty' so Nat and I had to join in...

Overall we had an awesome week and I can't wait for next year!

BBC Gardeners' World Live 2015

I'm back at BBC Gardeners' World Live and BBC Good Food Show at the NEC this year with PoultryTalk.com and it's been a great week. 

I've been attending the show for the last 5 years and still find new and exciting things to see each year; this year was definitely the year of Salted Caramel and I paid several visits to The Brownie Bar and the Little Round Cake Company...

We're basically there to promote back garden poultry keeping, giving advice and answering any questions people may have.

I'm obviously a little biased but really believe chickens are great garden pets and can help gardens become more productive and people become more sustainable; not only with the fresh eggs daily but also manure as fertiliser, weed and pest control.

There have been a few upgrades to the stand this year with a 50" Plasma screen and a wireless PA system for giving talks and presentations.

We held 6 talks on the stand each day on "Set-up & caring for chickens" and "Choosing your chickens"

The talks were really well attended and we had lots of people asking questions after each talk, coming to meet Tallulah and to buy our new Poultry Handbook.

I also did a few talks in the VIP Lounge which had a more relaxed environment where people were I was able to walk around the room letting people hold the chickens, advise on where they can get chickens and answer specific questions.

Tallulah the Frizzle Poland was the star of the show as always and she was great with the visitors, letting them stroke her and posing for photos.

She even had a visit from celebrity Skinny Jean Gardener Dale from CBBC's Blue Peter!

It was really nice to catch up and spend a week with friends Jamie, Wendy, Paco and Jenna.