28 Days in Puerto Rico: Day 12: UPRM La Montana

Day 12 of my time here in Puerto Rico for the 2010 CariPac Internship Program! Today we visited the Senepol cattle farm which is part of the College of Agriculture, UPRM and located in the mountains of Aguadilla. There we were given hands on experience on Senepol cattle practices. After that we had a barbeque and cooked the sausages we made last Tuesday at the UPRM-CITAI Food Science Technology Lab. We were also able to sample the queso blanco (white cheese) and helado (strawberry shortcake icecream) we made on Tuesday too.

The first of our activities consisted of a brief history of the place along with a tour. Dr. Danilo Cianzio gave us the info and showed us the cattle and explained a little bit about them. After that we were taken to another part of the farm where they gather information on the cattle and also conduct the basic practices that take place there. These practices include tagging the cattle through tattoos, tags and burning marks, weighing them, applying and giving them medicine for different purposes and also measuring their testicles (this is done because cattle with larger testicles are supposed to be more productive in breeding, therefore those are the ones selected for breeding). We were shown the various tools used at the farm and how they are used. Once we learned about this we were able to conduct some of the practices ourselves.

So the first thing we had to do was gather the cattle. Overall it was very similar to the gathering at the dairy farm except that these cattle seemed a little more intimidating (in my opinion). Once we gathered the cattle with the help of the workers we guided them into an are where they would go one by one in to the weighing area and then into an area where they were locked in. In the two areas we did three things with the cattle one by one. First we weighed them on the scale and recorded it. Then we guided into the boxlike compartment where they were locked in place. There we did the second task and measured the size of their testicles. While it seemed like something that might be dangerous the cattle were locked in place and their back legs would not be able to kick so it was pretty safe (however we learned that you still have to worry about the cattle letting out their waste!! One of the interns learned this the hard way.lol). Lastly we applied medicine to prevent disease. There were three different types of ways to apply this. The first was by pouring liquid on their backs. This was the easiest. The other ways, which they dont use that often, are by injection and orally through the mouth. Both ways were a little more difficult and not so friendly for the animals. Overall we did all this for over 15 senepols and it took about an hour in a half. While it wasnt that tough I wouldnt want to do this everyday but thats just me. After that we headed back to the office for barbeque. :)

So the rest of the day was the best part. Barbecue time! The menu included the sausage, hamburgers, cheese and ice cream that we made on Tuesday. Other than that there were more hamburgers and sausages from the store and also salad and other items brought by the others there. Also I prepared some tilipia fillets using my secret recipe in the morning and brought that to be barbecued too!!! All the dishes were great and by the end I was completely stuffed. Of course my favorite item was the strawberry shortcake ice cream we made at the food science lab (with the milk we milked at the dairy farm in Lajas on Monday). It was delicious. By the end of the day I was completely stuffed!! Now if only we could do this every week as part of the internship program! :)