28 Days in Puerto Rico: Day 9: UPRM-EEA-Lajas Dairy Parlor and Swine Project

First off let me say that this had to be one of the toughest days for me so far. Today we left for our second visit to the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Experimental Station in Lajas but this time to visit the animal part of the place. In the morning we went to the area where they raise swine, rabbits, goat and sheep. We were given a tour around the place by Agro. Elvin Ronda torres and Claudia. Besides that we took part in some hands on experience in a series of animal science practices. They included swine tusk removal, ear tagging, iron injection application and castration. Its sad for me to say this but I was only able to make it through the tusk removal and the iron injection of the pigs. By the time we started doing the ear tagging I pretty muched blacked out. Luckily I was able to say something and grab on to Foster before falling out of it and then I was given a container with alcohol in it to breathe that helped me get out of it. After that I couldnt go on. I never passed out from just seeing something but this stuff really was too much for me (Im now thinking I might have to drop animal science next semester if Ill have to do this again-sorry Manny). Anyways I stayed in the office the rest of the morning while the rest of the group continued the practices. Pretty bummed out but at the same time Im glad Im okay now.

wore these suits as part of biosecurity measures

our guide

three little pigs

big one

our other guide Claudia

rabbit in cage

baby rabbit

practice pig

this was it for me

After lunch we returned to the farm but this time to work with the cows and not doing anything that involved squealing, blood, and intense smells (though the cows didn't smell to great either). Our first activity was gathering the cattle and herding them into another section of the farm. This was pretty cool. The cows were huge and I though it was pretty awesome that we were able to control them with noise and arm motions (however there was one that was charging my way pretty quick but with a clap he went back in the right direction). Once we herded the cows we left to the AEE milking parlor about five minutes away. The rest of the day was spent there where we had more experience herding the cows except this time into the feeding area, where we fed them and sprayed them down, and then to the milking area. Best part of the day was the milking. I got my first try at milking a cow and was surprised to find out it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be(with the technology nowadays its much easier than before). Basically we herded them into the area where the milking took place dipped their nipples in an iodine solution to disinfect them, gave the nipples a test with our hands to see if the milk is good, and then put on the machine suckers which milked the cows and automatically popped off when it was time. Once we tried that out we were able to sample some of the milk. It was delicious! I now know that fresh milk is way better than the one you buy in the store. After getting our sample taste we received two canisters of milk that we will be using tomorrow to make cheese and ice cream Universities dairy and meat laboratories on campus! Thats if the protesters let us in. Should be fun... I hope!