TCFC
Well-known member
Hey guys, I am hoping someone can give me some suggestions, or at least a nudge in the right direction...
I am a first year vet student, and I want to go into large animal medicine and I have a particular interest in herd health and bovine.
However, I do not have a whole lot of hands on experience working with cattle. I would like to work for a summer and get some hands on experience in a setting where everything is not perfectly planned and set up (such as out labs in vet school) as this would DEFINITELY not be what I would encounter in the real world.
So I guess the question is, what would be the best route to go to get some experience working around cattle. I want to get more used to how the cows move, how to better predict what they are going to do, basically getting a better idea for what cows do and why they do it. Our school has cows, but they are in a tie stall system, so we don't get much opportunity to work amongst a group of free cattle to get a feel for them.
One option I was looking into was working on a feedlot out west, as I have some connections out there and should be able to get a job. Another option I MAY have is to work on a dairy farm (cows housed free stall, milked tie stall). It is pretty difficult to find a job with a large animal vet that is willing to pay out here... the large animal vets (that don't practice exclusively equine) in Nova Scotia are not overly abundant...
Which job option would you think would give a better experience, or, can you think of anything other ways of gaining cattle experience.
Any advice at all would be extremely helpful.
Thanks in advance,
TCFC
I am a first year vet student, and I want to go into large animal medicine and I have a particular interest in herd health and bovine.
However, I do not have a whole lot of hands on experience working with cattle. I would like to work for a summer and get some hands on experience in a setting where everything is not perfectly planned and set up (such as out labs in vet school) as this would DEFINITELY not be what I would encounter in the real world.
So I guess the question is, what would be the best route to go to get some experience working around cattle. I want to get more used to how the cows move, how to better predict what they are going to do, basically getting a better idea for what cows do and why they do it. Our school has cows, but they are in a tie stall system, so we don't get much opportunity to work amongst a group of free cattle to get a feel for them.
One option I was looking into was working on a feedlot out west, as I have some connections out there and should be able to get a job. Another option I MAY have is to work on a dairy farm (cows housed free stall, milked tie stall). It is pretty difficult to find a job with a large animal vet that is willing to pay out here... the large animal vets (that don't practice exclusively equine) in Nova Scotia are not overly abundant...
Which job option would you think would give a better experience, or, can you think of anything other ways of gaining cattle experience.
Any advice at all would be extremely helpful.
Thanks in advance,
TCFC