Day 4: Is It A Swirf?

Did somebody say research was fun?

If anybody can find that person, please send them my way!

I was at school this morning by 6 o’clock (that’s AM remember…wheeew) in order to get a couple of hours of hard work in before class. I won’t bore you with how busy today was but let’s just say that I had 60 piglets weighed before 7am and the day went downhill from there.

You see, I have 2 research trials going as of today. I have 36 nursery pigs on a preference test-the trial is basically to see how pigs react when given a choice between good corn and bad corn…and bad corn and bad corn. It’s common knowledge that given a choice they will choose the good feed, but it can be a toss-up between the not-so-good-corn diets. I also have 24 nursery pigs on a metabolism study…basically we want to see what happens biologically when pigs are fed certain levels of bad corn. This isn’t the first study looking at these issues, but research is basically about repeating experiments until there is enough data to see any sort of trend in.

Why do we care about the value of bad corn? Because sometimes it can be a choice between feeding bad corn and even worse corn, especially when you look at a season like last year’s harvest which was very drought-stricken and desperate. And nobody wants to feed anything dangerous to their animals because it could result in death.

So for the next 22 days or so I will be spending each and every day collecting urine and feces. And feeding, and switching feeder positions, and weighing pigs. And weighing pigs some more.

Do you think I can put Master Pee and Poop Collector on my resume? Would you hire somebody with that as a primary skill??

This was a formerly WHITE pig...haha

The best part about the next month? Feeding blue feed every 7 days. Don’t worry, it’s not dangerous, it’s simply feed that has been mixed with a marker (indigo) so we can study rate of passage (rate of going from the in-hole to the out-hole) and serve as an indicator of when to collect feces (start when it turns blue, stop when it turns blue again). Grossed out yet? 

The marked feed makes for some pretty entertaining pig pictures. I think I could say I have developed a new breed of pig…maybe I should call them Repto-Pigs? Or how bout Swineosaurus? Swirfs? Easter Eggs? Hmmm….

Worst part about the marked feed? It ends up everywhere. And without fail it ends up all over my fingers and arms. Wearing gloves doesn’t help. And heaven forbid you get wet where you accidentally dropped some marked feed!

I can always tell people are looking at me funny when they notice the blue stains on my fingers. Sometimes I want to say Yep, I’ve developed a new way to snort cocaine. Except it’s blue now. That would make me a really bad drug user though wouldn’t it? I’d be giving away the fact that I have an illegal habit. Maybe we should start slipping dyes into kilos of cocaine as they cross the border. It’d be like TA DA I FOUND THE SOURCE AND USERS!

OK, tangent done J

I had something else I wanted to add to this post, but I think I will save it for another day. I do have another 26 days of blogging to go!

So if you find yourself desperate for things to do, I am always accepting helpers to collect pee and poop. Pee and poop sounds so much better than urine and feces doesn’t it? I mean you can dress the words up all you want to but it doesn’t make the job any more fabulous!

If you smell a very aromatic odor coming from a blue-stained chica…just feed her chocolate. It solves everything! Here’s to hoping your Monday was uneventful! 

30 Days Of Randomness With A Pig Nutrition Grad Student

When I read this post talking about taking a 30 day challenge in November that requires blogging each day with an agricultural theme, I was intrigued. And curious to see if I could actually do it. 

Now I just started blogging a couple of weeks ago. But as I was ruminating over what my 30 day theme would be I found myself wondering how on Earth I thought I was qualified to join the ranks of the amazing community of Ag bloggers out there. 

I don’t have a farm of my own right now. I don’t even have a very exciting life because it is completely ruled by my unpredictable grad school experience. 

But it was exactly those thoughts that made me realize that every story is different and that is why I started blogging. Am I an expert on anything? Definitely not. Do I love Ag and am I striving to ensure a bright future? Definitely yes. 

I may not have any of the things that make a traditional Ag blogger but I do have passion and a genuine desire to learn as much as possible about as much as possible. And I cannot even describe the number of things I have already learned in the short time I have been blogging. So if my blog never reaches beyond my long-suffering family and friends, it won’t matter. Because I, alone, am learning so much that it makes the experience worthwhile. 

Once I overcame my concerns, finding a topic was an interesting journey. It’s no secret that November is my favorite month of the year. I will admit it is largely because it’s my birthday month, but November is also just a beautiful crisp, sometimes snowy month that manages to showcase the best of Fall and Winter all rolled together. Plus the end of the month has always held Thanksgiving…and my birthday :) So of course what else makes for a better month? My topic was going to have to be something I would be challenged to do, something that was familiar enough to make me sound like less of an idiot but not so familiar as to be boring for me and my audience. 

The entire month of November I will be running 2 separate studies to round out my Master’s research. It’s gonna be a crazy time, that’s for sure. So the theme for my 30 days of blogging is simply going to be “30 Days of Randomness With A Pig Nutrition Grad Student”. This may seem no different than the usual but I will be sure and throw some information in on what’s going on with my projects, random Ag Facts (including piggies of course), and whatever else comes my way. 

So join me tomorrow, on the first day of November, and we will see what kind of trouble we can get into ;)

Check out the other awesome bloggers on Holly Spangler's My Generation Page!!

30 Days of Randomness With A Pig Nutrition Grad Student

Day 1: My Purpose 
Day 2: Time To Soak In The World
Day 3: A Different Perspective
Day 4: Is It A Swirf?
Day 5: Saying Goodbye
Day 6: Stories Make Everything Better
Day 7: We Are The Lucky Ones
Day 8: Hawaii Looks Nice!
Day 9: Saturday Thankfulness
Day 10: Harvest...As Translated From My Farmer To Me
Day 11: The West Virginia Warriors and Veterans To Agriculture Project
Day 12: Getting Loopy
Day 13: Farm Of The Future
Day 14: A Ghost Tour...In November
Day 15: I Am Not The Usual
Day 16: A Vision Of The Future
Day 17: Poor Marketing-How Do We Make It Stop?
Day 18: A Cause For Concern
Day 19: You're in Grad School For What?!
Day 20: Wordless Wednesday
Day 21: For Mom
Day 22: Pointing Fingers Never Pays
Day 23: Humor Needed, Sanity Optional
Day 24: Romance Is Overrated
Day 25-27: Does Anything Ever Go As Planned?
Day 28 & 29: Farewell My Favorite Month

What Do You Do When Your Ability Is Questioned?

I have quite a few blog posts I want to get done and sent out into the world, everything from touching on the South Dakota tragedy, a book review, information about pesticides from the perspective of a research scientist, to soybean harvest pictures, but as usual, that’s not what today’s post is about.

I’ve had an interesting couple of days. I won’t tell the story in its entirety, just sort of skim over the facts.

To make a long story short, I am currently taking care of sows and piglets. Once we wean the piglets they are going to go on a metabolism and preference trial for 2012 corn that has been infected with mycotoxins to see how well the pigs actually handle growth on feed such as this. Mycotoxins in feed are a huge concern for livestock producers because the feed often makes the animals sick, causes abortions, or simply slows their growth. Mycotoxins are products of fungi and most commonly infect crops in times of stress (drought, too much water, etc etc), as well as through storage practices that increase moldy feed (it’s a topic that will require a whole other post, let’s just leave it at this stuff can be a very serious issue!)This is one of several similar studies that we have performed recently. Surprisingly a recent wean to market trial showed the pigs adapting and growing well even when on the contaminated feed, so we are trying to see if that appears again in these nursery pigs.

But anyway, back to my story! Let’s suffice it to say that this little adventure so far has been full of downs. And the most recent down involved me handling a situation in the way I thought best, but has since turned out to be the exact opposite of what I was expected to do.

I wholeheartedly believe I handled the situation correctly…but you know what they say, the correct decisions aren’t always the easiest.

And I think I will be paying for this one until I graduate.

Especially since I just found out my competency in caring for pigs has been questioned. Not by people who have actually worked with me while working with animals, but by someone else whom I thought would have more faith in me.  (Keep in mind Dave let me run UW's Pig Barn for years so I can't be too awful...!)

I have prided myself on common sense and initiative. Over the years I have learned to get jobs done in unique ways…especially since, let’s face it, I don’t have the physical mass to use brute strength most of the time.

This is an 850 pound boar...he's a sweetheart but brute strength doesn't exactly work!

But this common sense and initiative has recently put me opposite where I am “supposed to be” or how I am “supposed to do things”.

The way I have learned many things was what a friend likes to call taking the test first AND then learning the lesson. It’s a common learning expectation when working with older farmers. They expect you to perform a task and if it doesn’t work out the way it’s supposed to, then you find out how it was supposed to work OR you try a different method.

In farming (and life) being able to think on your feet is a useful skill to have. Knowing when to ask for help is another.

I know I have what it takes to survive this world.

Now I just have to survive until graduation.

I guess I will simply continue to be thankful that my current life situation is a lot better than it could be. Now I just have to keep my head down. And my chin up. Although that might be a little awkward ;) 

Piglets Can Cure Anything (WARNING: ADORABLE OVERLOAD)

Are you having a bad day? Do you need a pick-me-up?

Well I have just what you need!

Yep, you guessed it.

Piglets.

If you gave me a herd of cattle or horses (or both), I would be happy. But pigs (and dogs, of course) are my soul mates. So without them I think life would be incomplete. Pigs are the most human-like of all domestic livestock. They like to talk a lot (grunting, barking and squealing being the primary speech patterns), they will eat or even just chew on whatever you put in reach of their mouth, and they like to fight. Sounds like a lot of people you know when they drink, right? They really are just my favorites.

I spent most of Sunday waiting for 1 of my gilts (1st time mama) to farrow (have babies). I know what you are thinking...why on Earth were you sitting around waiting for her to have babies? Well, I'm a bit of a worry wart...which may be because I live 24 miles from where my sows and gilts are currently staying and I knew once I left she was going to be on her own. And for the most part pigs are really good at having babies on their own, but it doesn't stop me from worrying.

This is the girl who was having piglets. Ignore the slobber, she's really quite beautiful. She weighs in at about 550 pounds (light compared to the 700+ pound girls I got in today). 

After deciding she wasn't going to have piglets til at least the middle of the night, I left and got up early this morning to check on her. When I came in this morning I found 7 newborns! 

Don't worry, they were old enough to be dry and completely adorable. And I will spare you a picture of the placenta because don't get me wrong, placenta is amazing but WHEW it never fails to make me gag a little. I don't know if it's the smell or thought but OK, I will stop talking about it now. 

If you can't handle an overload of cuteness then stop scrolling NOW!

Aren't they just ridiculously adorable?! 

The following piglets are about 5 days old. You can see that they still have that silky soft smooth skin of young piglets but aren't as weak kneed as the newborns! 

If you are wondering why I keep taking pictures of sleeping piglets, it's because even newborns are extremely mobile and wobble quickly (much quicker than my cell phone camera can capture)! 

This is the same group from yesterday's piggy pile...as you can tell these 4 like to pile up next to mama.

I will end this picture montage with my week old piglets. It's amazing how fast piglets grow! 

So if you had a case of the Monday blues, I hope this cured it :)

Now do like the piglets do and pile up! Sleep tight!