Hi everyone, my name is Natalie and I am a second-year AVS major and part of the UMADCOWS class. If you’ve ever been to Witter Farm perhaps you’ve visited our cows and see the tags they have on their ears. The ear tags are a form of identification for the cows. Ear tags are put on the cow while they are still a calf and it’s just like a person getting their ear pierced. The ear tags include the cow’s name (seen on Harriette) and their parent’s names (Bob and Hazel). Above their name is their birthday and the color of the tag tells the gender, a girl cow or heifer has a blue ear tag and our steers have red tags. Next time you’re at Witter, take a look at the ears of our bovine buddies and see what information you can gather.
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Hi everyone! My name is Morgan Belvin and I am a second year Animal and Veterinary Sciences major who is currently taking the UMADCOWS lab this spring semester! I am writing this blog to tell everyone how much joy cows can bring to someone’s life.
I have only just started the UMADCOWS lab and I am already in love. There is something about cows that brings such a big smile to my face. Each one of our cows has their own unique personality that separates them from the rest. There are some cows that walk right up to you looking for scratches and the opportunity to lick you! I love being in the pen with them and having a cow such as CocaKola, a cow I really like in the barn, walk up to me and look right at me with her big brown eyes, waiting for me to pet her. Also visiting the calves and having them suck on my finger or lick my clothes! This all puts such a smile on my face and makes getting up at 3 AM worth it! I recently endured the experience of weighing our steers as part of my youngstock herdsperson responsibilities and that was definitely an interesting experience. My friends and I shared a lot of laughs when trying to get the steers onto the scale. While haltering the steers, our newest baby calf Romeo was so happy to go outside he didn't know what to do. He was running around in the snow, and it made me so happy to watch him jump around and play. One of our other young steers, Noble, decided he wanted to go for a run while being on the halter, which definitely allowed me to get my exercise in for the day! By being in this lab I have come to love cows so much! They are these huge teddy bears who are so sweet and sometimes a little crazy! From the little baby calves to the huge cows, there is an abundance of love to be shared! I am so fortunate to spend my spring semester working with these lovable creatures! Hi there!
My name is Courtney King, I am a senior at the University of Maine majoring in Animal and Veterinary Sciences. I am not only writing this blog as part of a class, but to inform everyone that the Witter Farm is so much more than a farm but also serves as a research facility. The Witter Farm is a students oyster, and as a senior I can confidently say my best learning experiences have happened here on the Witter Farm. Currently, I am working on a tick project under the professor Dr. Causey at the Witter Farm. This project involves researching the impacts of deer hunting regulations on ticks and the prevention of tick borne illnesses in Maine. While the Witter Farm offers hands on work and learning opportunities for students with the livestock, it is also the home many wildlife species like deer. Hunting deer with guns is banned on Marsh Island and Mount Desert Island. For this project I manually collected ticks with dragging a cloth around the Witter Farm, Whistle Pig Farm, Highmoore Farm, and East Ridge Stables. A total of 35 ticks were collected and sent to the University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension for identification and tested for Lyme disease. Fortunately, the Witter Farm takes great precaution with ticks by mowing pathways, having dirt paddocks, fencing, and the use of tick repellent on the horses. Although deer are seen daily at the Witter Farm, no ticks were found by the livestock but were found on the walking path. Results are to still be concluded as this project is still in the works, but pictures of where I dragged for ticks and where they were found are included below. Thank you professors and staff at the Witter Farm for these amazing four years! |
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