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STUDENT DIARY
Sam Bowker
, Exeter, Devon
Fifth year veterinary student, Cambridge University
AUTUMN 2013 ISSUE
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
26
About Me
I am a vet student about to start my fifth
year of a six year course at Cambridge
University. I grew up on a mixed livestock
farm near Exeter in Devon. At home we
milk 150 Friesian-type dairy cows, lamb
300 ewes (of which I have a flock of 25
pedigree Charollais), run 20 Devon beef
sucklers, and until recently had an outdoor
herd of 750 sows.
We also have cider orchards, 60 acres
of spring barley, and run a Christmas
shop during the month of December,
selling trees, wreaths and meat from the
farm, with four reindeer helping to draw
the punters in! I'm a member of YFC at
home who loves sport, and I hope to
practise as a large animal vet once
I graduate.
Two-thirds of a vet?
It feels pretty remarkable that having finished my fourth year and with
the fifth now here, I should have two-thirds of the knowledge of a vet,
although it certainly doesn’t feel like it. That said, I’m sure that as the
course gets more practical in the last two years, skills will develop and
confidence will grow - I’m really looking forward to it. Thankfully all
exams were passed, and I’ve enjoyed the chance to relax a little
during the summer break.
After term finished, I had a couple of weeks
off, including a week in Scotland with my
housemates, doing the 3-peaks challenge,
and I was lucky enough to have tickets for
the Wimbledon men’s semi-finals. I’m now
back into the swing of seeing practice,
and trying to apply what knowledge I can
remember. Currently I’m doing two weeks of
small animal experience, and before that I
had an excellent week with a sheep vet in
North Devon.
It was great to observe A.I. in ewes - the
method is fascinating. Instead of inseminating
through the conventional route, in sheep it is
more effective to go in through the abdomen
and inject the semen straight into the uterine
horns. The ewes are sedated, put onto crates
and are then elevated at the back end (so that
the abdominal contents fall out of the way).
Two holes are then made in the skin just in
front of the udder, and an endoscope is put
in one and the semen injected in through the
other. Although some people have concerns
about such an invasive procedure, it
appeared to me to be done with the minimum
of fuss and complication rates are low.
The importance of parasitism in sheep
medicine was also evident; as I spent a
good deal of time performing faecal egg
counts (FEC). It is always encouraging to find
that what you are taught at university is
actually used in the real world, and I was
struck at how useful a tool FEC is. Farmers
can save a lot of money by checking if their
animals really do need worming - it may be
that the worm burden is negligible, and
savings may be made on drenching.
Another benefit of targeted parasite treatment
is the reduction in the rate of resistance
development to anthelmintics.
At home, life remains as busy as ever. Dad is
looking to install a biomass boiler, the first
A.I. in sheep – inseminating straight into the uterus
Worm eggs seen under the microscope
Performing a faecal egg count
batch of ewes are in with the ram, and a
new bull (‘Herbie’) has arrived to replace
Henry. I’m looking forward to a couple of
weeks at home, but in the meantime I’ve got
more work experience and am helping out
at a Christian camp for young people.