Food animal experience - how to get it?

[BarnyardPunch]

Is there anyone here considering a food animal track or currently in school for it? I'd like to pursue a food animal/large animal (non-equine) career, but not sure how to go about getting more experience in that area prior to applying for next year. I'm a non-traditional student well out of undergrad, so taking meat or farm production classes isn't really possible, nor is doing a year-long internship on a ranch or anything like that. Time to get creative!

For those of you interested or already in this area, what kind of experience did you have prior to applying? What kinds of experiences are schools looking for? Most ranches do all their own castrating and vaccinating and hardly, if ever, call out a vet. How does one get "vet" experience in these areas?

I've raised small batches of meat birds for personal consumption and am a sometimes-volunteer at a local hog/lamb operation when they need an extra hand. But would that count as basically pet experience?

I'd like to be able to show that I'm serious about this area and not just jumping on a bandwagon in hopes of someday getting my student loans reduced 🙂

Thanks in advance.

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[cowgirla]

Is there anyone here considering a food animal track or currently in school for it? I'd like to pursue a food animal/large animal (non-equine) career, but not sure how to go about getting more experience in that area prior to applying for next year. I'm a non-traditional student well out of undergrad, so taking meat or farm production classes isn't really possible, nor is doing a year-long internship on a ranch or anything like that. Time to get creative!

For those of you interested or already in this area, what kind of experience did you have prior to applying? What kinds of experiences are schools looking for? Most ranches do all their own castrating and vaccinating and hardly, if ever, call out a vet. How does one get "vet" experience in these areas?

I've raised small batches of meat birds for personal consumption and am a sometimes-volunteer at a local hog/lamp operation when they need an extra hand. But would that count as basically pet experience?

I'd like to be able to show that I'm serious about this area and not just jumping on a bandwagon in hopes of someday getting my student loans reduced 🙂

Thanks in advance.

It might be easier to just get "animal" experience, vs. vet experience in this case.
Any backyard/small farms in the area? That's where most of my original cow/sheep/goat experience came from--offer to help out every once in a while, in exchange for some meat/eggs, whatever. Even just one day a week would be appreciated if it gives the owner or whatever a morning to sleep in a bit, or go out to dinner, etc.

 

[sumstorm]

Contact any and all LA vets within a reasonable drive, and contact all livestock producers and ask for thier vet's info. You may only be able to shadow, but that is still vet experience.

 

[3Ms]

I had this same problem beginning this year. I basically asked around and found a few LA vets within a close enough range and contacted each of them individually. Most are very happy to take pre-vets for ride alongs, especially if you're willing to help! Some places go out on Saturdays so that could be an option for you. I work 4 days a week so I always just went on my day off.

 

[Marsala]

I'm a non-trad as well, but I am in grad school. My large animal experience comes from my master's project. I worked with a vet to collect samples/data from cattle in Costa Rica. I also helped another grad student with her research involving alpacas. I am also in process of contacting LA vets in the area and volunteering my time.

I also raise and sell poultry, maybe if you started selling birds to other people? You could also get certified as a NPIP tester. I would definitely count your volunteer experience as animal experience. Hope this helps some.

 

[Marsala]

...of course, the alpacas in the US aren't food, but it's still LA experience. Just thought of that.

 

[ckgilabert]

we had cows, sheep, goats, and pigs on campus at cal poly pomona. and i did research with chickens. so i wrote about how i learned about biosecurity and the interest in food animal medicine.


we also had an internship program at school with a list of veterinarians that we could work with and there was a dairy vet listed.

so see if theres anything at your school or a community college near you...call around on the phone book to dairies, veterinarians....etc

 

[Freddie12]

I asked all the veterinarians that worked at each of the practices I was shadowing at and turns out one of them knew someone, who know someone. I had to drive 2 hours each way to get to him, but it was totally worth it!

 

[BarnyardPunch]

I asked all the veterinarians that worked at each of the practices I was shadowing at and turns out one of them knew someone, who know someone. I had to drive 2 hours each way to get to him, but it was totally worth it!

Yeah, that's about where I'm at. There are no nearby schools with large or farm animals. It's nothing but city and burbs here. I think there's a equine/large animal vet practice about two hours from me and I'm hoping they'll let me shadow if I'm willing to make the drive.

I'd really love to get experience in farm research, but that's not going to happen in the burbs. Even the closest couple of cooperative extensions have nada aside from composting classes.

Thanks for the ideas!

 

[OliveOyl]

I've raised small batches of meat birds for personal consumption and am a sometimes-volunteer at a local hog/lamb operation when they need an extra hand. But would that count as basically pet experience?


The hog/lamb operation likely has a vet that comes out quarterly. They likely still have to have the inspections/blood draws done. I would try to find out the contact info for their vet. The vet may drive a lot to get to various ops, or may be near your area. I also had to drive about an hour to get to the livestock vet that I shadowed, but it was worth it. I actually added it as an area that I want to concentrate in. Good luck!

 

[BarnyardPunch]

The hog/lamb operation likely has a vet that comes out quarterly. They likely still have to have the inspections/blood draws done. I would try to find out the contact info for their vet. The vet may drive a lot to get to various ops, or may be near your area.

Would you believe that there is no food animal vet in the area!? The ranch manager can call on a retired vet and sometimes an equine vet in the event of an emergency, but the last time that happened, he had to wait about 48 hours before the equine vet came out.

I will ask about inspections, though. That's a great thought. It's a small scale operation where the meat is sold direct to subscribers and never to retail. That makes them subject to fewer regulations, but there has to be some sort of inspection system, right?