The fourth meeting of the West Luther Vet Club was joined by the West Luther Dairy Club and it was held on July 14 at Kooi Pleats Dairy Farm owned by Willem Vanderkooi.
We split into three groups to discuss how much knowledge we had about the dairy industry. The first group was about general dairy management and the second group was about transition cow management and the control of mastitis and milk quality.
The third group was a tour around the farm to show us cow and calf feeding.
Then we went into our original groups and the Vet Club talked about the design for our shirts.
The Vet Club president Reba Pastink thanked Willem Vanderkooi for hosting.
Then we ended the meeting with the 4-H motto and enjoyed some snacks.
The fifth meeting of the West Luther Vet Club was held on Aug. 6 at the farm of Ken and Barb Leslie.
After the meeting was opened with the 4-H pledge, we discussed our new shirts and the cost.
We were able to choose our activity for the evening, either dog animal health or dissecting a lamb carcass. Both were interesting but I preferred the dog health.
We learned how to administer medication and bandage a sore paw. Then we learned the proper way to groom and treat a dog for heart worm.
The other group was told to look for any visible disease on the outside of the lamb carcass. They had to make a decision on what caused the death of the lamb and whether it had died at birth, was stillborn or if it had lived for a short time.
We took out the lungs and tested those to see if the lamb had ever taken a breath or not by immersing the lungs in water.
The two groups came back together and discussed our static displays for the fair. After a snack of milk and cookies, the meeting was closed with the 4-H motto.
Submitted by Natalie Klein
