I’m done with my Parasitology exam. Let’s hope it went well. The material I expected was on it, but there were still a couple of things I wasn’t sure of.
I’ve got a Ruminant Production lecture exam tomorrow as well as a Pathology lecture and lab exam on Friday. I’m gonna get started on that material in a little bit.
But let me first recap on what I was up to this weekend. This past Saturday my lab group in the Ruminant Production class, who consisted of my classmates Kim, Glorilyn, Francis, Adi and Brion visited Badaco dairy farm in Batangas. Batangas is located about an hour and a half south from where I am now, and is pretty close to the coastline of Luzon. Badaco is a dairy cooperative with three farms, each somewhat large with 64, 21, and 74 hectacres in each. We went to the 64 hectacre one which was the main dairy processing plant out of all three. There, cows were milked and the products were distributed from there. Their main employer is Starbucks–pretty big I’d say.
Their farm consisted of around 280 dairy cattle. A lot of them a mix of Sahiwal and Holstein-Fresian, Brown Swiss and Guernsey. As I’ve mentioned before, Holstein-Fresian cows are some of the best milk-producing cattle in the world. The only problem? The are not very heat tolerant. Meaning that in a place like the Philippines, their milk production tends to drop drastically. By mixing this with a Sahiwal breed of cattle, which is a tropical breed, they get optimal milk production while also being protected from the heat. They also get the benefit of being pretty tolerant to most parasites (Sahiwal tend to be that way).
We met up with a dairy manager to talk and ask questions about the cooperative. Everything from their average milk production to their biosecurity measures to where their cattle were from. We asked if they used any kind of milk replacer and they said they didn’t- use it much. They said they tended to get better results from using the mother’s own milk. Colostrum was administered immediately at birth (which is typical) and the young and mother are separated a day after birth.
It seemed that they ran a pretty tight ship. Although it was raining profusely that morning, we still decided to see the milking parlor and take a small tour of the farm. The farm was quite large, and the cows were at the other end of the pasture (remember, we’re talking 64 hectacres here) and it was too early for them to come back, so we just took a look inside some of their barns and took pictures of some cattle that were in the area.
After a quick tour of the facilities we headed home. Before that though we decided to take a trip to a local Batangas staple restaurant. One that served bulalo, a typical and tasty Filipino soup filled with vegetables, bone marrow and other good stuff. Since it was a relatively cold day due to the rain, it was a great meal. The soup was great and very delicious and with good helpings of rice it ended a busy morning.
After that we headed back to Los Banos where I would continue to live in my Parasitology prison. Haha…
Now it’s Tuesday. Who would’ve thought that things would go so fast? I need more time to study for my exams! Wah! Hehe…
Meanwhile, I’ve been listening to a lot of Korean pop-music these past few days while studying. Especially a lot of the Wonder Girls. If you haven’t heard about them yet, you should check them out! I don’t know why, but lately I’ve been watching and downloading some of their performances and am kinda obsessed with them now. They have a new single out called “Nobody” and it’s worth a listen, even if you’re not into pop-music. They’re actually in the US now touring with their English version of Nobody and Tell Me. I’ve never seen a bunch of Asian music artists break through in the American market, but they seem to be gaining a lot of popularity with people there. I wish I could go to one of their concerts! If they came to the Philippines I’d be the first one to buy a ticket!
Alright, I should get back to work. Wish me luck with the rest of the week!
P.S. — My favorite Wonder Girl? YUBIN!!!! Go YUBIN!!! =P
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