Canadian girl out and aboot

I have not updated since the Alberta Farm Writers Tour last weekend. On day 2, we went to the University of Calgary veterinary school. I proceeded to get lost on the way there, but still managed to find it, which was pretty damn amazing. I am getting better at driving in Calgary. I've also come to the conclusion that I like Edmonton way better than Calgary. It is smaller, less corporate and artsier. Ah well.

Anyway, we got to talk to some of the staff at the U of C school and learn from one of the students too. One of the most interesting things we got to see were all the models used for learning. They had a stuffed dog who was hooked up to a computer. People could adjust his heart rate etc, so the vets would learn how to fix it. They also had a learning lab in which actors were hired to play owners etc. The vet students had to learn how to tell the owners that their cow was sick/dog was dying etc. These scenarios helped the would-be vets to develop some bedside manners and skills for dealing with owners and hysterical individuals.

We also saw some really cool models such as the model of a cow's backside, which could be attached to a uterus/cow reproductive system, so that the students could learn how to palpate a cow before practicing on a living model. I thought all the models were quite neat, and I've got pics of them to put up on my facebook and flickr, once I get around to it.

Following this, we went to Business Innovations, where we saw a software developed for equine vets. I wasn't too interested in the software, but we got a chance to tour the vet hospital and see a horse in surgery. The horse was completely knocked out on anasthetic.(sp). When they were done the surgery, hooks were used to move the horse off of his back and into a padded room, where he was allowed to wake up. It was really interesting.

Mari and I went down to check out the sixth annual Amaze-ing Agriculture event, held at Northlands in Edmonton. The event is a weeklong agricultural fair, bringing many producer groups together. During the week, the fair brings in about 1,100 school kids a day. It was free to the public on Saturday.

The event was extremely well done and I got a chance to talk to many of the animal handlers and demonstrators. Mari was thrilled because she got a chance to play with the animals. We played with chicks, goats, sheep, alpaca, horses, cows, and pigs. We didn't get to play with them so much as pet them through their cages, but it was still pretty awesome. I spent a lot of time talking to the various producers, asking how the kids had responded to the exhibit and how the entire event had gone. The whole thing was pretty cool because attendance was quite mixed. We saw a lot of families from every ethnic background and income bracket. The kids were obviously digging the activities and were riding toy tractors, making play dough and watching the dairy cow milking demonstrations. All very interesting stuff.

After we left the exhibit, we noticed that the Edmonton Kennel Club was hosting its dog show in the same building. As we're both dog lovers, we had to check that out too. We were sad to have missed the terrier class, but got to see many of the dogs on display. The toys, cocker spaniels and hounds were being shown in various rings. Show dogs are weird. I watched one woman spray her dog with hairspray and decided that I don't really like poodles. I know that they're smart, but they just look weird and silly to me.

There was a cairn terrier breeder with two pups in kennels, but she wasn't around any of the times we stopped by. I stopped by about 3 times, hoping to see her and her dogs, but no luck. Still it was a fun day, full of animals.

The dogs were an added benefit. I find it really hard to be dogless whenever I come back from Saskatoon. I always miss Fergus and find it hard because we are together 24/7 whenever I'm home. It just feels so lonely without him. :(

I bought THE WORLD's BEST COAT yesterday. I was wearing it around the store before I purchased it, pretending I was in Dr. Zhivago. It is a long parka that comes down to my knees and it has a huge hood with fake fur on it. I am 100% in love with it.

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My brother then showed up and took me to the West Edmonton Mall, which was crazy busy as we expected. We walked around and looked at people and things and generally had a really good time. We actually have a real friendship now, which is 100% awesome.

I couldn't fall asleep last night, which sucked. Today we got up early and went to the farmer's market where we bought a ton of stuff. He's out shopping today and I'm at home doing work, as it is too cold to go out and my brother has my car.

If you are in a bad mood (or even if you aren't), I highly recommend watching this video of a baby pygmy hippo

Yesterday I had a really fun day. I got up early in the morning to get on a bus with about 20 Edmonton area chefs. The initiative was part of a tour developed by Dine Alberta and Alberta Agriculture, as part of an ongoing campaign to get chefs to source their local farmers. The first stop on our trip was "Four whistle Farm", a mixed farm owned by a couple who immigrated from the Netherlands. It was an average farm visit for me, but I have to say that I was slightly angered when we went into the turkey barn. The Alberta Turkey organization told me that I would not be able to get into a turkey barn in Alberta due to biosecurity concerns, and a farmer just opened his doors to me and showed me his turkeys. It was frustrating.

After this, we went to the family farm of the Irvings, a British couple who immigrated from England three years ago. They make all kinds of sausages, and British bacon and raise Berkshire pigs for pork. The pigs are black and are really cute. Following this, we drove to Highland Feeders, which is owned by the Kotelko family. Highland Feeders is one of the largest feedlots in Canada, but they have won awards because of their environmental initiatives. This was my first time on a feedlot, and I was impressed by how clean it was and how healthy the animals looked. The ranch was pretty cool, as they also have one of the country's largest biogas plants. They use the cattle manure to generate enough power to fuel 1400 homes in Alberta. The power is then put on the Alberta grid.

We had lunch inside their farm house. It was a homecooked meal, and it was delicious. I tried a few different Ukrainian dishes that were new to me including some kind of crepe filled with cottage cheese. I also tried a Raspberry mead that was extremely tasty. THe chefs were all very impressed with the meal, and I got a chance to talk with some of them, and with Judy Schultz, a local food writer who has written a lot of books and won several awards. I spent a while bouncing some ideas off of her while we were sitting on the bus.

Following this, we went to a game farm where a man named Rick raised pheasants, turkeys, and earthworms for the Alberta Education Grade 4 curriculum. He also had two Canadian lynx on site. He raises the lynx to eat his animal remains, and then breeds them each year to give the kittens to zoos, and for repopulation purposes. Apparently the Canadian lynx is endangered on the east coast of the US.

All in all, it was a whirlwind day, but it was a lot of fun. I learned a lot, saw a lot and got some good story ideas. I was exhausted when I arrived home.

This week, I have been attending the Western Nutrition Conference. People from all over the world are attending to discuss developments in animal nutrition and feed.
Yesterday we went on a tour of the University of Alberta research farm, which was actually pretty interesting. Unfortunately, we couldn't go into any of the barns due to bio-security, but we did go into the crop and food science labs. For safety reasons, we were not allowed into some of the labs, like the one contaminated with e.coli. During one of the lectures, I learned that 100% of the graduates from Agricultural and Earth Sciences end up with jobs. I told the chair of the department that he should put that on all the material the faculty uses to recruit students.

Today I went to another lecture at the conference. This lecture was about new opportunities in agriculture due to the shift in the food industry. At one point, the presenter started talking about peptides and lyseins and my eyes started to glaze over. One thing I did learn is that the biology of pigs is remarkably similar to humans. Apparently, the pig's digestive system is comparable to a human's so a lot of nutritional studies are done on pigs.

Pork is the most widely consumed meat, which is even creepier when you consider the genetic similarities between pigs and humans.

Today I attended a goat conference for work. The day started off with a tour of one goat farm, and ended at a tour of a goat dairy, where we watched an artificial insemination demonstration.

The whole thing made me feel incredibly weird. Here I was, sitting in a garage with a bunch of goat breeders. The goat breeder's association had provided snacks, so we were even eating potato chips and sitting on lawn chairs.I watched with a crowd of people as the guy lubed up the specula, and inserted it into the goat's vagina. I even got to look at the goat's cervix.

Watching the whole procedure reminded me of a visit to the gynecologist.
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You get to hear weird stories from AI technicians. Apparently one sheep farmer got his whole flock to go into heat with hormones. A ram got loose, bust into the pen full of ewes in heat, and knocked up 89 of them. He then died three days later from overexertion.

Yesterday I drove out to Leduc, a small city about 25 km outside of Edmonton. I thought Leduc was just a town, but it's actually a tiny city. I went to meet with a woman from the Bison Centre, which was formerly known as "The Bison Centre of Excellence". Anyway, Linda and I hit it off, partially because she had her dog in the office and he and I fell in love the second I walked in the door. I stayed for two hours and we talked about the bison industry in Alberta. I think I've got a good story from our talk.

Linda also told me about Bailey the Buffalo, who was an ambassador for the bison industry. She and her husband had raised Bailey, who was an orphan. He'd been bottle fed, and bottle fed babies are always more comfortable with humans. When he was five months old, he was still submissive and responsive to her husband, who has an incredible way with animals. Her husband, Jim, halter broke Bailey and started training him. Then he convinced Linda that Bailey should be allowed to be in their house. Linda argued against it, saying that the bison would panic and break things, but he didn't. Eventually Bailey became a "presentation animal". He stayed at the Weston hotel, attended a school, appeared in three movies, went to the Stampede each year, and met the premier and the Queen. Prince Philip even rubbed his nose.

Bailey appeared on numerous television shows including David Letterman, Ellen Degeneres and Montell. You can see some photos of him hanging out in his owner's home at Bailey the Buffalo . I like the shots of him watching television, and advising people not to watch "Dances with Wolves."

Unfortunately, Bailey passed away this year in a tragic accident. He got his foot caught in a bale feeder and was forced to lay down for a long time. I didn't know that large animals, like horses and buffalo, are unable to breathe if they spend too long lying on their sides. Apparently, their diaphrams collapse due to the weight of their own bodies, which is why horses who break their legs are often shot in the movies.

Bailey was much loved by people, and Linda and her husband have received numerous consolatory phone calls, cards and emails from people across Canada and internationally. They've already started training another young bison who was orphaned. The training is going extremely well, and the new buffalo calf already rides in the cab of their pick up with them and attended this year's Calgary Stampede.

On Saturday, I went out to a llama farm about an hour and a half away. The owner of the farm has started an agri-tourism business. You can bring the kids out for the day, play with the llamas, lambs, chickens, rabbits, kittens, miniature donkeys and goats, and then have a tea party on her deck. She's a professional chef so the food was good- homemade lemonade, cookies, butter tarts etc.

Llamas are weird. They hum to communicate and have really distinctive personalities. There was a baby llama in the pen that was about 4 days old.

Anyway, while we were talking, a couple of the llamas mounted each other. I did what people always do around animals having sex and tried to pretend it wasn't happening.

That's when I learned that young male llamas will practice mounting their moms. Llamas have sex lying down on their knees. Apparently young male llamas will mount their moms to learn how to mount properly.

I found this rather disturbing.

Yesterday I hopped into my trusty car and drove an hour to a cashmere goat farm. I ended up missing a turn, and accidentally turned onto a busy secondary highway. I had no idea that the area was so populated by Mack trucks. I kept on trying to find my turn-off, but was terrified due to the large trucks barrelling down the road behind me while I was driving my very small car.

Finally, I phoned the owner of the farm and was able to find my way to her farm.

The owners of this farm have three different kinds of goats- Spanish meat, Boer for breeding stock and cashmere. It turns out that there are only 17 cashmere breeders in Canada, and cashmere goats didn't come to North America before the 1970s. (I had no idea)

I spent at least two hours talking with the female farmer. She told me she'd done research on raising goats and was fascinated by all the different opportunities in the industry. One of the reasons for choosing goats was because she and her husband have two small children around, and goats, unlike bigger animals like cattle or horses, do not really pose a threat to children. In fact, her children spend a lot of time helping and playing with the goats.

Cashmere is collected between January and March. She brushed out a goat for me, and showed me how you collect the cashmere. It's all taken from the underside of the goat. Goat hair is like a dog's hair; it has a top coat and a softer under layer. THe cashmere is collected from the soft under layer that grows during the winter. The wool can be processed in a mill and turned into yarn, or can be given to spinners for hand spinning. She showed me some samples of cashmere that she'd collected. I couldn't get over how soft it was!

Not all goats produce cashmere, but all cashmere comes from goats. Apparently most people think it comes from other animals; my mom and I had a discussion about this when I told her I was going to a cashmere farm.

The three different kinds of goats had incredibly different temperaments. Cashmere goats are like deer; they run away when you come near them. Meanwhile, the Spanish and Boer were more like cattle or dogs, and didn't worry at all when humans entered their pen.

I also learned that llamas can be kept with goats to attack as guard animals. Llamas are so inquisitive that they deter predators. I'm not sure if the llama gets eaten in the process, but apparently it's fairly common in this area to keep llamas with goats.

After a while, the woman's five-year-old daughter came home from school, and we played with the bottle fed baby goats. Apparently the woman walks to the bus stop every day to meet her daughter, and three of the babies follow her, just like dogs. One of the bottle babies was named Birdie, and she was adorably cute and very social. She was a triplet that the female farmer found lying near death one day because her mama didn't have enough milk to feed all three babies. She now gets fed in the house and is paper trained. The woman said Birdie liked me because she kept on following me around and sat by my boot for a long time, which she does to anyone that she likes. I was smitten too.