Vet School

We at the Lyle household have been busy with activities, school, play dates, parties, and outings. I've needed sleep more than blogging. Anyways, the kids have been participating in an 8 week class at the vet school. Each week the kids go and hear topics ranging from toxicology, parasitology, pocket animals, reptiles, radiology for animals, and food animals. The great thing is that it is very hands on and very age appropriate. The veterinarians that made presentations were very engaging and passionate about their field. An amazing experience for my kids and very well worth the $5 dollars I paid for them to do this. Here are some pictures of our experience. *Beware of some pictures*

the muscular and skeletal structure of a horse *as a side note I sooo much appreciated how they took the time to make this a really great learning experience for the kids. I always appreciate excellence!!*

Here are the organs of a horse. It shows the heart, trachea, lung, large intestine, cecum, and kidney.

This is the classroom we would meet in

Luke about to listen to the cow's heartbeat. They also go to listen to the cow's rumen.

Ella listening to the heartbeat. A cow's heart beats about 40 times per minute and is about the size of your head.

The kids had a chance to milk this Jersey cow. She had mastitis so the milk didn't look quite normal. To make sure the cow didn't kick, this lucky dad got to tail jack (it's really called that) the cow. Yes, the cow ended up pooping and well, that made for a really stinky experience. When it was Luke's turn he said no thank-you it's too stinky. The vet proceeded to tell us all about the cow poop and what she looked for in a nice cow pie...even I got a little nauseous.

Yes, this vet is "palpating" the poor cow. The cow was pregnant, so they performed an ultrasound and the kids got to see the baby calf on a t.v. screen. It was quite amazing!

Here is a sheep getting a nail trim. We learned about thread worms in sheep and how they cause anemia. Did you know that sheep burp every 2 minutes? If they don't burp they will suffocate because the diaphragm is unable to move. I find this stuff very interesting!!