Internship Pig Farm

Index

My First Internship

During the first month of my Veterinary Medicine studies (1997), I completed a one-week internship to learn how farm animals are cared for and treated in practice. I was placed on a pig farm in IJsselstein, near Utrecht. At the time, strict measures were in place to prevent the spread of swine fever. Everyone working on the farm had to follow protocols, including wearing different protective clothing and boot covers in each barn. Moving from one stable to another involved many precautions and changing protective clothing to minimize the risk of transmitting swine fever between groups of pigs. This internship gave me my first insight into veterinary practice and the importance of disease prevention in livestock farming when there is an outbreak of contagious disease.

The Piglets

During my internship, I witnessed some farming practices that were still common at the time but have since changed. It was one of the last years in which the tails and ears of piglets were routinely clipped. I was allowed to do this with the newborn piglets. The piglets made a tremendous amount of noise during the process. Fortunately, this procedure without anesthesia is abolished. This is done to prevent them from hurting each other in the stables.

Pigsty Perfume

For a week, I traveled to the farm by bus every day. On the way to there, there were always people sitting next to me, but on the way back I had plenty of space. More often than not, I had half the bus to myself. This was of course due to the delicious pigsty perfume that sticks to me. Changing clothes, washing, or showering briefly does not help. It was a nice experience fresh from the island of Curaçao to discover the farm life in The Netherlands. I would still work there if it paid better.