Veterinary Intern Guest Post
Beth is studying veterinary medicine in Edinburgh, Scotland. She flew in from Scotland and started working on our farm the very next day. The temperature reached 101 degrees F, unusually hot for us, but it didn’t bother Beth. We followed the pigs’ example of staying in the shade, but we finished off our day with bowls of ice cream instead of mud baths. We are grateful to Beth for all her help around the farm. Her primary goal during her internship was to tame some of the younger pigs who had not yet acclimated to people. She talked to them and fed them dried apricots and chocolate, and now they adore her. She also fed and watered the pigs, looked over the herd, cleaned up after them, helped us out at the farmers’ market, and wrote this: As a vet student who has completed rotations at farms across the US and the UK, I can confidently say that the high quality of animal health and welfare at California Kurobuta is exceptional. I spent a week amongst the most pampered pigs I have have ever encountered. They are free to roam extensive pastures shaded with trees and cooled with muddy ponds. Their life style is natural; free of farrowing crates, unnatural confinement, antibiotic and hormone additives and many of the other health and welfare issues surrounding intensive commercial pig farming. Not surprisingly, happy healthy pigs create incredible pork. Their lifestyle is inevitably conducive to a superior product. The Berkshire breed is known for producing top notch table meat, rich in omega 3 fatty acids and incredibly flavorful. I...