Raging Hormones

            Back to Ithaca we went, this time bringing along a fellow FSF student Jordan.  The reading day for the Caudal Fold Test is always faster than the injection day because we usually have the gates all set up, we know what to expect, and not every animal has to be caught in the headgate.  If we get 2 or 3 in a line, Dr. Schwarck can just walk down the row examining injection sites.  The producer took advantage of our “free labor” (tax-payed labor more accurately) and left us with some growth implants for all the weanlings—all the better for three vet students to practice with. 
            I didn’t know/remember a lot about growth hormones so I looked up a bit of information about them.  They release a constant low concentration of naturally-occurring hormones (often Estrogen) into the cow so that their rate of growth and feeding efficiency is improved.  An animal that is implanted will likely be around 15-30lbs heavier at slaughter weight which will bring a higher profit to the producer.  This practice has consistently been shown to be safe for consumers by the FDA.  Three ounces of beef from an implanted steer has 1.9 nanograms of estrogen, while 3 ounces of cabbage 2,016 nanograms.  So if consumers are concerned about hormone levels in their food, they might need to cut out cabbage along with eggs, soybean oil, and peas before beef!
            The process of implanting this small tube (around half the width of an eraser) involves driving the needle of the gun (about the size of a pencil) under the skin on the cow’s ear, tunneling it 2-3 inches, then shooting the implant into the tunnel and withdrawing the needle.  Slightly more painful than “ear piercing" but the animals seem unphased at the end.  I'm sure it's no worse than the actual holes people put into their ears these days.   Dr. Schwarck restrained the animals while we all took turns.  A few tries with that gun and you get to be pretty quick with it even with the animals moving a bit. 

Implanting growth hormones

            The day ended with 2 suspects, 148 negative animals, and 30 growth implanted weanlings.