My name is Keeley, I live in Illinois, and I'm studying to be an Equine/Bovine/large animal vet. I love horses, and know a LOT about them.. but cows, I'm not too good in. Any recommendations for places to learn more about them? I'm looking specifically at beef cattle. I'd love to run my own operation or work within one as well. Help for this newbie, please?
Welcome! Very nice picture! Are there any beef ranches you can intern at around you? That would be my best recommendation. Hands on is really the only way to get a good grasp on cattle. Hopefully some of our closer (to you) members will have some ideas.
They have courses in working cattle. Temple grandin, who instructs at colorado state, has done a massive amount of work on ethical cattle handling. The biggest thing you need to know is how to work them. Just getting a ranch job will leave your experience that you learn at risk of some people who may not handle cattle as well as others. When I married a rancher I had no idea how to work cattle but luckily the ranch we're one handles cattle pretty smoothly. If you're going to work somewhere to get experience, work a variety of places so you can see different methods and decide for yourself what is best. www.calving2014.wordpress.com
I took a cursory glance at the college of the Ozarks website. I'm very impressed with their philosophy of avoiding debt. I help high school students by advising them how to make themselves more competitive for college admissions and scholarships. So I have a little bit of experience in attempting to avoid debt. I think if you majored in Biology or Chemistry and maybe minored in some agriculture related field it might set you up well for graduate school. Good luck with your efforts.
