Practical Skills and Workplace Assessment
The practical paper checks that you can do routine tasks safely and explain why each step is done. Expect station-based tasks: restraint, injection, milking, record entry, sample collection and tool use.
Restraint and examination
- Cattle: halter or nose rope for the head, a hurdle or anti-kick bar for the hind legs; stand at the shoulder, never directly behind.
- Buffalo: use a nose rope and a strong crush; approach calmly.
- Record temperature (38–39 °C cattle), pulse (50–70 per minute) and respiration (15–30 per minute) before reporting.
Common procedures
- IM injection: neck muscles, the triangle in front of the shoulder, 16–18 gauge needle; the rump causes abscesses and trim loss.
- SC injection: loose skin behind the shoulder; tent it and inject.
- IV injection: jugular groove, only with proper restraint and by a trained person.
- Castration: open method or Burdizzo at 2–4 weeks; disinfect, check for bleeding and give tetanus cover.
- Dehorning: paste or hot iron at 2–4 weeks; caustic paste must not touch the eyes.
- Weighing: weigh tape for calves, weighbridge for adults.
Sampling and records
Collect milk samples aseptically, label with date, animal and test, and keep cool. Enter every task in the register the same day: date, animal ID, drug, dose, route and withdrawal period.
Worked example
A calf needs 2 ml of a vaccine intramuscularly. Reasoning: restrain the calf with a helper, swab the neck triangle with spirit, use a 16-gauge 1.5-inch needle, aspirate to check you are not in a vessel, inject and massage, then record drug, dose and date. Using the rump would risk abscess and poor absorption.
Traps
- Injecting into the rump or a dirty site.
- Giving IV drugs without proper restraint.
- Not recording withdrawal periods.
- Using a blunt or bent needle.