GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — The State Fair has a new maternity room, and it is much nicer than the tent that was used at the State Fairgrounds in Lincoln.
The Livestock Birthing Pavilion is a climate-controlled building with ample room and comfort for both the critters and fairgoers, according to David Smith, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension veterinarian educator.
“It was much less comfortable, and these are a whole lot nicer facilities in Grand Island,” Smith said.
The birthing pavilion also has large windows allowing passers-by to look inside, along with doors that allow easy access into the pavilion.
“We designed it so the displays are equally visible from the outside as well as the inside,” Smith said. “We have a nice PA system so we can talk to the public, answer questions and have everybody hear the questions and answers.”
That’s important because the birthing pavilion is not just an exhibit, it’s also an educational experience where fairgoers can get a firsthand look at the birthing process of farm animals, an $8 billion-plus part of Nebraska’s agricultural industry.
Along with Smith, private practice veterinarians from throughout Nebraska and UNL students volunteer at the birthing pavilion.
“It’s a nice way to talk with both urban and suburban audiences about animal agriculture,” he said.
Many questions from the public, Smith said, are about the facilities in which animals are born and raised on the farm, along with routine care for animals.
The birthing pavilion has been a part of the State Fair for about 10 years.
“It is very much a crowd pleaser,” Smith said.
That was evident Saturday morning, when people were waiting for the pavilion to open at 10 a.m.
Hogs, sheep and cattle at the pavilion are all due to give birth, Smith said.
“We have one sow and one cow that have already had their babies,” he said, “but the rest of the animals will all have their babies while they are here.”
The sows at the birthing pavilion are housed in farrowing crates. Smith said he gets many questions about the crates: whether the mother and babies are comfortable in them and why the sows can’t move around like the sheep and cattle.
The answer, given by a veterinarian, is that the biggest risk to a baby pig’s life is having its mother lie on it and crush it.
“We keep more pigs alive because these crates are designed for the hog to lay down, but she is less likely to lay down on her pigs,” Smith said.
Along with answering questions about the birthing process and animal agriculture, Smith said, the pavilion is also designed to attract the interest of young people who might pursue a career as a veterinarian, especially with large animals in rural areas.
“It’s a small sector of society, probably about 1 percent, that are involved in animal agriculture, so a lot of our veterinarian students have not been exposed to agriculture,” Smith said. “This is the first time some of our students have seen a sow farrow or any of these animals give birth.”
For UNL student Amanda Elwess of Chadron, this is her third year as a volunteer at the birthing pavilion.
She was raised on a ranch, and her daily contact with farm animals sparked her interest in becoming a veterinarian.
“I liked going out and helping Dad work cows, and I always liked veterinarian science,” Elwess said.
She said a lot of city kids don’t have the same experiences that kids raised on farms and ranches do when it comes to being around livestock. “They have never seen animals giving birth, and this is just about creating interest in agriculture.”
What alarms Elwess is the increasing number of young people wanting to become veterinarians who focus on small animals instead of the larger farm and ranch animals.
For a state with more than 6 million head of cattle and calves and more than 3 million hogs and pigs, a declining number of practicing rural veterinarians is a hurdle for animal agriculture in Nebraska.
“There is definitively a shortage of large animal vets,” Elwess said.
She hopes the birthing pavilion can be that spark that creates an interest for a young person to become a large animal veterinarian.
“We want to increase awareness about animal agriculture and generate that passion and love for someone to do it.”
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