Here we have the sectioned larynx of a pig still attached to a pluck. Someone got a bit knife happy at the abattoir so all the internal structure of the larynx has been revealed. That’s harder than it looks. We’ve tried to do it with knives and with scissors and never had any luck.
1 only available. $12.00. Check out the Off Cuts page for more specials – but remember they are always advertised on the Facebook page first.
Every year at the end of June we get to go to ConQEST and we always have a ball.
This year we ran two workshops – a head dissection and a piglet dissection. One of the workshoppers, a lab tech from Emerald, took some great photos of the piglet dissection and has been kind enough to let me share them here.
Step 1 – peg out the beastie on a tray using rubber bands around each foot. Heather from Southern Biological showed me how to do this.
Step 2 – make a mid-sagittal incision in the skin
Step 3 – separate the skin from the muscle using a scalpel
Step 4 – locate the diaphragm and identify the organs of the thoracic cavity
Step 5 – identify the organs of the abdominal cavity
So, there you have it. A good time was had by all and then we went to lunch – which is always fabulous at ConQEST. See you there ‘in the flesh’ next year.
Now that the weather has cooled down it’s going to take a bit more to keep semen samples warm enough to view motility. Live semen is sensitive to thermal shock and the glassware will need to be warmed up in a water bath to at least 35C before you introduce the sample.
A top tip from the supplier to keep the slide warm and slow down the rate of cooling of the glass:
When you order the live semen sample I will send you an info sheet so you are prepared before it arrives, so don’t panic if you’re not sure what I’m talking about here.
And if you’re wondering whether or not to order the sample in the first place, why not have a look at what a labbie had to say about how they managed it and what the kids got out of it?
Happy Australian Bacon Week to you! This week here at the Chop Shop it’s going to be all about the bacon.
Australian Bacon Week is an initiative of Australian Pork to promote home grown, home-smoked bacon and raise awareness about the importing of frozen pork products.
The statistics on the Australian Pork website are pretty staggering:
Imported pork products come from countries with heavily subsidised agricultural industries so you would think that they would be winning the price war, but the pork and smallgoods that we buy from our local Gympie butchers is the same price or cheaper than the imported product from the supermarket.
The winners of the awards for Australia’s best bacon have been announced – check out the website and see if there is a winning butcher near you.
So, be a Porkstar this week and bring home the bacon from a local supplier or, if you can’t get to the butcher, look for the pink Australian Pork logo on the package and wake up smelling the bacon that came from a pig that grew up near you.
