(calm music) - I've always loved agriculture.

My dad being a farmer, I was in FFA, I was in 4-H.

I grew up here.

I grew up with a lot of my classmates from high school are farmers and I am fortunate enough to work in the area I grew up in and I just really wanna do right by them.

Okay.

And that was always my path for this.

Like I was gonna stay around here and help the farmers here.

(goats bleat) Hey goats, what are we up to today?

Huh?

(calm music) There we go.

Okay, now we gotta goat.

Well, farmer was a little bit concerned about this guy.

Little bit of a cough.

Just like you guys would, we look to see if they got snotty noses.

That looks good.

Nothing around the eyes.

Ears are pretty healthy, not drooping more.

Okay, then we wanna make sure gums are a good color.

That looks very healthy.

You're doing a very good job, buddy.

See if we can induce a cough or anything, but that seems good.

We gotta take a look at the inside.

And we have to do that with a stethoscope.

So listen to the lungs, make sure they're breathing easy and then we can listen to the guts to make sure that they're moving.

You want the guts moving somewhat so they'll make like that when you're hungry sort of sound.

But if that's really going a lot, then they might be getting a sign of diarrhea.

But if nothing's moving at all, then we get a little worried that maybe they're constipated or not eating like they should.

Hi.

They can lose weight real fast if they get sick so I'd rather the farmers call me out early than late.

Are you gonna be okay, Ernie?

I think you will be.

Go join your friends.

You have to be creative.

You're gonna flip from different species.

You're not gonna have even like a computer resource or books at your disposal.

And you're gonna have to use your intuition about well I've treated this before.

What's it like?

I treat it as problem solving.

I want my farmers to be a part of a team.

I grew up on a farm.

I've done all the same things they have.

I want us to get together at the end because really at the end of the day it matters is these guys and their health.

(calm music) Okay guys.

Other way, Rainbow.

So this is Rainbow.

Rainbow's a very special cow that I met when she was only one day old.

She is now pregnant.

I confirmed her pregnant a month ago and today she's gonna get a vaccine to keep her and her baby safe so they can be born in the spring.

It's gonna be just a tiny poke.

Oh, there you go.

Good job, girl.

Way to be.

That'll keep her healthy from like respiratory disease and anything that may cause that baby some harm.

I have to know how to anesthetize these guys.

I have to know how to do surgery.

I have to know their heart, their respiratory, GI.

I have to know vaccines for them and not just them, but seven other species.

And that's just so cool when I think about it.

And I just love the challenge.

And these guys get bigger than us very quickly.

It's really, it's just understanding the animals, working with them at their pace.

(cow lows) It's really knowing that these are big animals.

They can hurt you, but they don't have to if you work around well with them and with your farmer.

I do my job my way.

I wear bright pink coveralls and my farmers laughed at first, but they are like, you know, you be you.

I have bright red dye-colored hair.

I am not tall.

But I just always tell women, go in and be you.

Be your authentic you.

Farmers appreciate someone who's authentic.

By no means you have to look a certain way or, you know, be a certain person to do this job.

If you care about their animals, they will not care down the road that you are a female veterinarian.

Good job buddy.

I think you're gonna be okay.

Huh?

(calm music) - Hi, I'm Brian Ewig.

- And I'm Traci Neuman.

You can watch more of our short stories on our YouTube channel.

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And remember, at Milwaukee PBS, our story is you.