Reflective Writing #2

Now that we have completed multiple dissections in the Poultry Physiology lab, I have already started to overcome my fears of dissecting the chicken. My biggest fear to begin with was the smell from the chickens; however, I have come up with my own way of combating that issue. Prior to the dissection, I apply probably way too much Vick’s Vapor Rub under my nose and then immediately start dissecting so that the smell of the Vick’s does not wear off before I am done dissecting. Also, I have just built up a higher tolerance to the smells. By the time the second dissection rolled around, I already felt more comfortable with the dissection process and the smells that come along with it. We have only done four dissections so far, but I have already gained so much through this experience. So far, we have explored how to properly dissect and cut open a chicken, the integumentary system, and the skeletal system. We have been able to find out stuff about the anatomy of a chicken that we may not have been able to explore before. A lot of us have talked about that we prefer the “flat” style wings when eating chicken wings, so we were able to see the part of the wing that we were eat, which is the ulna and radius. It allows us to really put the pieces together when it comes to learning physiology. It makes it easier to understand how all the systems must work together to maintain homeostasis when I am able to visualize how they are all connected. The primary purpose of the lab is to give us students a one-time opportunity to explore whatever parts of the chicken we would like. If there is a question about what is in the inside of something, we have the opportunity to cut it open and see. For example, some people do not believe there is a rich blood supply in bones, so in lab we have the chance to cut the bone open and see what exactly is in there. Although I have already gained a lot of information throughout the dissection lab I still have a lot of room for improvement, so I am thankful we still have more dissections left. I need to work on smoothly separating the breast muscle and ribs from the chicken’s body and become more comfortable with this process. This lab will help us in the future because it will give us the ability to have more knowledge about what all is going on inside of the chicken and by knowing more about the internal features of the chicken it will help us better manage and maintain poultry.