Training

Saturday 5th February 10am - 4pm Lambing for beginners

with Gillian Dixon

Preparing the ewe and ram for tupping:  worming, checking teeth, teats and feet, assessing breeding condition, feeding, timings, when to put in rams, expected lambing dates
Care of the in-lamb ewe:  Stress, feeding - when & how much, vaccinations, scanning
Setting up your lambing shed: Pens, disinfection & biosecurity, ease of management
Essential lambing kit:  All that you should have on hand for both routine and problem lambings; medicines, equipment
Routine lambing: Checking the sheep, from first signs of labour to delivery, in-door or out? penning, monitoring, tail docking, castration, routine before letting ewe and lamb outside
Opportunity to meet the sheep (practical session): See the lambing shed set-up, view ewes with lambs & expectant ewes, castration and tail docking & possible lambing in progress
Problem lambings: Signs to look for when all is not going well, discussion of mal-presentations, sick ewes & how to deal with them - when to call the vet. Poorly lambs and how to manage them, lamb rejection & adopting-on lambs, stomach tubing & bottle feeding
Follow-on lamb and ewe care to weaning:  Post lambing routine, when to worm, vaccinate, grazing rotation, shearing, ear tagging
Record keeping: flock book, breeding records
Summary: Last questions
Handouts include: Lambing glossary, annual shepherd’s calendar of tasks, useful contacts, useful further reading/websites; various Eblex sheep/lambing related leaflets

Price: £85
Course type: Classroom & practical handling
Materials: Summary handouts to take away
Provided: Teas, coffees, soft drinks, biscuits
What you need to bring: Packed lunch, clean outdoor clothes & wellies, notebook
Venue: Northlew, near Hatherleigh EX20 3PS
Ticket sales for this course are managed by DASH, to book please email training@devonsmallholders.co.uk

Sunday 13th February 10am - 4pm Lambing for beginners

with Gillian Dixon

Preparing the ewe and ram for tupping:  worming, checking teeth, teats and feet, assessing breeding condition, feeding, timings, when to put in rams, expected lambing dates
Care of the in-lamb ewe:  Stress, feeding - when & how much, vaccinations, scanning
Setting up your lambing shed: Pens, disinfection & biosecurity, ease of management
Essential lambing kit:  All that you should have on hand for both routine and problem lambings; medicines, equipment
Routine lambing: Checking the sheep, from first signs of labour to delivery, in-door or out? penning, monitoring, tail docking, castration, routine before letting ewe and lamb outside
Opportunity to meet the sheep (practical session): See the lambing shed set-up, view ewes with lambs & expectant ewes, castration and tail docking & possible lambing in progress
Problem lambings: Signs to look for when all is not going well, discussion of mal-presentations, sick ewes & how to deal with them - when to call the vet. Poorly lambs and how to manage them, lamb rejection & adopting-on lambs, stomach tubing & bottle feeding
Follow-on lamb and ewe care to weaning:  Post lambing routine, when to worm, vaccinate, grazing rotation, shearing, ear tagging
Record keeping: flock book, breeding records
Summary: Last questions
Handouts include: Lambing glossary, annual shepherd’s calendar of tasks, useful contacts, useful further reading/websites; various Eblex sheep/lambing related leaflets

Price: £85
Course type: Classroom & practical handling
Materials: Summary handouts to take away
Provided: Teas, coffees, soft drinks, biscuits
What you need to bring: Packed lunch, clean outdoor clothes & wellies, notebook
Venue: Northlew, near Hatherleigh EX20 3PS
Ticket sales for this course are managed by DASH, to book please email training@devonsmallholders.co.uk

Saturday 19th March 10am - 4pm Sheep Keeping

with Gillian Dixon
A beginner's guide to sheep keeping including, current regulations, choosing a breed, feeding, annual management, handling, health problems - touches on lambing but this is covered in greater depth in the Lambing course. There will also be a practical session when you will meet the sheep. This will cover equipment, signs of good and poor health, foot trimming, dagging, worming, ear tagging, injecting and loading sheep.
Price: £85
Provided: Teas, coffees, soft drinks, biscuits
What you need to bring: Packed lunch, clean outdoor clothes & wellies, dagging shears & foot trimmers if you have them & want to get hands on.
Venue: Northlew, near Hatherleigh EX20 3PS
Ticket sales for this course are managed by DASH, to book please email training@devonsmallholders.co.uk

Sunday 20th March 10am - 4pm Introduction to Pig Keeping

with Ian & Maggie Todd
This course is for anyone with an interest in keeping pigs who wants to know how to get started - either with your first few animals or before you buy. Opportunity for plenty of questions.

The course will cover the following:

Choosing the right pigs for you: Breed, pedigree or not, age, size, land capacity; Buying stock - private, market, contact breed societies etc. What to look for when buying / what to avoid. Are you intending to rear for meat or breed?

Managing the land/adapting buildings for pigs: Fencing, Housing / shelters, Handling facilities / equipment / set up, Caring for your pigs, Routine / common husbandry tasks, Feeding, possible problems…

Regulations: What you need to know or have - Holding number/CPH, Herd number, Ear tagging, movement licences, Transport certificate / transport regulations, Standstill periods, Movement / medicine books, Public liability insurance, Fallen stock, Annual Inventory / Cross Compliance, slaughter/abattoirs.

Meet the pigs (practical session): Equipment, Signs of good / poor health, Worming, Ear tagging, Injecting, loading.

Summary: Last questions
Price: £85
Provided: Teas, coffees, soft drinks and biscuits. Summary handouts & leaflets to take away
What you need to bring: Packed lunch, clean outdoor clothes & wellies, notepad and pen, camera!
Venue: Northleigh, near Honiton EX24 6BU
Ticket sales for this course are managed by DASH, to book please email training@devonsmallholders.co.uk

Saturday 16th April 10am - 4pm Lambing for beginners

with Gillian Dixon

Preparing the ewe and ram for tupping:  worming, checking teeth, teats and feet, assessing breeding condition, feeding, timings, when to put in rams, expected lambing dates
Care of the in-lamb ewe:  Stress, feeding - when & how much, vaccinations, scanning
Setting up your lambing shed: Pens, disinfection & biosecurity, ease of management
Essential lambing kit:  All that you should have on hand for both routine and problem lambings; medicines, equipment
Routine lambing: Checking the sheep, from first signs of labour to delivery, in-door or out? penning, monitoring, tail docking, castration, routine before letting ewe and lamb outside
Opportunity to meet the sheep (practical session): See the lambing shed set-up, view ewes with lambs & expectant ewes, castration and tail docking & possible lambing in progress
Problem lambings: Signs to look for when all is not going well, discussion of mal-presentations, sick ewes & how to deal with them - when to call the vet. Poorly lambs and how to manage them, lamb rejection & adopting-on lambs, stomach tubing & bottle feeding
Follow-on lamb and ewe care to weaning:  Post lambing routine, when to worm, vaccinate, grazing rotation, shearing, ear tagging
Record keeping: flock book, breeding records
Summary: Last questions
Handouts include: Lambing glossary, annual shepherd’s calendar of tasks, useful contacts, useful further reading/websites; various Eblex sheep/lambing related leaflets

Price: £85
Course type: Classroom & practical handling
Materials: Summary handouts to take away
Provided: Teas, coffees, soft drinks, biscuits
What you need to bring: Packed lunch, clean outdoor clothes & wellies, notebook
Venue: Northlew, near Hatherleigh EX20 3PS
Ticket sales for this course are managed by DASH, to book please email training@devonsmallholders.co.uk

Saturday 30th April 10am - 4pm Poultry Keeping for Beginners

with Gillian Dixon
This is an introductory course for the beginner, covering choosing & handling birds, housing, feeding, daily care, rearing & common poultry health problems. See chicks hatching. Visit a variety of poultry breeds - including chicken, ducks, & geese. There will be an opportunity to handle birds.
Price: £85
Provided: Teas, coffees, soft drinks, biscuits
What you need to bring: Packed lunch, clean outdoor clothes & wellies
Venue: Northlew, near Hatherleigh EX20 3PS
Ticket sales for this course are managed by DASH, to book please email training@devonsmallholders.co.uk

Tuesday 17th May 10am - 4.30pm Goatkeeping

with Peter Oldfield
We will deal with handling and behavior around the goats, what to look for in a good goat, drenching, injecting, pour ons, hoof trimming, and milking a goat. We will cover the 5 freedoms including changing nutrition around the year, constructing a suitable goat barn, bedding, penning, registering with a vet and legal formalities. Peter has over thirty years experience of keeping goats, and has taught goatkeeping to over 1000 pupils from all around the globe. His goats are some of the friendliest on the planet and are Golden Guernseys and Pygmys together with a huge, 20 stone plus, boer goat who still thinks he is a kid.
Price: £85
Provided: Tea and coffee will be available.
What you need to bring: Bring your own lunch. Wear stout shoes and a jumper if its cold, the course is all undercover.
Venue: EX22 6LJ
Ticket sales for this course are managed by DASH, to book please email training@devonsmallholders.co.uk