Two training days for gamekeepers are scheduled for Scotland this spring.
In 2021 and in response to the increased importance of best practice and the British Game Assurance (BGA) Scheme, St David’s Game Bird Services devised a new, accredited, Gamekeeper Training Programme to help Gamekeepers, across the country, to maintain standards and become certified under new auditing standards.
St David’s are delighted to announce new dates for 2022. With the new code from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as the guideline, the BGA implemented both the new set of Shoot
Standards and the more recent Game Farm Audits.
This effort worked alongside the Game Farmers Association with a mind to ensure that any BGA assured products will have been sourced from a supplier following best practice and with high welfare standards.
The Gamekeeper Training Programme, comprised of learning objectives developed by key members of the St David’s Game Bird Services team and leading members of the shooting and veterinary community, consists of three modules covering the three main phases of a game bird’s life:
1. Breeding Flocks and Hatchery Management
2. Game Bird Rearing – from day old to release
3. Game Bird Rearing – from release to shoot
Attendees can expect to gain in depth knowledge of key aspects of bird health, management and equipment for each of the relevant life stages, with key debates in the industry also being covered as a part of the course.
Moreover, whilst the programme will be delivered as a series of presentations, there will be extensive Q&A sessions to help address the huge diversity of experience between one game farm to another.
In addition, any attendees will have the option to take the modules on an individual basis, or all together, as a full three-part course. Upon completion, attendees will receive certified proof of training that will be recognised by any BGA Game Farm Auditor.
Discounts on ticket prices will be applied for those attending multiple modules and/or attending with multiple people from the same farm or shoot and the courses themselves will be taking place across
the country from March 24-April 11.
Dates and venues are:
Tuesday March 24 – Swinton Estate, North Yorkshire; Monday March 28 – Northleach Conference Centre, Gloucestershire; Monday March28 – Friars Carse Country Hotel, Dumfriesshire; Tuesday March 29 – Hartnoll Hotel, Devon; Tuesday March 29 – Penrith Conference Centre, Cumbria; Wednesday March 30 – The Priory, Herefordshire; Wednesday March 30 – Salisbury Racecourse, Wiltshire; Thursday March 31 – Garth Hotel, Morayshire; Monday April 4 – The Mercure, Albrighton Hall Hotel, Shropshire; Tuesday April 5 – Sparsholt Conference Centre, Hampshire; Wednesday April 6 – Allington Manor, Lincolnshire; Thursday April 7 – Bedford Lodge Hotel, Suffolk; Thursday April 7 – MacDonald Linden Hall Hotel, Northumberland; Monday April 11 – Buccleuch Arms, Roxburghshire.
Dr Kenny Nutting BVetMed MRCVS, Director of St David’s Game Bird Services said, ‘Since the introduction of the British Game Assurance (BGA) Audits, training requirements for gamekeepers have increased, so we have been busy helping to create the gamekeeper training programme.
‘We successfully launched the scheme in autumn 2021 and are delighted to offer these new dates. The courses are based on learning objectives that have been devised by several members of the shooting community and our team of vets to provide everything needed to guide gamekeepers through the process of the BGA audits, resulting in certifiable standards and assurance needed to futureproof businesses.
‘The introduction of training programmes and audits also helps to align us with other food producing industries, such as the poultry sector, which not only secures the route to market for the produce, but also works to demonstrate to consumers that the game bird sector has high health and welfare standards.’
For more information on the event, and to book a ticket, contact the St David’s Game
Bird Marketing Team on 01392 872932 or email marketing@stdavids-vets.co.uk
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