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About

This Lantra-accredited Customised Award is exclusively developed and delivered by a Lantra-approved Training Provider, who meets our quality standards. The course is specifically tailored to meet learners’ needs. For further details about the course content and delivery locations, please contact the Training Provider using the details provided below.

The minimum age to undertake this course is 18.

 

This course, designed for volunteers undertaking regular welfare checks on cattle, gives learners the knowledge they need to undertake cattle welfare checks effectively and safely.

The course will cover a basic overview of the five freedoms of animal welfare, and the most common health and welfare concerns effecting cattle. The course also trains volunteers on how to undertake checks safely, provides a basic overview of how conservation grazing works and provides information on the technology used in conservation grazing projects, particularly geofencing collars. 

The finer details

First Session (to be delivered in the classroom)

1. Introduction

  • Welcomes, housekeeping, fire escapes, toilets etc
  • Who we are (Grazing Management Ltd) and what we do
  • About the project they’ll be volunteering on, introduce project partners (e.g. landowners, land managers, other organisations involved). 
  • Overview of what the course will cover and plan for the session.

2. What is Conservation Grazing?

  • The role of large herbivores in ecosystem management 
  • Biodiversity impacts
  • How this works alongside other land management approaches (e.g. tree felling, hay cutting, scrub clearance)
  • Implementation of conservation grazing projects – how it works 

3. The Volunteer Role – Expectations and Staying Safe

  • What the role includes – and what’s not expected!
  • Staying safe on site
  • Interactions with the public
  • Procedures and processes

4. Cattle Welfare Checking

  • The Five Freedoms and the Animal Welfare Act 2006
  • Checking water, signage, fences/obstructions
  • How to check cattle effectively
  • What to look out for on a check (Body condition, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, skin, coat, hooves, legs, sheaths, udders, tails, anus, vulva and behaviour)

5. Geo-fencing Collars (and other technology)

  • Why we use geo-fencing
  • How it works
  • Accessing the online grazing map to locate the cattle (practical task)

6. Any Questions and Further Reading 

 

 

 

Second Session (to be delivered on site with cattle, as a nearby conservation grazing site in active use)

1. Walk through the site and review classroom content

  • NoFence in action – using the public map to locate the cattle
  • Undertaking a check safely
  • What to look out for and what “normal” looks like for healthy cattle

Recognised by

Lantra Awards

Course description:

Conservation Grazing Cattle Checking Skills for Volunteers Download PDF

Who should attend?

Anyone volunteering on a conservation grazing project which uses cattle and NoFence collars. 

What will be covered?

By the end of the course, learners will have a basic understanding of:

  • What healthy cattle look like, and what the most common health and welfare issue are
  • What conservation grazing is, and how cattle fit into the ecosystem
  • How to stay safe while checking cattle
  • Basic understanding of how the technology fits into the system 
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