[Dougal]

I've been asked by a couple of people to run some sort of a practical training course for how to handle sheep aimed predominantly at small holders and those who are thinking of keeping sheep for the first time in the North East of Scotland
 
Subjects such as how to catch and tip a sheep, how to age sheep, body condition scoring and how to judge a sheep for its general attributes would be among the topics. Also will be practical demonstrations with hands on practice of how to dose, vaccinate/inject as well as foot and hoof care (trimming etc).
 
I'll be running this using my own sheep for the participants to practice on. Dates are yet to be finalised, thinking of a Saturday in late August or September or a split course on a Tuesday and Thursday evening. I may do both depending upon how many people are interested in attending. The course will be held in Banchory, Aberdeenshire.
 
Anyone who is interested in coming along please p.m. me with the dates that you can manage and suggestions of what you would like me to cover. I'm going to try and run this for anyone who feels they have limited experience with sheep so please don't be frightened of asking questions before hand so I can make sure it is covered in the course. I will be charging a fee (not sure what yet but won't be too dear... honest!) to cover my time and for the running around I'll have to do to get all my sheep and the gates to the one field.
 
For those who are wondering I'm a full time shepherd and shearer with a degree in Animal Science. I've been brought up with sheep so I suppose I've got somewhere  over 30 years of experience and I've owned my own flock for almost 10 years now taking prizes at local shows and toping the mart on a number of occasions and at a number of marts with my sales.
 
Looking forward to hearing from all those who are interested.
Mark.