Hands-on Clinical Experience - Boltons Park Farm
Based at the Hawkshead Campus in Hertfordshire, Boltons Park Farm is our farm animal practical teaching facility.
The farm consists of 200 hectares of mainly grazing grass along with 14 hectares of wildlife stewardship plots planted last year and 20 hectares of ancient mixed woodland along with the younger woods that we have planted over the years.
Boltons Park Farm is home to 130 pedigree Holstein Friesian cows milking at the farm and a further 90 heifers that will join the herd as milking cows after their first calf at around two years old.
Also on the farm are 400 sheep of mixed breeds that mostly graze all year in the fields. Our Norfolk Bronze and Black turkey flock are reared in environmentally enhanced conditions – the breed is ideal as it suits our rearing system, is slow growing, and produces a beautiful product. Also, 40 laying hens are on the farm with eggs sold to staff, students and local residents.
Services
Boltons Park Farm is our farm animal practical teaching facility. All Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Nursing and Animal Biology, Behaviour, Welfare and Ethics students will visit the farm at certain stages of the course. The farm is also a good source of extra-mural placement opportunities. You will carry out various activities here, such as:
- Weekly herd and flock health visits
- Lambing practical sessions and night watch
- Lameness scoring
- Emergency vet visits
- Clinical examination and Rectal classes
- Elective projects and presentations
- Housing, feeding and nutrition classes
- Routine testing
- Animal handling practical sessions
- California milk testing
- Cattle foot trimming and sheep foot examination
- Animal welfare sessions
- Poultry handling and management farm appraisals
- Turkey production at Thanksgiving and Christmas
I had the pleasure of completing a turkey placement at Boltons Park Farm last year. It was a hands-on placement that let us all experience how diverse and interesting production avian veterinary medicine is. Boltons Park Farm was also invaluable for the North American Veterinary Licensing Exam and our finals, letting us have practical memories of particular disease processes. I recommend it to anyone needing or wanting farm experience!
— Emilie Charles, Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine
More information about Boltons Park Farm here