0800 028 0289
Keeper for the DayBook Now »
Location: Broomfield Hall
Years: 1
Weeks: 1
Hours: 6.00
Start: Various Dates (Please press the Book Now Button to View Dates)
Days / Times:
Tuition (£): 95.00*
Interview: N
Course Summary
This experience aims to provide you with an understanding of the principles of animal husbandry and care through working on the animal unit at the Broomfield Hall campus.
We currently have over 47 species of animals that require our care. As part of your role, you will assist with preparing the animals' food, cleaning, health checking, exercising, handling, providing enrichment, and much more.
You will get to work on all sections of the animal unit and gain valuable insights into what it is like to work as a zoo keeper.
Please ignore the date shown on the booking page as the experience is run at different times throughout the year. If you would like to put a note on your booking form with a desired date and then contact jonathan.taylor@derby-college.ac.uk, we will do our best to accommodate you.
Entry requirements
You need basic literacy and numeracy skills plus some basic knowledge of animal care. You should be aged at least eight years.
Course Content
The course will cover:
- Feeding the animals
- Health checking the animals
- Cleaning their accommodation
- Making enrichment for the animals
- Maintenance of the animal unit
- Exercising the animals
- Handling the animals
How will I be assessed?
There is no assessment.
Are there any additional costs or specialist equipment required?
You will be required to supply your own boots or wellingtons, preferably steel toe-capped. Alternatively, you can borrow some from the animal unit.
What can I do after this course?
Derby College offers a range of one-day, weekend and evening courses relating to Animal Care, as well as a wide variety of other land-based topics - please see the Derby College Part-time Prospectus for a full list and details.
Did you find the course information on this page useful?
* Tuition - This figure is the tuition fee to be paid - There are no concessionary fees available.
Kyle Harwood
Broomfield zoology student Kyle has sights set on being a zookeeper
DCG Zoology student Kyle Harwood has wanted to be aczookeeper right from the first time he went to a zoo at the age of four.
Kyle, who grew up with a wide variety of pets, including snakes and lizards, would especially like to work in the reptile house.
And he’s well on the way to gaining the necessary qualifications, thanks to Derby College’s foundation degree course in Animal Management (zoo and wildlife) Nineteen-year-old Kyle, who is from Heanor, joined the FdSc course after completing the level 3 in Animal Care at Broomfield Hall.
He said: “Some of the FdSc coursework is challenging but it’s always engaging. I particularly liked the conservation module and I’m really enjoying learning about captive breeding, which we’re doing now, and zoo husbandry. We did nutrition during 2020, which I found interesting. and complex. There are so many technical aspects to it, which tested my maths!”
Kyle – who described the atmosphere at Broomfield as comfortable and friendly – also appreciates the opportunity for practical work experience the College provides.
He added: “One of the reasons I chose Broomfield to study animal care was for the hands-on contact we get with the animals. Not many colleges in the country offer that but Derby College does, and it’s just 20 minutes from where I live.”
Kyle plans to take the top-up course next year so he has the full BSc (Hons) degree.
He added: “Zookeeping is competitive to get into but having a Zoology degree should give me the edge. It will open so many more doors.”
One of the reasons I chose Broomfield to study animal care was for the hands-on contact we get with the animals. Not many colleges in the country offer that but Derby College does, and it’s just 20 minutes from where I live.
