Livestock - Records and Documents

• the law requires farmers to keep a variety of records on their stock and make these available for auditing by government inspectors. This is in addition to whatever records farmers make for their own purposes
  • can include assurance schemes

• must have a CPH holding number if you keep livestock (even if they are pets)
• Livestock includes:
  • Bovids
  • Pigs
  • Goats
  • Sheep
  • Deer
  • Poultry (if you have 50 or more birds)
• If you have a CPH you have traceability of your animals

A legal requirement of the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 (WOFAR) to maintain a record ‘of the number of mortalities found on each inspection of animals’.

Has its origin in a series of European Directives passed in the early 1990s.

Any animals who die must be recorded using their individual ID number.

In addition to mortality records, WOFAR also requires farmers to keep a record of ‘any medicinal treatment given to animals’.

This means any medicine given to any animal on the farm must be recorded. No matter how big the dosage the medicine must be recorded.

All movements of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and deer must be recorded and reported to the appropriate agency. On-farm movements records must be kept to record all movement on and off the holding, births, deaths and replacement tags.

Likely new tags would have a different number to the one the animal had before, so we need to record that it is not a new animal.

As a livestock owner, you must be aware of regulations and keep the required records.

All movements of deer, sheep, goats, pigs and cattle are controlled by the general licence issued by DEFRA.

• To move cattle, we must record all movements of cattle, bison, or buffalo on and off your holding and report them to the British Cattle Movement Service.
• You can use three methods to report movements of cattle:
  • Cattle Tracing System (CTS) online
  • The CTS self-service telephone line (Except animals with older-style alpha numeric tags)
  • Compatible farm software.
• For animals with a chequebook-style passport or an old-style blue and green passport with a certificate of registration, you can notify movements to BCMS by post, using tear-out movement cards.
• It is an offence to fail to report cattle movements within the stipulated 3-day period. You could face penalties and cross-compliance reduction to any subsidy claims you have.
• Sometimes from assurance schemes you get a subsidy, but if movement guidelines are not followed subsidies can be docked.

Pigs must be identifiable by either an ear tag, a tattoo on one of the animal’s ears, or 2 slap marks applied to both pig’s front shoulders in permanent ink. The tattoo is generally a number and may be used alongside an ear tag in the case the ear tag is lost.

Ear tags may be lost due to stereotypical behaviours which are more common in pigs.

Pigs in transit must be accompanied by a ‘haulier summary/movement document’ (HS/MD).

All sheep have individual tag numbers, and you have to fill in a movement document every time sheep are moved.

• You must register using a compulsory registration form within one month of keeping 50 or more birds on your premises. It is against the law to not register.
• The law applies if you keep:
  • 50 or more bird’s captive for any period
  • Flocks made up of different species, such as chickens, ducks, or geese.
  • Birds for the consumption of meat and eggs; other commercial purposes; restocking game birds; or breeding for these 3 purposes.
    • Does not apply if only you are going to be eating the eggs.
• Chickens are usually identified by rings around their legs.
• May not always need to have an identifiable tag on a chicken, but more likely to see them on ducks and geese which are more likely to be able to fly off.

Cattle ear tags must be inserted within 20 days of an animal’s birth.

Except for dairy cattle, which must have at least one tag fitted within 36 hours of birth.

All cattle must be tagged before they leave the holding of birth.

Ear tags cannot be removed or relaced without permission from the British Cattle Movement Service.

Can be identified by an ear tag, tattoo, or double slap mark, except in Northern Ireland where pigs over six months of age, or which leave the holding of birth before that age, must be identified by an ear tag.

A pig ear tag is printed with the letters ‘UK’ followed by the herd mark.

Tags can be metal or plastic, but plastic tags destined for slaughter must be sufficiently heat resistant to withstand carcass processing.

If a tattoo is used only the herd mark (UK is not needed) is tattooed on the ear. Similarly slap marks need only be the herd mark, the use of ‘UK’ is voluntary. It must be legible for the life of the pig and throughout the processing of its carcass.

Currently sheep and goats may be identified by the means of two ear tags or one ruminal bolus plus one ear tag, or (by EU regulation but not approved in the UK) one pastern band and one ear tag.

Sheep and goats born or first identified after 31 December 2009 must be tagged within:

• 6 months of birth if housed overnight.
• 9 months if not housed overnight.
• When they move off the holding of birth if this is sooner.

Currently there is no requirement for poultry and waterfowl to be individually identified or movements to be recorded.