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Registering your animals - Sheep & Goats

Sheep and goat identification is integral to both disease control and maintaining consumer confidence in British produce. For this reason there are required standards for identifying sheep and goats to prevent and trace the spread of any disease.

The sections below provide details on some of the key requirements in pig identification and movement, covering:

Registering new flocks / herds

Whether you keep one animal as a pet or a commercial flock/herd you need to register your sheep and goats. Before moving livestock to your holding you need to apply for a County Parish Holding (CPH) number for the land where the livestock will be kept from:

Once you have your CPH you need to obtain a AM1 form from your Local Authority before you can move the livestock to your holding.  Animal Health will also register your stock and send keepers a registration document containing your personal details, CPH number and a unique Defra flock/herd mark. Livestock must be registered with Animal Health within 30 days of arrival onto the premises.  

The movement will need to be reported on an:

Holding register

 

All sheep and goat keepers in the UK are required to keep a holding register (see below for examples). This record may be kept on paper or electronically. Keepers can determine their own method for maintaining the record (book, file, spreadsheet) but must ensure that the information recorded is in the same format and order as the register above.

A separate holding register is required for each different holding. It must:

  • Record movements of sheep born after 31 December 2009 individually, unless they are identified with a slaughter tag
  • Record details of any replacement identifiers (section 2), including any cross-references where appropriate.

Examples of holding registers can be found on the :

Identification

The flock/herd mark is detailed on ear tags used to identify animals and identifies where animals are born. It is kept on a national database which is available to inspectors for rapid tracing.

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

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

Two identifiers are required for breeding sheep or any sheep over 12 months of age. One identifier must be electronic and both must have the same flock number.

Goats may continue to be identified by two non-electronic identifiers, both having the same individual number. Electronic tags can be used at the keeper’s discretion.

A single identifier tag is required for sheep or goats intended for slaughter under 12 months of age. This can be either electronic or non-electronic, with only the flock number shown visually.

To upgrade a slaughter animal (if it is to be kept for more than 12 months), apply two identifiers, one of which must be electronic. This can only be done if the animals are on their holding of birth or have moved to their present holding either directly from their holding of birth or from their holding of birth through a market.

The full individual animal number must be recorded when the animals you intend to upgrade to full EID are moved onto your holding. If the animals have moved through a market they must be individually recorded before they leave the market.

More detailed information is available in the following information leaflets:

Electronic identification (EID)
The electronic identification (EID) identifier you use must meet certain standards in order to be used for EID purposes. For more information see the Defra’s guide to Sheep EID (links to Defra).

Details of approved identifiers are available from the  Rural Payments Agency (RPA) links to RPA’s website.

For more information see Defra’s guidance on applying identification to sheep and goats (links to Defra’s website).

Movements

Sheep and goat movements need to be recorded and reported on a on an AML1 form (England and Wales) or a movement document (Scotland) available below, each time you move sheep or goats between your holding and a holding with a different CPH number. In England and Wales moves must be reported to your local authority. In Scotland the move must be reported to the Scottish Animal Movement Unit (SAMU).

All movements of sheep within a business must also be recorded and reported, apart from movements between land with the same CPH number which is within five miles of your main holding, and where the animals remain under your keepership.

Movements of sheep to a different numbered CPH, where the animals remain under your keepership, must be recorded and reported on a batch basis.

Movements of sheep to a different numbered CPH, where the keepership (or ownership) changes, must be individually recorded and reported from 1 January 2011.

From 1 January 2011, you are required to individually record sheep and goats born:

  • After 31 December 2009 when they move, unless they are identified with a slaughter tag.
  • Before 31 December 2009 when they move, unless they are moving direct to slaughter.

Batch records continue to be used for slaughter animals.

Central Point Recording Centres (CPRCs) allow for individual animal information of electronically identified sheep and goats to be read on behalf of keepers sending sheep and goats to approved reading points, such as markets and abattoirs, instead of keepers having to read individual numbers as animals leave the holding. Because of this, many keepers will not have to purchase electronic reading equipment.

A list of CPRCs and further details on applying to become a CPRC can be found on our Approved Premises page.

More detailed information is available in the following information leaflets:

The standing movement regime
In the aftermath of the 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease restrictions on the movements of livestock (cattle, sheep, goats and pigs) were introduced. Whenever cattle, sheep, goats or pigs are moved onto a farm no cattle, sheep or goats may move off for a period of 6 days (13 days in Scotland). Pigs have to remain under standstill for 6 days where cattle, sheep and goats have been moved on to a holding. This is a disease damping measure designed to slow down the rate of spread of undetected disease and thus reduce the size (and hence the cost) of disease outbreaks.

Page last modified: 27 July, 2011