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do you need to register as a small holder? i was looking at the defra website.. but cant find much... anyone help?

Depends what you are getting.

If you are getting Poultry then nothing, unless you have more than 50 birds then you register with Defra.

If you are getting larger livestock such as Pigs, Cattle, Goats Sheep etc you need a CPH number which you get from your local RPA office I think, do a search on CPH number and it should tell.

fanx!

Missed this earlier.

First, you need an agricultural holding number as mentioned by Tensing.

Then, you need a herd/flock number that's specific to the type of animal/s you're intending to keep (cattle, sheep and goats, pigs, deer).

Then you need movement licences to bring the animals onto your place (and in the case of cattle and horses, their passports).

If you're in a nitrate zone or one of the 40 water catchments designated as a priority, then you'll have to prepare management and action plans.

You'll need to submit details of your vet and be expected to have at least a Veterinary Herd Health Plan that's reviewed quarterly with your vet. It usually covers biosecurity, vaccination and worming policies and general matters affecting production. It's not hard to come up with and can be fairly simple, but it's something you have to allow for. (And yes, many people don't bother but if there's a disease outbreak and you haven't done one... )

You need a veterinary medicines book that must be kept up to date with details of all medicines given to your animals, and the withdrawl period.

You'll soon need to show evidence that you're qualified to transport animals if going over 65km (Shirlz posted details about this earlier).

You need a herd/flock book to record what animals you have at any given time, where they came from and where they went.

There are a few more, but they're the main ones I remember.

Oh, and one important thing with vets and pigs. If you have a small veterinary practice or a practice with only one pig vet, then you may occasionally find it difficult to get a vet to come out in an emergency.

This is because they have to be "pig clean", ie not been on another premises with pigs for 48 hours before.

We're lucky, we have two very good pig vets although one prefers not to do the injections! (Injecting a pig is not easy BTW as I can say from experience.)

ok thanks. Defra seem pretty helpful.

why is injecting pigs difficult? thick skinned? needle phobia?

red wrote:ok thanks. Defra seem pretty helpful.

why is injecting pigs difficult? thick skinned? needle phobia?

Tough skins; thick layer of fat; big, strong animals; and sharped pointed objects - not a good combination. And sick animals can be stroppy as well.

We "crush" ours into a corner with a a very strong and heavy wooden hurdle, then with one person standing on the braces at each end of the hurdle, you can inject the pig in the correct place through the gaps between the uprights.

A pig head crush or a full crush would make it easier, but it's still not easy.