Pigs
Registration
Before acquiring any farmed species, even if your intention is to keep them as pets, you need to register the premise or land where the animals will be kept with Rural Payments Agency (RPA) - 08456 037777.
You will be allocated with a County Parish Holding Number (CPH) which is a unique nine digit number essential for the purpose of traceability of animal movements and animal identification. which is a unique nine digit number essential for the purpose of traceability of animal movements and animal identification.
Once you have a CPH number, you need to register for keeping sheep / goats by contacting the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratory Agency (AHVLA - 01785 231900) You will be given a Herd Mark, a, a unique number used for identification, consisting of two letters and four digit number (e.g. AB1234)
If your animals are entering the food chain at any point, it is a requirement that you must register your feed usage. Registration is undertaken by the local authority, and can be done by contacting Staffordshire County Council’s Animal Health office.
Movements
Pig movements usually take place under the conditions of General Licence and should be by law recorded and reported by the keeper. An electronic copy of the General Licence for Pigs can be found on AHVLA website - please follow this link:
General Licence for the Movement of Pigs|
All movements need to be recorded and reported by the keeper.
You have several options to report all planned movement of your pigs:
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online via eaml2 website: www.eaml2.org.uk
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by phone contacting BPEX/ MLCSL on 0844 335 8400
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by post: MLCSL, Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2TL
If you choose to report the movements by phone or post you may need to report the movement early enough to receive you movement report confirmation document which needs to accompany pigs during transport.
Each movement of pigs triggers a movement standstill which Each movement of sheep/goats onto the premise triggers a movement standstill which means that no livestock kept at that premise can be moved for the period of full 6 days for sheep, goats, and cattle or 20 days for pigs.
There are exemptions from that rule like for instance movements to a slaughter house or a slaughter market and those movements can be made under the standstill.
Identification
Pigs over 12 months of age should be identified by means of one of the following:
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Double Slapmark
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Tattoo
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Eartag - printed or stamped and containing the letters “UK” followed by your herd mark;
Pigs less than 12 months of age can be moved on a temporary mark (e.g. spray mark) unless they are being moved to slaughter or animal gathering in which case you should follow the identification rules above.
Any lost eartags need to be replaced immediately and replacement should be recorded in the record book.
Records
You need to keep a record of all movements, fallen stock disposal and medicines or treatment administered to your animals. On annual basis you should also record the maximum number of pigs on you holding and the actual number of pigs at that date.
All movement records needs to be kept for 3 years after you stop keeping pigs.
Staffordshire County Council Animal Health Team is providing all Staffordshire keepers with free copies of Herd Registers and Medicine Books - please contact us on 01785 277875.
For a full guidance on registration, movements and identification of pigs please see an electronic version of booklet produced by Defra:
A Guide For Pig Keepers|
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