The advice sheets below have the latest information on animal health and welfare. If you need more advice call 01753 475111 (Regulatory Services option).
In the guide
If you keep poultry or racing pigeons there are certain registration and record-keeping requirements
This guidance is for England
Owners / keepers of poultry are required to notify / register as keepers of poultry with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and to keep a record relating to their poultry.
These records include:
Notification: the Great Britain Poultry Register
The Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006 require any person who keeps 50 or more poultry at any one premises to notify Defra of the following:
Defra encourages keepers with fewer than 50 birds to notify it of the above information voluntarily, making it easier and quicker for you to be contacted in a disease outbreak situation, and therefore allowing any potential disease outbreak situation to be better managed and resources effectively targeted.
'Poultry' is defined in the Regulations as "all birds that are reared or kept in captivity for the production of meat or eggs for consumption, the production of other commercial products, for restocking supplies of game or for the purposes of any breeding programme for the production of these categories of birds".
How to register:
Changes to information notified (address, owner, occupier, species kept) or a change in numbers (plus or minus 20%) are to be notified to Defra within one month of the change taking place (this does not include usual management fluctuations).
Shows
Shows are allowed under a general licence issued by Defra. Licence conditions require the event organiser / licensee to make a record of all people who bring poultry or other captive birds to a gathering or take such birds from a gathering. These records are to be be kept for three months and must include the following information:
Movement records of poultry and/or eggs
The Diseases of Poultry (England) Order 2003 requires every person:
'Poultry' is defined in the Order as "domestic fowls, turkey, geese, ducks, guinea fowls, quails, pigeons, ratites and pheasants and partridges reared or kept in captivity for breeding, the production of meat or eggs for consumption or for restocking supplies of game".
Note: this is different to the definition in the Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006 (see above).
Record details required:
Retention and production of records:
Racing pigeons
Every person who owns or keeps racing pigeons must keep a record of every race or show for which they enter their pigeons.
Every racing pigeon entered for a race or show must be vaccinated against paromyxovirus 1.
Control of salmonella in breeding & laying flocks & in hatcheries
The Control of Salmonella in Poultry Order 2007 requires the occupier of a holding on which one or more breeding or laying flocks of at least 250 poultry of any single species are kept, and any occupier of a poultry hatchery with a total incubator capacity of 1,000 eggs or more, to notify Defra of its existence.
Definitions in the Order:
In relation to the breeding or laying flocks of the species Gallus gallus, the Order requires:
Sampling for salmonella for breeding flocks should occur:
Sampling for salmonella for laying flocks should occur:
The occupier of premises must keep a record of the sample taken as follows:
The above applies to breeding flocks (250 minimum) and to laying flocks except those where all the eggs are for either:
RECORD OF MOVEMENTS
The occupier of premises must keep a record of the movement of domestic fowl and eggs (other than eggs for human consumption) on to and off holdings as follows:
HATCHERY RECORDS
When eggs or chicks are moved on to or off the hatchery the occupier must record the following:
All records must be retained for two years and be produced to an inspector on demand.
Control of salmonella in broiler flocks
The Control of Salmonella in Broiler Flocks Order 2009 requires the occupier of the holding on which one or more broiler flocks are kept to notify Defra.
'Broiler flock' is defined in the Order as "a flock kept for the production of meat intended for human consumption".
Notification of broiler flocks should be by the occupier of the holding.
The Order requires sampling for salmonella.
Records of salmonella samples taken should be kept as follows:
Records of movements; when birds are moved on to or off the holding, the occupier must record:
All records must be retained for two years and be produced to an inspector on demand.
Transport records
The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006 requires poultry that are transported to be accompanied by an animal transport certificate (ATC) showing the:
Note: transport records are not required for transport of poultry:
Records must be retained for six months and be produced to an inspector on demand.
Further information on the documentation required to transport poultry can be found in 'Transporting livestock by road: paperwork'.
Farm records
The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 require a person responsible for farmed animals (animals bred or kept for the production of food, wool, skin or other farming purposes) to maintain a record of:
These records must be kept for three years and made available to an inspector on request.
Medicine records
The Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 require keepers of food-producing animals to keep a record of:
If the product is administered by a vet, they must either complete the record or provide written details and the keeper must then complete the records. Records - including proof of purchase - must be kept for five years and be produced to an inspector on demand.
Further information on the record-keeping requirements in relation to the purchasing, administration and disposal of veterinary medicines can be found in 'Keeping veterinary medicine records'.
Food business records
The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 and EU Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs require food business operators to keep and maintain records relating to measures put in place to control hazards. In particular, those rearing animals or producing primary products of animal origin should keep records that include:
These records are to be made available to an inspector and receiving food business operators, on request.
Other persons - such as veterinarians, agronomists and farm technicians - may assist food business operators with the keeping of records.
Penalties
Failure to comply with trading standards law can lead to enforcement action and to sanctions, which may include a fine and/or imprisonment. For more information please see 'Trading standards: powers, enforcement & penalties'.
Additionally, under some legislation, where a person is found not to be complying with a notice, the enforcing authority may arrange for the notice to be complied with and the person will be liable for any costs incurred.
Key legislation
Last reviewed / updated: December 2018
Please note
This information is intended for guidance; only the courts can give an authoritative interpretation of the law.
The guide's 'Key legislation' links may only show the original version of the legislation, although some amending legislation is linked to separately where it is directly related to the content of a guide. Information on amendments to UK legislation can be found on each link's 'More Resources' tab; amendments to EU legislation are usually incorporated into the text.