Getting started with sheep
If you are going to keep livestock - sheep, goats, pigs, cattle- you need to register your property as an agricultural holding. In Scotland, you do this via your local Animal Health Divisional Office, the operational base for the State Veterinary Service.
You will be given a County / Parish / Holding (CPH) Number and a flock number. If you are keeping pigs, you will also get a herd number.
These numbers will be used to identify you in all correspondence with Government bodies and will feature on all the records that you are required to make.
You will need a Holding Register, a Flock Record and a pad of Sheep and Goat Movement forms, which you get from the Scottish Animal Movement Unit (SAMU).
The Flock Record is a continuous movement and flock record that sheep keepers are required to maintain. All events - births, purchases, sales, deaths - have to be entered on an annual record.
The Holding Register is a similar document that records all sheep movements on and off a holding. It is required for disease control purposes and has to be submitted annually to the Scottish Government.
A Sheep and Goat Movement form has to be completed every time animals move on to or off your holding.
With three sheep, it's not too complicated but it must be a lot of work on a big holding.