The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Cattle => Topic started by: Bioman on May 11, 2011, 06:22:50 pm
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Hi,
I have been offered some young heifer calves to raise for beef ;D. I would like to know what the minimum requirements for keeping cattle and all the legalities. I keep pigs so I have a Defra holding number.
Defra website doesn't exactly make it clear as their guidlines might as well be greek.
Thank you,
Pete
www.shutebridge.com (http://www.shutebridge.com)
:pig: :chook:
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Hi,
You need to register with your local animal health office for keeping cattle and register with BCMS (British Cattle Movement Service) in Cumbria. You will then be given a herd number, which you can use for sheep too. You will also get barcoded stickers from BCMS which you need to use when you do an ON or OFF movement. You can do the movements online or with the post cards which are in the cattle's passports.
Each beast has it's own passport with tag number, DOB, Dam on it and then the keepers address section, every time the animal moves the passport goes with it and it need signed, dated and stickered by the receiving keeper and also the previous keeper.
It's not too difficult once you know what to do. They always need to have 2 tags and if you're breeding from them you need to tag them within 7 days of birth and register them with BCMS so they can be issued a passport. Need to keep an up to date movement and medicine book as you do with all farm animals.
Hope that helps a wee bit,
Claire
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Thank you Claire, big help! ;D
but what about TB testing, isolation facilities all these are mentioned as well as other things
thank you,
Peter
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Depends where you are re TB testing, here in Scotland we are every 4 years and that's only breeding cattle. If you are only fattening them you should be safe enough. Not sure on the rules of buying fattening cattle from a TB area as we never do, DEFRA will tell you about that.
Wherever you get them from should know their disease status and check when they were wormed last and what with. Also if it's a liver fluke area you might want to check if they've been dosed for that. If you're turning them out to grass and not killing them for a while you might give them a worming bolus to last them all summer and them you won't need to handle them un-necessarily, if you've not had cattle before though and they were wormed before housing they should be fine going onto clean grazing without being wormed.
Seem to be rambling a bit now! Anything else I'll try and help as much as I can.
Claire
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I live in Devon, its a high TB area so everything is tested, its not a fluke area as far as I know (I've worked on several cattle farms in recent years for Work Experience as I want to be a vet :D) Thanks again Claire :)
Any more advice on whether housing is legally required or not would be great.
Thanks
Peter
www.shutebridge.com (http://www.shutebridge.com)
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Dont know about england probaly the same because you are a new cattle keeper you will ahave to TBtest after 6 mths. Some kind of shelter is not law but advisable
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Essential if we are talking about young calves.
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a crush of some kind would be a good idea.