The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: holz306 on April 24, 2012, 10:13:57 pm
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I have 50 new laying hens arriving on thursday, to add to our collection of 24 brown hybrids, a mix of 9 home-hatched leghorn, sussex and speckledys, and the 17 chicks that are in the brooder shed, oh, and kellogs the cockeral.......i'm not sure i ever intended on having quite so much poultry! I can't keep up with sales of eggs at the farm gate, so hopefully these new birds will satisfy demand! :thumbsup:
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i think you have to get registered when you get over 50 hens, im not sure with who tho cos ive never had more than 25. :)
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i think you have to get registered when you get over 50 hens, im not sure with who tho cos ive never had more than 25. :)
Yes you do and it is DEFRA the poultry register. I wish I could have that many Chickens, Other half would have a sense of humour loss ;D
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Yes, it is with DEFRA. You can fill in a form on-line.
Think there maybe a few regs. about selling eggs when you have over 50 birds. Cant remember the details. I did register but have just under 50 birds so didnt take much notice. Details on their web site.
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I've already registered ;)
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We've got 20 arriving today - POL Rhode Rocks - to add to the 60 we already have. I too hope thsi will allow us to keep up with the demand for eggs ;D
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How much are you paying for you Rhode Rocks, if you don't mind me asking?
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£12.50 each plus £30 delivery, so £14 each. But at £3 a dozen for eggs, they'll soon pay for their purchase cost :thumbsup:
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Can you register as a breeder of a particular type of hen? Someone said to me that there are only so many registered breeders of Scots Grey in the country. I possibly dont have enough to be classed as a breeder but we chose a rare breed to try and boost their numbers. I quite like 50 hens but too many people sell eggs round here already. :chook:
OEH.
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Mine are coming in at £8 each - but you can guarantee that they won't actually be very close to POL!! It took a long time to get my last girls laying!!
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Mine should arrive tomorrow - £6.50 at POL from suppliers in Cumbria. Lets hope they mix well with the ISA browns?
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With over 50 chickens you need to register with local Animal Health. With over 50 laying hens you are no longer classed as 'farm gate sales' and you need to comply with a lot of extra regulations.
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Now I've got some more details. 'Extra regulations' translates to Registration with the Egg Marketing Inspectorate. The code must be stamped on each of the eggs together with the production type (free range -1)
Note - If your eggs are graded to large and medium and are put into boxes this must be done by a registered 'packing station'. To sell them to a retail outlet they need to be grade A and that entails a load of stuff.
To be honest Holz306, I'd keep your laying hen count to under 50. Your next animal welfare visit will pick you up on this anyway.
Danger you have is if a local registered producer finds his sales are suffering and reports you for non-compliance.
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Sorry. What is an Animal Welfare Visit? Who gets them and when? What exactly do they check?
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Well, firstly there are no other local producers....certainly not of free range eggs. My laying count is currently under 50, but my actual count is now over 100. I am already registered as having over 50 hens. My understanding of the regulations is that i can sell my eggs at the farm gate. If i sell them through a third party, i have to get a packing station number. You can sell, through a third party ungraded. thats my understanding anyway. And i welcome any inspection because what they do at inspections, unless there is a welfare issue, is make reccomendations and allow you time to comply with the reccomendations they make - thats my understanding anyway?! :thumbsup:
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Hi Holz306. Just trying to be helpful. With over 50 laying hens even those at the 'farm gate' need an EMI code on the eggs. Expect you will be given plenty of time to comply.
In the Hills -Animal Welfare visits are done routinely when you are registered with Defra as having over 50 chickens on site. Depending on your 'risk' catagory, assigned after the first visit, is the frequency. In our case its every 3 years, or that's what they said two years ago. You get a flock number to go with it -same as sheep, but a different number. Main question is "what do you do with dead chickens?". You can't bury them on site and you can't chuck them in the dustbin, they are supposed to go for incineration I was told! I'll try "stored in the freezer then burned on the bonfire" and see what happens.
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Thanks for that Chrismahon.
I think I still have under 50 birds ..... some of those are quail, too many are cockerels and lots of pet peekins. Going to do a head count!!!! Very few could be considered ... layers. I thought there were extra regulations to comply to if you had over 50 birds. Is it 50 layers you have to own or 50 birds whatever they maybe before the extra regs apply?
Will I still get welfare checks if I am registered but have under 50 birds?
My daughter is poultry mad and she sees them as we might dogs or cats. There will be many tears if they have to get incinerated :o It would have to be a cremation instead of the funeral. ::)
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We see them as more than dogs or cats. Our pet cockerel Bottom lives in the house with us In the Hills.
There are two different requirements here. One is to register for Animal Health reasons with Defra if you have more than 50 chickens -cockerels and hens. The other is to register with EMI if you have more than 50 laying hens and sell any eggs. Now if you have 49 hens for sales and 2 separated for your own domestic use ??
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Oh right :D . You understand where Im coming from and dont think Im too crazy, then.
None live indoors but most have names and come in for cuddles!!!
Well, I wont worry. Not heard from them yet and only sell a few eggs at the gate, as we only really see sheep up here. ;D
Thanks.
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i read the defra page as meaning that if you have more than 50 poultry you need to register the flock, to get advice and warnings about disease, and if your selling eggs through a shop you had to register with emi.
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Ive taken my info from an article in Practical Poultry, Issue 88 July 20 and have just accepted it as read. Sure if anyone has queries on the detail they can contact the appropriate Authority. Of course that's like opening a can of worms!
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Thats what I thought.
Wished I hadnt registered now.
Just stay hushed and hope not to be noticed ;D
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If practical poultry magazine is anything like practical pigs I'd take anything it says with a hefty pinch of salt.
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The regulations apply to hen eggs marketed within the Community. They do not apply to eggs sold
direct by producers to the final consumer at the farm gate or locally door-to-door *. However, to be
exempt the eggs must be from the producer’s own hens.
* Producers with up to 50 laying hens may sell their eggs at a local public market, provided that the
name and address of the producer is indicated at the point of sale. Producers with more than 50 hens
must also stamp their eggs going for sale at a local public market with a producer code.
Producers with more than 350 laying hens must be registered regardless of how the eggs are
marketed.
That is taken from the SGRPID website for those in scotland....Defra's says pretty much the same. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/212925/0056606.pdf (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/212925/0056606.pdf)
Hope that makes it clear, it makes interesting reading anyway.
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We'll never have that many hens. We're run off our feet looking after 30. We had 5 broodies today and they are getting worse!
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ah, but they're addictive - i never really planned to have more than in 12,....but before you know it, i started hatching eggs, then the egg sales took off....and now I appear to have a ridiculous amount!! I really want to get a couple of ducks, but i'm holding off on that one now, and attempting to only do things that are productive....easier said than done! ;)
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Animal health have a pretty helpful flow chart for the rules in England (and Wales?)
http://animalhealth.defra.gov.uk/egg-and-milk/eggs/documents/eggs_flow_chart.pdf (http://animalhealth.defra.gov.uk/egg-and-milk/eggs/documents/eggs_flow_chart.pdf)
It looks to me like you can always sell unstamped, ungraded eggs direct to consumer and over 50 laying hens you need to be registered and stamped if selling ungraded via a local market, over 350 you have to be registered regardless of how you sell.
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My new hens look pitiful today, standing at the back of their house too scared to come out! hopefully if the sun comes back out they'll cheer up a bit.
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Just looked out of the window ..... know exactly how they feel ::)
This drought !!!!!! ::)
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Sorry. What is an Animal Welfare Visit? Who gets them and when? What exactly do they check?
Council department - I had a visit a couple of months ago (a year after registering) and they checked...... ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!!!!!! Talked to me about record keeping, gave me a book and made me sign a form to say I understood my obligations. Arse covering if ever I saw it. I tried to show them my lovely animals but no interest (Mind you they were both suited and the lady was wearing particularly smart court shoes!!!!). I had more interest and advice from the council rat catcher!
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Ah .... perhaps I will get a visit then. Only registered a few months ago.
Do they warn you that they are coming? A record book for the chickens? ..... only have a sheepie record not a chicken record! What would I record .... medicines as for sheep.
What were your obligations?
Court shoes? No hope of checking mine then .... she d need one of Plums carrier bags on her bottom ::)