[plumseverywhere]

EEk! animal welfare visiting tomorrow. first visit here. movement thingy's up to date, all paperwork current and correct. medicine book needs updating from the loose records i've kept but will do that too. goats look happy and healthy ( I hope!!)
any tips or advice gratefully received!!

ps are they only here about the goats? I've only got 14 chickens so not registered wtih them for the hens.

[shetlandpaul]

don't worry they are normally friendly.

[katie]

I was visited last year. They only want to see the books, they don't care about the animals. Just make sure you have al the relevant movement orders and all the batch nos filled in for the medicines.They won't be bothered about the chickens.
 They asked me how I kept the feed. I resisted the temptation to say I stored it in open bins in the shed and told them it was in dustbins, which it is. That's about it, really.
Good luck!

[lachlanandmarcus]

they are most concerned about the paperwork and also very especially about feed being kept separately for ruminants and non ruminants but ESP that chicken feed is kept completely separate from the other animals feed storage (like in a different room/building) owing to the fact that chickens refuse to comply with AH desires and wont agree to be totally vegetarian! (this clearly annoyed our AH officer!). They took samples of the open feed too to check for any contamination.

After the visit I got a letter telling me I passed and was now officially permitted to carry on feeding my hens ....chicken food (layers pellets) - somewhat bizarre!

[Rosemary]

When he came to see us, he wasn't bothered about the chicken feed - just dog and cat food as it contains animal products. The chicken feed is vegetarian so wasn't a problem.

[plumseverywhere]

Thank you for your replies (and reassurance    )
fingers and toes crossed
Lisa 

[little blue]

good luck, I'm sure it'll go fine

[Cinderhills]

Good luck.  Give them a 'welcome' soap to sweeten them. 

[Helencus]

Good luck today plums  hope all goes well for you.

[Hilarysmum]

Good luck for today, let us know how it goes.  Sure you will be fine.   

[ellied]

Good luck, I'm sure it'll all be fine but let us know

[plumseverywhere]

All done    very lovely lady she was. 

She basically checked the movement records and that they were tagged. Went through the medicine book. Advised about not using any milk in my soap that is from a goat currenly on milk withdrawal.
didn't ask about feed bins or how or where food was stored.
she had a quick look at my goats and chickens and said they were obviously very well cared for.
anticipates that next visit would be 4-5 years time due to how few animals we keep in relation to farms etc.
thanks for moral support everyone, I can breathe again now!
Lisa

[katie]

I was just about to post to ask how it went!

Glad it was all ok.

I firmly believe that we smallholders get far more frequent visits than big farmers - it still counts as a visit, there's a few bits of paper to check, a cup of tea and off!

[little blue]

glad it all went well...  :

[plumseverywhere]

well it did apart from my goats being quite innapropriate. Reggie had a wee and savannah stuck her head under his belly, came out licking her lips. EWWWWWWWWWW!! they've never done that before in front of me, why save it for today?! I was gobsmacked and all I could say was "Oh..." - she found it funny though