[richardsargent878]

Hi,
I am thinking of keeping a couple of weaners. Never having kept pigs before I was reading about the standstill requirements. However the way I read them they are not clear.
It states that after introducing pigs other livestock cannot be moved for 6 days. Later it refers to cattle, sheep and goats, later still deer. All these are subject to the 6 day rule. However I have a livery yard and would need to move  the horses on and off the yard for exercise every day. There is no clear definition of livestock, so are horse livestock or not, and are they part of the standstill time?
If they are I cannot keep pigs which seems a pity.
Has anybody any answers.
Thanks
Richard

[Berkshire Boy]

As I understand it horses are not affected by standstill. Not classed as a farmed animal.

[Nickie]

To my knowledge horses are not included in the livestock standstill. I must admit I haven't actually double checked with animal health, but I have been advised by several experienced pig keepers that this is the case.


I certainly hope not as I fatten a few weaners in the summer & also keep horses which get hacked out etc. I had a farm visit & it wasn't raised as an issue. I also know of one smallholder who keeps KKs in the same field as their horses, including some on livery.

[SallyintNorth]

Horses are not livestock for the purposes of standstills, no.  The horses can come and go at will.

Daft innit.

[hughesy]

It is daft. I would have thought horses would be just as likely to carry disease from one place to another.

[lachlanandmarcus]

Not that daft -  since there are very few diseases which are common to horses and farm type livestock, also when horses travel they are usually going to shows  etc where they are in contact with other horses but unlikely to be in contact with other farm livestock.
Even the worms are largely different ones which is why horses grazing is rotated with cattle/sheep to reduce worm burdens for both since the worms affecting one can generally not survive being ingested by the other.
To confirm answer to OPs question tho, horses have no impact on farm standstills and no movement restrictions.
Now if we were querying why alpacas and llamas dont have movement restrictions (given their high susceptibility to TB), that would be a valid one.
 
 

[SallyintNorth]

They mostly don't catch diseases from other quadrupeds, but they could certainly carry germs on their feet, tack, etc.

Oh, llm just posted along similar lines.

when horses travel they are usually going to shows  etc where they are in contact with other horses but unlikely to be in contact with other farm livestock.

Can't agree with that bit, llm.  Horses go off trekking all over the place, hunting too, and many shows are held on farmland anyway!
Thankfully I think most horse riders are sensible and sensitive enough to not ride bridleways across farmland during a disease outbreak, but they could legally do so if they wished.

[feldar]

I remember when we had the Foot & mouth outbreak a few years back, our horses were subject to restrictions on the forest, all shows were cancelled and those of us on farms had to stay off the forest and hack the roads only. we had to put straw chemical baths to walk them over at the gates and as far as i know everyone was really good about not hacking near to livestock or taking their horses onto other farmland.
i don't know how high the risk was of carrying the disease about, but i guess it was a big consideration cause everybody complied ,we were terrified that we might spread the disease or be the ones responsible for doing so. Thankfully we never had it down here but it was scary

[lachlanandmarcus]

yep, horses didnt catch foot and mouth but (in theory) could carry it about via picked up muck in  their hooves, so F&M is one instance where (quite rightly) horses were covered by some restrictions on movements/disinfecting. So where a disease can be 'transported' by horses (even if they are not carriers) and it is deemed to be a notifiable epidemic, they can be and are absolutely prevented from roaming around - the bridleways etc are closed in restriction zones too anyway.
In reality the risks presented by knackery wagons hurtling round the countryside dripping carcass fluids out the back was arguably a greater issue but we all had to do our bit to be responsible.
BTW I wasnt suggesting horses being ridden dont come fairly geographically close to farm animals, what I mean (didnt express it very clearly) is they dont normally have any touching contact with anything - so the risks of transmission are very much less, particularly given they largely dont share the same diseases.

[ppd]

Richard
In Scotland I think tht pigs actually trigger a 20 day standstill on other pigs and a 13 day standstill on cattle, sheep and goats. I am not sure if England is different though.
Hope you get some weaners
 

[SallyintNorth]

In Scotland I think tht pigs actually trigger a 20 day standstill on other pigs and a 13 day standstill on cattle, sheep and goats. I am not sure if England is different though.

In England it's 20 day standstill on other pigs, 6 day standstill on other livestock.

[ppd]

....I learn something new every day Sally I wonder why the difference on other livestock though?

[SallyintNorth]

I think it's a general difference, isn't it?  Scotland's always 13 days and England and Wales is always 6?