[P6te]

All,


Tomorrow we have a 'routine farm inspection' from Standards and Animal Health. Surprisingly this is the first inspection we have had, we aren't unduly concerned as we believe everything is in order but does anyone have any tips of the type of thing they look for and will ask?


At the moment we have pigs and cattle but at other times of the year sheep too.


Pete

[Penninehillbilly]

Ours only seems interested in paperwork / movement records being up to date, never seen the goats or hens.

[SophieYorkshire]

Ours only seems interested in paperwork / movement records being up to date, never seen the goats or hens.

Second vote for paperwork! Ours do come and look at the livestock, for cattle/sheep its to ensure there's enough grazing (i.e. theyre not in your backyard).

They'll also want samples of all your feeds.

I always think they should come when you first get your livestock to show you how to get on with all the paperwork, rather than years later when you've had ample opportunity to bungle it!

[P6te]

Thank you for the feedback.  I totally agree that it would make more sense to come when you first start! I've heard people say its a paperwork exercise but not heard about taking samples of feed.  They did say that they would like to see feed invoices.
I'll feed back later today and let you know what they did look at and ask for.
Many thanks
Pete

[Foobar]

When they came to see me they were mostly concerned about the feed, about it all being labelled and not able to be mixed up (feeding chicken food to sheep etc).  And about there being proper rodent control ... but they accepted my cat for that.  They will also want to see your movement forms and will probably just compare them (or the latest one) with what they have on their records.

[Marches Farmer]

When I had a sheep inspection earlier this year they went through the 20 most recent movements (one of which they didn't have because the form dealing with someonewho'd bought some ewe lambs from me hadn't been received by them - not my fault, though).  No interest in sheep feed but all the sheep passed the full EID inspection and were cross-checked against the sheep identification section of my records .....

[SophieYorkshire]

How interesting, I wonder if they have a randomly selected variety of things to check?

I have never had anyone check my sheep/cattle tags, nor had them inspect movements in any great detail.

They did have a good nosey through my (animals) medical records last time they came.

[Goatherd]

I have someone checking something every month animal health - label lady - clean and tidy lady - health and safety and so on they go through everything  Still someone to chat to and have tea and cake

[Rupert the bear]

 Upon their arrival. Make a visitors record name /organisation/where based. Ask if they have visited any other livestock units that day. Check for clean footwear / overalls ,make them use the footdip. ( demonstrates your biosecurity )

Demonstrate movement paperwork, animal id ,medicine records &  name of vet ,feedstuffs , labelling ,storage , procurement ( unless you compound your own and have the certification to do so ) your vermin control , fallen stock disposal route, (have name of knacker man to hand )
offer tea / coffee .

If they say the have visited another pig unit that day , you do have the option of asking them to return another day if they wish to inspect the livestock.
On the pig unit we only once had to refuse contact with the sows as the AHO had been to another piggery  that day and was reluctant to shower and change clothing.

Oh and ask advice , they like that ,even if you dont use it !!!!

[P6te]

Many thanks to all, to share our experience when she came today. 

We are in South Derbyshire and our inspector came from Matlock.  During the course of the visit the following were covered.

A comprehensive review of our pig movement book.  She came armed with a printout of all pig movements since 2012 and selected a number at random to check (everything tallied)
A 100% check of all (we only have 4) Dexters ensuring the physical ear tags tally with our records and passports.
A comprehensive review of our medication administered records. The only suggestion was that the records could reference the withdrawl period for the respective medicine.
An inspection of feed storage areas to ensure it was kept dry, away from any possible contamination (from say chemicals) and vermin free.  She asked where our hay comes from.  We were advised that sometimes they my take samples of hard pig feed and hay to analyse it but didn't in our case.
A review of feed invoices, open questions about what else we may feed them .... bread for example was suggested.  We are absolutely strict on sticking to the regs and made that absolutely clear to her.
The pigs were viewed from a distance, enough to confirm the number on site but no other checks on them.
We were asked about how we dispose of any fallen stock - checking if we have a local knacker-man on record in the event we needed him and made sure we'd know what to do to segregate any should the need arise.
Because we did not have any sheep on site at this time of year sheep records were not reviewed.
She inspected our cattle truck to ensure it was fit for purpose and asked (and advised) regarding which disinfectant we use.
From start to end she was with us for one hour and gave us a clean bill of health. 

[Rupert the bear]

Many thanks to all, to share our experience when she came today. 

We are in South Derbyshire and our inspector came from Matlock.  During the course of the visit the following were covered.

A comprehensive review of our pig movement book.  She came armed with a printout of all pig movements since 2012 and selected a number at random to check (everything tallied)
A 100% check of all (we only have 4) Dexters ensuring the physical ear tags tally with our records and passports.
A comprehensive review of our medication administered records. The only suggestion was that the records could reference the withdrawl period for the respective medicine.
An inspection of feed storage areas to ensure it was kept dry, away from any possible contamination (from say chemicals) and vermin free.  She asked where our hay comes from.  We were advised that sometimes they my take samples of hard pig feed and hay to analyse it but didn't in our case.
A review of feed invoices, open questions about what else we may feed them .... bread for example was suggested.  We are absolutely strict on sticking to the regs and made that absolutely clear to her.
The pigs were viewed from a distance, enough to confirm the number on site but no other checks on them.
We were asked about how we dispose of any fallen stock - checking if we have a local knacker-man on record in the event we needed him and made sure we'd know what to do to segregate any should the need arise.
Because we did not have any sheep on site at this time of year sheep records were not reviewed.
She inspected our cattle truck to ensure it was fit for purpose and asked (and advised) regarding which disinfectant we use.
From start to end she was with us for one hour and gave us a clean bill of health. 

Looks like 10 out of 10, probably never see them again 

[Marches Farmer]

Don't bank on that - it's a tick box exercise and small farms and holdings are more boxes than a few big units.  I would certaibly refuse to permit someone to inspect our pigs if they'd visited another unit that day.  We've been measured once, sheep inspected once and also had our wood inspected for its suitability for grazing under the trees. Those three took place over ten years and we passed all without any problems being flagged up.

[Penninehillbilly]

I wonder if they are a bit keener when it comes to pigs? Considering the possibility of misfeeding?
Also hens because their feed is not acceptable for ruminants?
Hope ours doesn't get too keen, I don't think there would be a problem, but it's nerve racking enough now!
Strange asking where the hay comes from, why?

[Marches Farmer]

Might it be in case slurry or the cleanout from large scale poultry housing has been spread on the land ....?

[P6te]

Strange asking where the hay comes from, why?

Regarding the hay, as with the sow rolls, they sometimes take samples for analysis to establish if any trace elements are present.  (In our case the hay is our own)

Pete