Business information

Registering your Livestock

Registering Pigs, Sheep and Goats

Whether you keep one animal as a pet or a commercial herd/flock you need to be registered with Defra. In the event of a disease outbreak, the precise location of all livestock is essential for effective measures to control and eradicate highly contagious viruses.

Obtaining a County Parish Holding Number
Before moving livestock to your holding you need a County Parish Holding number (CPH) for the land where the livestock will be kept. The CPH number is a nine digit number, the first 2 digits relate to the county, the next 3 relate to the parish and the last 4 digits are a unique number to the keeper e.g. 18/345/6789.

To apply for a CPH you need to contact the Rural Payments Agency (RPA):
Rural Payments Agency
Lancaster House
Hampshire Court
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
NE4 7YH
Tel: 0191 273 9696
Fax: 0191 226 1839
Email: enquiries.newcastle@rpa.gsi.gov.uk
Newcastle Customer Service Centre: 0845 603 7777 (Lo call rate)

Once you have your CPH you can move the livestock to your holding under a General Licence.

Registering your livestock with DEFRA
The next step is to register your livestock with DEFRA. You need to contact your local Animal Health Divisional Office (AHDO). You will be asked for your CPH as a reference and will be able to register your livestock over the phone. If your correspondence address is different from the herd/flock location, inform the AHDO and confirm they have the correct details.

The AHDO covering Hertfordshire is in Chelmsford:
Chelmsford Animal Health Office
Government Offices
Beeches Road
Chelmsford
Essex
CM1 2RU
Email: AH.Chelmsford@animalhealth.gsi.gov.uk
Telephone: 01245 358383
Fax: 01245 351162
Nightline: 01245 353632

When your livestock are registered a flock/herd mark will automatically be created. Herdmarks for pigs are one or two letters followed by four digits e.g. AB1234 or A1234. Flock/herd marks for sheep and goats are six digits e.g. 123456.

The Defra herdmark provides a quick and effective means of identifying premises from which livestock have moved. It is unique, kept on a single database and available to inspectors for rapid tracing.

The AHDO will send you a registration document which will contain your personal details, CPH and flock/herd mark.

If any of your details change, you must inform your AHDO within 1 month of the change.

It would be helpful if notification could also be sent to Trading Standards.

Trading Standards
Mundells
Welwyn Garden City
AL7 1FT

Tel. 01707 292429
Fax. 01707 292477
Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00

Additional guidance on Animal Health and Welfare issues can be found by following the external signpost to "Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs" and then choosing "animal health & welfare".