Before I go any further, in order to own goats in Britain, or even have them on your land, you must have what is called a CPH, or holding number.
It is a legal requirement for all livestock owners ( and goats are classed as livestock or agricultural animals )to have this number, It is unique to you and the land where you want to keep goats.
It makes no difference whether you have one animal or one thousand, whether the goats are yours or ours, whether the ground is rented, or your plot is only garden size, you still need a holding number in order to have goats..!!!
Please dont be put off, it is easy to obtain and is totally FREE. ( i like that word )
I have had to turn away disappointed people who wanted to buy goats from me, because i cannot sell them any until this number is obtained.
Once you have your holding number you can purchase goats, borrow goats, own goats ( pigs cows sheep )etc.
When goats are moved onto your land, forms have to be filled in. I know forms can be the bane of our lives, but unfortunately they are a legal requirement.
The forms that have to be filled in are called Movement forms. Name, address, tel no, holding number (cph), stock number, time and date of movement, where from and where to. This in turn has to be sent into the animal section of trading standards in your area. The seller keeps a copy, the buyer keeps a copy, the transporter keeps a copy and one copy is sent off.
GOAT FOR IT will fill in the forms ready for you to sign when we arrive.
It does sound like a lot of paperwork, but it really is necessary so movements can be traced if we have another outbreak of notifiable diseases, like Foot and Mouth and they only take minutes to fill in.
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We cannot come onto your land to clear it, if you do not have a holding number.
England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales all have different standstill times. This is the minimum amount of time the government says they must stay on your land before they can be moved off again.
England 6 days.
Ireland 6 days.
Scotland 13 days.
Wales 6 days.
also please remember there are restrictions in place at the moment because of blue tongue.
