UK REGS FOR OWNING / MOVING PIGS & GOATS

General

1. Notifiable diseases of pigs are Foot-and-Mouth Disease, Swine Vesicular Disease, Swine Fever, Anthrax, Teschen Disease, African Swine Fever, Aujeszky disease, rabies and vesicular stomatitis.
2. Waste food means -

1. any meat, bones, blood, offaI or other part of the carcase of any livestock or of any poultry, or products derived therefrom or hatchery waste or eggs or eggshell, or

2. any broken or waste foodstuffs (including table or kitchen refuse, scraps or waste) which contain or have been in contact with any meat, bones, blood, offal or with any other part of the carcase of any livestock or of any poultry,

but does not include meal manufactured from protein originating from livestock or poultry.

Registration

The owner of the pigs is required to notify the local Animal Health Office giving details of the name, number of the holding and species of the livestock kept.

Movement

The movement of all pigs must be recorded in an "On Farm Movement Record". This records the date the pigs were moved from or to the premises, the numbers moved, their identification marks and the address to or from which they have been moved.

No pigs should be moved off a premise within 20 days of any pigs moving onto those premises. When pigs are moved off premises a movement licence must accompany them which can be a signed declaration by the owner. When a self issued declaration is issued, a copy should be sent to the local authority. Blank copies of declaration forms may be obtained from the Trading Standards of your local Authority or farming organisations such as N.F.U.

CONDITIONS OF MOVEMENT

NOTE: These conditions vary depending on type of movement

1.  The person in charge of the pigs moved under a   declaration must:-

1.  carry a copy of the declaration throughout the     movement and produce it on demand to a constable or an inspector and, if required by that person, give his name and address; and
2. (except in the case of pigs intended for direct export) deliver the copy to the person in charge of the premises to which the pigs are moved (whose duty it is to retain it for a period of six months from the date he receives it and to produce it on demand to a constable or an inspector).

2.  Where this declaration relates to the movement of pigs to a slaughterhouse, it does not authorise the movement unless the pigs are to be slaughtered within 72 hours of arrival at the slaughterhouse and not removed therefrom alive.

3.  Where a road vehicle is used for the movement of pigs the following conditions apply in addition to the provisions of the Transit of Animal (Road and Rail) Order 1975 (S.1. 1975/1024 as amended) and the Welfare of Animals during Transport Order 1994 (S.I. 1994/3249).

4. Where a road vehicle is used for the movement of pigs, there is no requirement to cleanse and disinfect the vehicle by reason only that the pigs carried in it have been unloaded at a collecting centre solely for the purposes of feeding and watering and then reloaded back onto that vehicle.

5. After a vehicle has been used for the movement of pigs, the user of the vehicle shall cause it to be cleansed and disinfected not later than 24 hours after the movement is completed.

6. Pigs whose movement is authorised or permitted under different provisions of the Pigs (Records, Identification and Movement) Order 1995 must not be transported in the same vehicle.

7. Pigs must not be transported in the same compartment of a vehicle with any other thing.

8. Pigs must not be transferred from one vehicle to another during the course of any movement except where the transfer takes place in close proximity to the premises from which the pigs have been brought immediately before the transfer and the transfer is from the vehicle which brought the pig.

9. A copy of a movement declaration must be sent to your Local Authority within 7 days unless the pigs are to be moved for immediate slaughter.

Vehicles

The vehicle used to transport the pigs must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected not later than 24 hours after the movement of pigs is completed.

This is a simplified statement of the regulations regarding the moving and keeping of pigs. A booklet called "Pig Identification, Records and Movement. A Guide to the Local Requirements." Is obtainable from your local Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. (MAFF) This is well worth reading.

Tagging

The Kune Kune Pig society issue Allflex tags so you will need to purchase or borrow a pair of pliers suitable for fitting them. The square tag goes on the outside of the ear. Position the pliers on the ear making sure you do not have the ear folded underneath. Check you are not over a vein, then squeeze the pliers hard.

When putting tags in, great care must be taken to avoid veins.

Another method of marking pigs is to install an identichip in the back of the pig's neck. This is totally invisible, expensive but highly effective. A vet using a syringe normally inserts the chip.