GovWire

Once you have your county parish holding (CPH) number, you must get a herd mark from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). You must do this:

• before moving cattle onto your holding
• whether you keep cattle as part of a business or as pets

A herd mark is a unique identifier for a herd of cattle, bison or buffalo. Its used to trace the animals in case theres an outbreak of disease.

When a calf is born, its identified with a herd mark printed on its ear tag. The herd mark its given at birth stays the same throughout its life.

Even if you do not plan to rear calves, you still need to have a herd mark to comply with the law.

Its possible for a holding to have more than one herd mark. For example, if you run your beef and dairy herds separately.

How to get a herd mark

Contact APHA to get a herd mark.

Youll need to give:

• your CPH number
• the name and address of your veterinary practice for bovine TB testing purposes

APHA will register you as a cattle keeper and send you a document containing your herd mark. This usually takes 10 working days, but it can take longer during busy periods.

What to do next

Youll need to get official ear tags from an approved supplier to use when calves are born on your holding.

Youll need to tell the supplier your herd mark and CPH number. The supplier will use this information to create unique identification numbers for your tags.

The supplier will then send the printed tags to you for you to attach to your animals.

Find out more about the rules for keeping cattle, bison and buffalo.