Keeping goats is a tremendous adventure — but before you get started, there are a few legal steps you must take.

✅ Before You Get Goats

1. Get a County Parish Holding Number (CPH)

Call the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) on 03000 200 301.

You must have a CPH number if you plan to keep any livestock — even just a couple of goats in your garden.

2. Register with APHA for a Herd Number

This is required for all goat keepers.

🔗 Register with APHA

🚛 Moving Goats

• Any movement of goats on or off your holding must be reported through the Livestock Information Service

🔗 livestockinformation.org.uk

• For temporary moves (e.g., grazing elsewhere), the location must also have a CPH unless it’s part of your own holding.

• Goats must stay at the new location for at least 6 days before being moved again.

• Vet visits are the only exception to this rule.

🛻 Transporting Goats

• Journeys over 65 km require transport authorisation from APHA and often a trailer.

• Shorter journeys may be done in a car, as long as it’s safe and spacious enough.

🏡 Housing Requirements

Goats must have a dry, draught-free shelter with:

• Good ventilation

• Protection from weather

• Enough space — at least 2 square metres per pygmy goat (about the size of a 6-seater table).

Larger goats will need more.

🍽️ Feeding Rules

• You must not feed goats food from your kitchen, even if it’s fresh or clean.

• This includes fruit and veg scraps.

• If you buy fresh food for your goats, it must be stored outside the kitchen (e.g., in a separate fridge).

This is to avoid the risk of introducing diseases like Foot & Mouth or Swine Flu.

🏷️ Identification (Ear Tags)

Goats must have two ID tags at all times. If one is lost:

• Replace it immediately.

• If torn from the ear, you may use a pastern (leg) band.

• It is illegal to keep a goat with only one tag, or to remove tags.

🚨 Disease Reporting & Medical Records

• You must report any notifiable disease (like Bluetongue or Foot & Mouth) to APHA:

📧 customeradvice@apha.gov.uk

You must keep medical records for:

• FEC (faecal egg count) results

• Vaccinations and treatments

• Medication use

These records must be kept for 3 years after the goat’s death.

🔗 More info – gov.uk

🔗 Medicine records – AHDB

📋 Annual Inventory

Every year, you must complete a holding inventory, recording:

• Births

• Deaths

• Any new arrivals

When a Goat Dies

As difficult as it is, you must:

• Notify DEFRA of any death, regardless of cause.

• Keep all records relating to the goat for 3 more years.

• Burial on your land is illegal, even for pet goats.

Instead, arrange:

• Collection by a knacker’s yard

• Cremation via your vet (single cremation for ashes back, or group cremation if you prefer a lower cost)

⚠️ Strongly Advised (Not Law, But Still Important)

• Find a farm vet experienced with goats before bringing them home. Not all vets accept goats.

• Ask breeders for health certification for Johne’s, CAE, and CLA.

• Prefer surgical castration over banding for males — banding too early can prevent proper urethral development and increase the risk of urinary calculi.

• Never keep just one goat. Goats are herd animals and need companions of their own kind to thrive. Other species (like horses or sheep) are not suitable replacements for another goat — though herds may coexist with the right setup and precautions.