Veterinary surveillance: Great Britain Poultry Register
Defra, the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government, backed by the poultry industry, have established the Great Britain Poultry Register to gather essential information about certain species of birds held on premises in Great Britain. This information will help reduce the impact of a disease outbreak.
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As of 11th February 2008, the GB Poultry Register holds details of 24,269 premises. A total of 251,913,661 birds have been registered. Information regarding the Density
of Poultry and Premises Registered in GB Poultry Register Consultation: On the possible changes of use of personal data held on the GB Poultry Register. The Deadline for responses is 5 February 2008. |
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Who has to register?
By law* you must register if you own or are responsible for a poultry premises with 50 or more birds. This requirement also applies even if the premises is only stocked with 50 or more birds for part of the year. At present, premises with fewer than 50 birds are not required to register, but we encourage keepers to do so voluntarily.
This does not necessarily mean 50 of one species (although this may be the case) but 50 overall, for example if you have 30 chickens, 15 geese, 4 ducks and 1 rhea you need to register.
The decision to restrict the requirement to register to flocks of 50 or more birds, was based on advice from experts who consider that smaller flocks are less likely to play a significant role in the spread of disease. It is a priority to focus on gathering information from these larger flocks. However, it is possible for owners of smaller flocks to register on a voluntary basis should they so wish and we would encourage them to do so.
* Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (England) Regulations 2006; Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Scotland) Order 2007; Avian Influenza (Preventive Measures) (Wales) Regulations 2006 (links go to the OPSI website).
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Guidance Notes 
(70 KB) are available, also in Welsh
(154 KB).
* The Great Britain Poultry Register call centre is run by IBM United Kingdom Limited, PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hants, PO6 3AU.
** When you first register, and following any subsequent changes to your
details, you will be sent a Confirmation
Letter
(46 KB), or in Welsh (46 KB) and a copy of your registration details. You will then have an
opportunity to check your details and amend if required.
What do we mean by “poultry”?
For
the purpose of the Great Britain Poultry Register, the species of poultry
which must be registered include:
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What are the benefits?
If we know where your birds are kept and how many you have, we will be able to communicate with you quickly and help manage any potential disease outbreak by targeting resources where they are needed most.
The sooner we know where your birds are, the better prepared we will be to prevent and control a disease outbreak.
Previously, Government and various individual poultry organisations held information separately but no central register existed. Combining information such as the size and location of poultry premises onto one database will both help effective communication with poultry keepers and help manage any potential outbreak.
What information will I have to provide?
You will be asked for:
- your name
- your premises address
- your County Parish Holding (CPH) number (if you have one)
- the number of poultry that are usually on the premises
- their type of housing; and
- the purposes for which they are reared
The number of poultry that are usually on the premises, is the number of poultry present when the premises is stocked.
You will also be asked some essential information that can assist risk assessment, for example, whether the poultry have access to the open air or whether there are bodies of water close by that attract wild birds.
Your personal information will be protected in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. The data protection statement at the end of the registration form explains what we will do with your personal information.Quality checks are continually undertaken on the information provided to the register. On occasions we may need to contact you directly to confirm any proposed amendments.
What is the Alerts System?
The GB Poultry Register allows Government and its Agencies to contact poultry keepers about important developments regarding disease in a targeted way through email, post and SMS text by mobile. To date the use of SMS text to mobiles has proved to be the most efficient, direct and popular route.
If you have a change to your mobile number or email address (or wish to provide new details), please call the help line on freephone 0800 634 1112.
If you are not a poultry keeper but wish to receive SMS text alerts to your mobile you may register for this service.
More information
See our page of questions and answers. If you have further questions or would like help to fill in the Great Britain Poultry Register form, please contact the Poultry Register Helpline on 0800 634 1112.
Guidance notes (70 KB) for the completion of the form are available, also in Welsh
(170 KB).
The
current promotional material is available:
- 'Count your chickens' registration leaflet (109 KB)
- 'Count your chickens' registration leaflet (Welsh version) (180 KB)
- 'Don't throw caution to the wind' registration poster (193 KB)
- 'Don't throw caution to the wind' registration poster (Welsh version) (203 KB)
- 'Spread the word' postcards (292 KB)
- 'Spread the word' postcards
(Welsh version) (428 KB)
For more information on how to make sure that good hygiene practices are in place, to help you prevent the spread of animal disease, please see our biosecurity pages.
Page last modified:
4 March, 2008
Page reviewed: 10 January,
2007