Bird keepers have just two weeks to sign up to compulsory register

Following its consultation on proposed registration requirements for all bird keepers in Great Britain earlier this year, Defra confirmed that all kept birds, not just poultry, would need to be registered with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). The threshold number of kept birds requiring registration was to be reduced from 50 to one, and all keepers of birds would be mandated to review their records annually. There would be no requirement for birds such as budgerigars, parrots, or canaries that are kept in a birdhouse within a dwelling to be registered.

All bird keepers in England and Wales, including those with just one bird, now have just two weeks left to sign up to the government's new compulsory register. The new registration requirements, which come into effect on 1 October, should lead to more efficient progress when carrying out the required surveillance to allow disease control zones to be lifted after an outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, and this should benefit the game industry going forwards. In Scotland, bird keepers have until 1 December to register their details with the Scottish government.

Those who kept 50 or more gamebirds or ducks had previously been required to register with APHA when the birds were in a rearing or release pen. There is now a legal requirement for all those who keep any number of gamebirds or ducks in a rearing or release pen to do so.

Guidance on how to register as a bird keeper, with the forms required for those keeping 50 or more poultry or captive birds in England and Wales can be found here. There is a different service to register as a keeper of less than 50 poultry or other captive birds, the necessary details of which are here.