Calves at market

This guidance is for Wales

Calves may not be admitted to market for a number of reasons, including being unfit or under seven days old.

All calves must be correctly identified and have a valid passport to be transported and sold at market.

Food chain information (FCI) must be provided with all calves that are received for slaughter. FCI should also accompany calves sent to market that are likely to be bought for slaughter, although some markets incorporate the required information on their sale entry forms.

Welfare

Calves coming under one or more of the following categories must not be admitted to market:

• unfit calves: defined as including infirm, diseased, ill, injured and fatigued
• calves under seven days old, with or without dam*
• calves with unhealed navels*
• calves that have been brought to market on more than one occasion in the previous 28 days*
• calves less than 10 days old, unless they are transported less than 100 km (approximately 62 miles) to the market

[*For the purpose of article 14 of the Welfare of Animals at Markets Order 1990 calves at markets are defined as "a bovine animal under 12 weeks of age". In all other cases a calf is a bovine under the age of six months.]

Injury or suffering

No person shall cause or permit any injury or unnecessary suffering to an animal in a market, nor transport animals in a way likely to cause injury or undue suffering. Owners and keepers (including those with temporary responsibility such as market operators) have a duty of care to ensure animals are protected at all times. Animals must be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease. This basic duty of care applies in all situations, including while at market.

The owner (or their agent) of any calf under 12 weeks old in a market, must remove it from the market within four hours of the last calf being sold in the auction that day.

Handling

Calves must not be lifted or dragged by the head, neck, ears, horns, legs, feet or tail. Calves must not be muzzled or tied up. The requirement not to cause injury or suffering by any means is also applicable to the handling of calves.

Excessive force should not be used to control calves, nor any other animal in a market. No animals, including calves, should be driven or led over uneven or slippery floors that are likely to cause them to slip or fall. No person may obstruct or annoy an animal in a market.

Use of an instrument capable of inflicting an electrical shock is prohibited for use on calves in all markets, as is the use of any goad stick or other instrument, etc.

Bedding

An adequate supply of suitable bedding must be provided in a market and during transit, and this must be dry when it is provided. A thin dusting of sawdust would not be considered adequate. Calves less than four weeks old must also be provided with covered accommodation at market.

Pens

No overcrowding is permitted, neither at market nor in transit. All calves must be able to lie down at the same time. Any pen used should be suitable for the size and species of that animal.

When animals are penned, those of one species should be kept in pens separate from animals of another species (and be distributed within the pens, having regard to differences in age and size) so as to avoid unnecessary suffering to them.

Any 'fractious' animals should be penned separately from other animals.

Documentation required

Cattle passports

All calves must be correctly identified with a tag in each ear and accompanied by a valid cattle passport. The valid passport must travel to and from the market with the calf.

The auctioneers cannot accept any calf for sale without a valid cattle passport and it is an offence to alter or deface any information in a cattle passport or use a cattle passport for any animal other than the animal for which it was granted.

'Valid', in relation to a cattle passport, means one that has been correctly completed and signed in the appropriate place by each keeper of the animal and where the identification number and description of the animal in the passport correlate to the ear tags and the animal.

For more information on passports see 'Cattle identification'.

Food chain information (FCI)

Food hygiene legislation requires slaughterhouse operators to "request, receive, check and act upon" food chain information (FCI) for all cattle, calves, pigs, poultry, horses, sheep, goats and farmed game sent for slaughter for human consumption. Food chain information must be provided with all calves that are received for slaughter. If you are sending calves to market that are likely to be bought for slaughter, then they should be accompanied to the market by an FCI declaration.

For more information please see 'Food chain information'.

Some markets incorporate the required information on their sale entry forms. Please check with the auctioneers.

Animal transport certificate

For the transport of calves over 50 km (approximately 31 miles), the person transporting the animal must carry an animal transport certificate that specifies:

• origin
• ownership
• place of departure
• date and time of departure
• intended destination
• expected duration of the journey

This must be kept for six months following the completion of the journey. For journeys over 65 km (approximately 40 miles), transporters are required to hold a certificate of competence and transporter authorisation. For more information please see 'Transporting livestock by road: paperwork'.

Trading standards

For more information on the work of trading standards services - and the possible consequences of not abiding by the law - please see 'Trading standards: powers, enforcement and penalties'.

In this update

No major changes.

Last reviewed / updated: November 2022