Register as a keeper of less than 50 poultry or other captive birds
How to register if you keep up to 49 birds, including any you keep as pets.
Applies to England and Wales
You must register within one month of keeping poultry or other captive birds at any premises in England or Wales. This includes any birds you keep as pets.
You’re breaking the law if you do not register.
When you do not need to register
You do not need to register psittaciformes or passeriformes (such as budgies, parrots, cockatiels and finches) if they are both:
- fully housed in a dwelling (your home or another indoor structure)
- with no access to the open air
You must register if you take your birds outdoors at any time – for example, to exercise or train them, or to take them to bird gatherings or shows. You do not need to register to take an exempt bird to a veterinary practice.
How to register
If you have a County Parish Holding (CPH) number
You can register in 2 ways, either by:
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using the form to
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emailing customer.registration@apha.gov.uk
If you do not have a CPH number
You can register online – it should take about 10 minutes.
We’ll ask you for:
- your contact details
- details of the owner of the birds (if this is not you)
- the location where you keep the birds
- details of the birds you keep (species, number and what you keep them for)
By registering:
- the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) will contact you with updates and guidance if there’s a disease outbreak (such as bird flu) in your area
- you’ll help prevent the spread of disease and protect all kept birds, including back-yard flocks
After you have registered
If your details have changed, you’ll need to tell APHA within one month when:
- you no longer keep or own birds
- your contact information changes
- you change the species of poultry or other captive birds you keep
- you change the purpose or purposes for which you keep birds
- you start keeping 50 or more poultry or other captive birds
Email customer.registration@apha.gov.uk or call on 03000 200 301. Lines are open 8:30am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday.
Legislation
The requirement to register within one month of keeping poultry or other captive birds at any premises in England or Wales is set out in the:
Get help
If you need help registering contact APHA:
- by email at customer.registration@apha.gov.uk
- by phone on 03000 200 301 (lines are open 8:30am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday)
Updates to this page
Published 12 December 2023Last updated 3 December 2024 + show all updates
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Updated the Welsh version of the guidance to reflect recent updates to the English version.
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Added links to the legislation that underpins the requirement to register.
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The online service to register as a keeper of less than 50 poultry or other captive birds is now available. It was unavailable for a temporary period because of technical issues.
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Updated introduction to clarify that you must register within one month of keeping poultry or other captive birds at any premises in England or Wales.
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Updated information about the online registration service, which is currently unavailable, and when you must register.
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Updated English and Welsh versions of the guidance to temporarily remove the option to register via the online portal.
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The online service to register as a keeper of less than 50 poultry or other captive birds is now available. It was unavailable for a temporary period because of technical issues.
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We've added an updated version of the form 'register to be a keeper of less than 50 poultry or other captive birds' in English.
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Our online service is currently unavailable due to technical issues. You can still register by using the form 'register to be a keeper of less than 50 poultry or other captive birds' or emailing customer.registration@apha.gov.uk.
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We've added an updated version of the form 'register to be a keeper of less than 50 poultry or other captive birds' in English and Welsh. We've also added a Welsh version of the page.
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We are experiencing an extremely high volume of applications. We currently aim to process applications within 30 days. If you have already submitted an application, do not submit another.
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Added information about what to do if you have a CPH number or have already registered. Also updated the PDF form. Welsh translations of the form and other information will be available soon.
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Updated the email address under 'After you have registered'.
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Updated the page with information about registering your birds before 1 October 2024.
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We are experiencing a high volume of applications to register as a keeper of less than 50 poultry or other captive birds. We aim to process your application within 10 working days.
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First published.