Owners of 50 or more poultry, or 10 or more emus and/or ostriches, are required to register with the department as livestock owners. Poultry, emu and ostrich abattoir operators must also register as non-farming property owners.
Poultry includes domestic chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, guinea fowls, quails, pigeons, pheasants and partridges. The requirement to register applies if you own 50 or more of these birds, in any combination. Poultry owners are encouraged to register if they have fewer birds, but it is not mandatory.
Why is registration required?
In 2022, the department introduced a requirement for owners of 50 or more poultry, or 10 or more emus/ostriches to be registered. The registration requirements for poultry owners are included in the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management (Identification and Movement of Stock and Apiaries) Regulations 2013.
Poultry, emus and ostriches are susceptible to emergency diseases such as avian influenza and can carry bacteria that can cause food illnesses like salmonella. The impacts of avian disease outbreaks can be significant.
Registering as an owner of livestock and obtaining a Property Identification Code (PIC) enables the department to rapidly respond to an emergency animal disease or food safety incident in the poultry industry. It enables notifications of emergency animal diseases, food safety incidents or any other biosecurity risks so that people can take action to protect their flock.
Who needs to register?
Any person or entity (e.g. a business) who owns 50 or more poultry, or 10 or more emus or ostriches (or a combination of the 2) at any time, must register with the department as an owner of livestock.
Anyone who sells eggs or poultry meat for human consumption, regardless of how many birds they own is encouraged to register to support notification and tracing for the purpose of food safety.
Poultry abattoirs are required to register and will receive a non-farming PIC.
After registering, you will be issued a Property Identification Code (PIC) for the property where your poultry, emus or ostriches are kept. The PIC indicates who owns the livestock and their location, which supports rapid tracing of livestock in a biosecurity incident.
If you've already registered
If you've already registered with the department as an owner of livestock (cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, deer, goats, camelids, donkeys, camels, buffalo), you do not need to register separately for poultry, however, you're encouraged to update your registration to include poultry, emus or ostriches.
If you keep your birds on a different property to the one where you keep your other livestock, you will need to add this property to your registration by completing a Notification of change of address and property details form or via the Brands Online Portal.
After registration
Once you've registered, there are no other requirements regarding identifying poultry or recording movements specified in the regulations. For example:
- You do not need to tag, microchip or in any other way identify your poultry, emus or ostriches.
- You do not need to record any movements of birds between properties. Movement documents such as waybills are not required.
- When purchasing poultry, emus or ostriches, there is no requirement for you to confirm that the owner of the birds you are purchasing from is registered.