Egg-laying hens

Becoming a producer

Now that you have set up your chicken coop, you must organise essential registrations, insurances, and other administration before you can run an egg-producing business. 

Land registration

If you keep more than 50 chickens, you must register your agricultural land and business with the Rural Payments and Inspections Division (RPID) even if you do not withdraw subsidies. 

You must register within 30 days from the date you first keep sheep. It is free and requires basic information about your smallholding/croft/farm.

Register your land with RPID online or complete this form. 

You will get two numbers:

• Business Reference Number (BRN) for your farm/croft business
• County Parish Holding (CPH) number for your land. You need this number to register your flock and report any movements of animals. 

If you need help, contact your local RPID office. 

Flock registration

The legal requirements for registering your birds are changing on 1 September 2024 to manage the risk of Avian Influenza. By registering your flock, you will receive disease alerts and essential bird welfare guidance.

Before 1 September 2024

If you have 50 or more birds, you are legally required to register them on the Great Britain Poultry Register (GBPR) with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). Read more about flock registration.

You must register your flock within one month of starting to keep 50 or more birds. To register, you need your CPH number (see ’Land registration’). 

Complete this form to register your flock and send it to APHA. Notify APHA within one month if you stop keeping chicken, your contact information changes or your flock’s size changes by more than 20%. 

You can also register voluntarily if you keep less than 50 birds. Use the APHA online service or complete this form and send it to APHA to register a flock voluntarily.

After 1 September 2024

You are legally required to register your chicken even if you only keep one bird. If you already registered with the GBPR, you must re-register your flock with the new Scottish Avian Registration Hub. 

You must register your flock by 1 December 2024 and update your registration details annually. 

Feed business registration

If you sell eggs, you must register as a feed business with Food Standards Scotland (FSS) to store and give your hens animal feed. You can register as a feed business online, and it is free.

Registering to sell eggs

To sell eggs from your hens, you may need to register as an egg producer and an egg packing centre. Legally, the producing of eggs and packing of eggs are considered separate activities, and they have different registrations — both are free of charge.

If you need to register, you must do this and have your site inspected before bringing in any hens.

You do not need to register at all if:

• The eggs are for you and your family or neighbours
• You sell eggs directly to consumers at the farm gate or locally door-to-door (’local’ is defined as your local authority, immediately neighbouring local authorities or ones not further than 30 miles from the border of your local authority). 
• You have up to 50 hens and sell eggs at a local public market (e.g., a farmers’ market)

You need to register as an egg producer if:

• You send any eggs to registered egg packing centres (including your own)
• You have more than 50 hens and sell eggs at a local public market (e.g., a farmers’ market)
• You have more than 350 hens 

You also need to register as an egg packing centre if:

• You pack and supply eggs to retailers, processors, restaurants or bakeries

If you are unsure if you need to register, contact your local authority’s environmental health team for advice. Find contact details for your local environmental health team.

Registering as an egg producer

To register as a commercial egg producer, fill in the EMR 3 form and send it to the Scottish Government’s Poultry Unit.

You will receive a producer code which is used in marking the eggs for sale. If you get more hen houses or change your production system (e.g., from barn eggs to free range), you must fill in a new form.

Registering as an egg packing centre 

To register as an egg packing centre, fill in the EMR 2 form and send it to the Scottish Government’s Poultry Unit. You need details of all of your egg handling, required packaging and labelling equipment (see ’Egg-packing equipment’).

Getting approved as a food business

To run an egg packing centre you will also need approval as a food business, at least 28 days before you start trading. You can do via your local authority, but the Poultry Unit will automatically notify them when you submit your application. 

To be approved, you need to follow food safety standards like developing a food safety management system based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points Principles (HACCP). However, if you supply small quantities of eggs to local establishments like restaurants or farm shops, you are exempt from some of these regulations.

Read more in the Food Hygiene Regulations guide for small producers, or contact your local environmental health team for advice. 

Setting up your business 

If you earn more than £1,000 per year from farming/crofting, including selling eggs, you need to register as a sole trader, or set up a business partnership or a limited company. You will also need to pay income tax on your profits and keep records. You might also want to draft a business plan to keep track of your accounts – this guide by the Landworkers’ Alliance is a good starting point.

Rural Payments and Services has an explainer of different types of farm businesses. 

Insurances

Getting a general liability insurance will cover other people getting injured because of your operations or produce, and you may consider income protection/personal accident insurances. Some insurers also offer specialist packages for smallholders.

You may also look into the availability of insurance for avian influenza outbreaks which, depending on the size of your flock, can incur significant expenses for culling hens and disinfection (see ’Control of notifiable avian diseases’).

Some membership bodies, like the British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA), also offer exclusive insurance cover.

Membership & certifications 

It can be helpful to register with a specific membership body for egg producers, such as the  British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA), to keep up to date with the latest news and trainings. 

You can also apply for certifications, which come with additional requirements for keeping egg-laying hens and allow you to market their eggs as meeting specific standards. 

Some of the most prominent egg certifications in the UK include:

• British Lion, food safety
• RSPCA Assured, animal welfare
• Organic by approved UK organisations, system of production