Hi, can any one of you know off the top of your head what kind of breeding animals can be put in an isolation unit on your farm if you have one,  i was led to believe that any breeding animal was but the trading standards tell me that breeding ewes are not.allowed.

HI Cymro,  We've had one since they were first invented.  The principle is that the isolation unit protects the rest of the holding from movement standstills that would otherwise arise from animals going to and from shows (and shows&sales).  It is the nature of the movement that governs what animals can be in the isolation unit, not what age or sex or breeding status they are.  We only use ours for sheep but I assume the same is true for other species subject to standstills.

Kol:

(but maybe I've misunderstood the rules?)

I have,  apparently breeding ewes are not allowed,but breeding rams are,  had a visit from the trading standard,but the woman who telephoned me from them had to ask some one else in the office, but if i take the breeding ewes around the shows its allright

Of course, I am not in Wales, but our isolation unit is our main building and adjacent paddock.  For most of the year it is not used as an isolation unit, it is just part of the farm.  A week before the first show I record what is in it. Sheep from the Isolation unit can then move to and from shows without triggering a standstill on the rest of the farm.  If there is a long enough gap between shows, stock can move between the isolation unit and the rest of the farm as long as the unit is closed a week before the next show. 

In the beginning, the isolation unit had a separate holding number - in the 6000 or 7000 rage if memory serves, so that the Trading Standards database was in no doubt that movements to and from shows were into and out of the isolation unit.  About three years ago DEFRA abolished the separate holding number but your record on the database flags up the fact that the main holding has an isolation unit if a movement form is processed which appears to break the standstill.  As long as the movement is to or from a holding number for a showground, no query is raised and you are left alone to manage the movements without any more red tape.

As Kol says, there is no restriction as to the age or purpose of stock in the unit and Trading Standards cannot possibly know from the AML1 form anyway.