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BSE Testing Eligibility Checker

Enter the animal's date of birth, where it was born, and the date it died (today by default). This tells you whether it falls under the 48-month or 24-month BSE testing threshold.

This calculator needs JavaScript. Without it: whether a fallen animal needs a BSE test depends on its age and which nation it is in. The full rule, with worked examples, is in the BSE testing guide.

Date of birth Date of death

Born in the UK, or in an EU member state other than Bulgaria or Romania Born elsewhere

Enter a date of birth above to check.

Quick answer

Cattle over 48 months old at death, born in the UK or most EU member states, must be tested for BSE if they die on farm rather than at a slaughterhouse. Cattle born outside that group are tested from 24 months instead. Under the relevant threshold, no test is required.

How does this checker work?

It calculates the animal's exact age in months between the date of birth and the date of death, then compares that to the threshold set by its country of birth, 48 months for UK and most EU-born cattle, 24 months for cattle born elsewhere. If the age at death meets or passes that threshold, testing is required.

Quick win

Check the animal's date of birth against its passport before calling a collector, not after. Age is the one fact that decides whether this rule applies at all, and confirming it first can save an urgent call that didn't need to be urgent.

How fast must you act if testing is required?

Contact an approved collector within 24 hours of death to arrange delivery, and the carcass must reach an approved sampling site within a further 48 hours, roughly 72 hours from death to sampling in total. That is a much tighter window than the general fallen stock disposal timeline, so it's worth knowing before you make the first call, not partway through it.

Where can you read the full rule?

For who pays for the test, what happens to the result, and how this fits alongside the standard fallen stock disposal route, see the BSE testing guide.

Worth knowing

Age, flagged automatically

FarmHQ already knows an animal's date of birth from its passport record, so when a death is logged, it flags on the spot whether the BSE testing rule applies, rather than leaving the calculation to be done from memory.

See how FarmHQ works

What does the checker give for real animals, month by month?

Four animals worked through the way the checker does it, counting completed months from birth to death. These are examples, not advice for your own cattle.

UK-born, born 10 March 2022, died 5 March 2026: 47 completed months. Under 48, so no test.
Same animal, died 11 April 2026: 49 months, so it is tested.
Born outside the EU on 6 June 2024, died 20 July 2026: 25 months. Over the 24-month line, so tested. Had it died on 2 June 2026 it would be 23 months and no test.

The edge is the exact month. Dying on 10 March 2026, that first animal is exactly 48 months, and the checker says test. GOV.UK says cattle must be tested if older than 48 months, so testing at exactly 48 is the cautious reading. If yours is within a day or two of the line, ring your collector or APHA before you decide not to test.

What does the 24 hour and 72 hour clock look like over a weekend?

Say a UK-born cow over 48 months is found dead at 4pm on Friday 9 October 2026. Collection must be arranged by 4pm on Saturday 10 October, and the body must be sampled before 4pm on Monday 12 October. That follows the England regulations: arrange collection within 24 hours, or deliver it yourself within 72 hours, and the collector must get it there in time for sampling before 72 hours from death.

Guidance such as the Business Companion page for England says "a further 48 hours". That is the same 72 hours worked out as 24 plus 48, so count from the death and treat 72 hours as the stop, not 48 hours from whenever you rang. The Welsh regulations run both periods from when the death was discovered. If you do not know when it died, ring as soon as you find it.

Does the rule change in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland?

The age lines are the same in outline. The Scottish Government gives 48 months and 24 months, says Scottish islands except Skye and Bute are exempt from BSE surveillance, and its disposal guidance says most keepers in the remote area must still send adult fallen cattle to a sampling site. If a carcase cannot be recovered, it says to report it immediately to your local APHA office.

In Northern Ireland, DAERA says cattle over 48 months that die or are killed on farm are tested, and you contact an approved TSE sampling site operator within 24 hours. The NI regulations exempt Rathlin and the Copeland Islands. Reporting a death is covered in the ScotEID, EIDCymru and NIFAIS guide.

What does the checker not know about your animal?

It only knows the dates and the country you tick. Three things sit outside it. First, Croatia. GOV.UK's BSE page puts Croatia with Bulgaria and Romania in the 24-month group, while the Scottish Government page names only Bulgaria, Romania and non-EU countries. The checker follows the second. If the animal was born in Croatia, ask APHA before relying on it.

Second, how it died. The rule is for fallen stock, emergency slaughter and animals found sick after death, not healthy cattle sent for human consumption. Third, the birth date itself, which is only as good as the passport, so check it first.

What happens after the result, and what still has to be recorded?

Testing does not replace reporting. Within seven days the death still goes in the holding register, to BCMS, and the passport comes back, as the same Business Companion page sets out. Our guides cover the 7-day death report and the holding register.

At the site a brain stem sample is taken, and in Wales the operator keeps the body pending the result. Under England and Wales regulations the owner pays the sampling site operator's expenses, and GOV.UK says government pays to transport and test the sample. Collection is a separate charge, covered in the fallen stock scheme cost guide. Under the age line, the disposal rules apply as normal.

What do farmers actually ask?

How does this checker decide if BSE testing is needed?

It works out the animal's age in months at the date of death and compares that to the relevant threshold: 48 months for cattle born in the UK or in an EU member state other than Bulgaria or Romania, and 24 months for cattle born elsewhere. If the age at death meets or exceeds that threshold, testing is required.

What if the animal is under the age threshold?

No BSE test is required. The carcass still has to go through the standard approved fallen stock disposal route, it just does not need TSE sampling first.

How fast do I need to act once I know testing is required?

Contact an approved collector within 24 hours of the animal's death, and the carcass must reach an approved sampling site within a further 48 hours, roughly 72 hours from death to sampling in total.

Is a cow put down on the farm or sent for emergency slaughter tested too?

GOV.UK lists cattle sent for emergency slaughter, found sick on inspection after death, and fallen stock as needing a test above the age lines. Healthy cattle sent for human consumption are tested only in narrower cases. Which group yours is in is a question for your vet or APHA. Our BSE testing guide covers fallen stock.

Can I bury or burn a fallen cow that needs testing?

No. The England, Wales and Northern Ireland regulations all forbid destroying the body before it has been sampled, and burial or burning of fallen stock is banned in most places anyway. Keep it covered and away from animals until collection. If it truly cannot be recovered, report it to APHA.

Is the test price included in the collection price?

Do not assume so. The owner pays the sampling site operator's expenses and the collection tariff is billed separately, so ask your collector what a quote covers before you need it. We could not confirm the Northern Ireland position from the pages we read, so ask DAERA or your sampling site.