Premium Cattle Health Scheme member resources

Each disease has a set of different sample requirements. Please download our PCHS quick guide for more information. All samples should be sent to St Boswells following Royal Mail guidelines.

PCHS blood samples – please use red top tubes. Samples should be dispatched to us within 48 hours of collection and refrigerated until dispatch
PCHS milk samples – must be used with preservative
PCHS BVD ear tissue samples – please keep tags in a cool dry place (DO NOT FREEZE) and submit in batches every two weeks to prevent sample deterioration

We have agreements with the ear tag companies Quicktag and Murray Farmcare, who will include the PCHS lab submission form for combined tag and test when you order tags. Caisley operates a 'Pay as you Go' system, so you are free to choose a lab. However, if sending it to PCHS you must use the Pay as you go form.

We also work with other tag brands, but agreements change from time to time. Please check when ordering that a tag manufacturer has a testing agreement with us. You can also buy tags independently and send them to our lab, but you must register your animals with BCMS before submitting.

BVD test results from other laboratories

We accept a limited number of test results from other laboratories to achieve first qualifying pass only. For clients who continue to use another testing lab for BVD tag and test for their own records, we advise that you carry out a check test via PCHS each year (please make sure you blood test five unvaccinated animals between 9-18 months of age in each management group, totalling at least seven animals) so that we can enter these results onto the PCHS database.