Sheep change hands fast at market, and once the pen is on your trailer the paper trail is the only proof of where those animals came from and what has been done to them. Traceability is not bureaucracy for its own sake: if a disease problem surfaces later, or you need to sell the sheep on, the chain of movements and the health history are what you will be asked for. Three things need requesting before you bid, not after you have loaded.
Movement documentation
Sheep moving between holdings travel under movement documentation — a licence or movement record that identifies the departure holding, the destination holding and the animals moved. At market, the market's own paperwork usually handles the journey to the sale and your movement off it, but you should come away with copies that show both holding numbers and the number of sheep moved. Keep them filed in order; movement records are the backbone of flock traceability and inspectors can ask to see them long after the sale day. If you are buying in a region with standstill rules — a waiting period before animals can move on again — note the dates the market gives you, because those rules will govern when your new sheep can travel or mix freely.
Identification that matches the sheep
Paperwork is only worth having if it describes the animals in your pen. Sheep carry individual ear tags, and breeding sheep are double-tagged with the flock number and an individual number. Ask for the list of tag numbers being sold and check a sample of the pen against it — tags get lost, sheep get mixed between pens, and a mismatch found at home is far harder to untangle than one found at the market. For registered sheep there may also be breed society documents and transfer forms; get those signed at the sale while the seller is within reach.
The health history worth asking for
A market seller's written flock health information is gold. Ask what the flock is vaccinated against — clostridial diseases and pasteurella are the usual core — and when the last worming was done and with what type of product, because that shapes your quarantine and worming plan at home. For breeding ewes, lambing history matters: how many lambings, any recurring problems, and whether the flock has had issues such as abortion storms or resistant worms. Some of this will come through the market catalogue or the seller's declaration; the rest comes from a direct conversation before the sale. Write down what you are told on the day, while it is fresh.
Bought-in sheep should not arrive as a blank page, and KinsLe's Transferrable Profiles exist so an animal's records and history can pass with it to the new keeper — the sheep you buy carry their movement and health story with them instead of starting again from your best guess.