Husbandry and welfare of sheep

Ensuring that the care, handling, moving and welfare of livestock is of a consistent and high level across the industry is essential and demonstrates to consumers and export markets that we take the care and welfare of our livestock seriously.

As global leaders in livestock welfare, being able to demonstrate continued progress within UK flocks, delivered through the expertise of professional stockpeople, supports domestic and international trade while creating a positive work environment for farm employees.

The UK was the first country in the world to pass legislation to protect animals, and current legislation and policies help the UK in achieving a high World Animal Protection rank index. 

Sheep Welfare Strategy

The UK Sheep Welfare Strategy was launched in 2023 with support and funding from AHDB.

This collaborative industry vision, with shared ownership, is designed to enable the industry to demonstrate progress in the welfare of the national UK sheep flock over a five-year period. The data gathered will provide evidence-based reassurance to customers about the care that goes into producing their food.

The strategy has six strategic goals for sheep welfare, consisting of:

• Healthy feet
• Appropriate body condition
• Thriving lambs
• Collaborative flock management
• Positive welfare
• Sheep comfort

Healthy feet

Good stockpeople are essential for effective management of lameness in sheep as control and treatment depends on correct identification, with the most common causes being infectious.

Lameness is a serious issue for the sheep industry as it indicates pain and discomfort and impacts productivity.

Appropriate body condition

Providing a nutritious diet for sheep that is appropriate for each stage of production is essential to achieve full health and good welfare. The professional expertise of the stockperson is critical in enabling this.

Soil, grass and feed samples help make informed decisions to optimise grazing management, ewe performance, fertility and profitability while enhancing flock welfare.

Contingency planning for drought and floods is vital to ensure continuity of high standards of welfare during challenging periods.

Challenge Sheep, an AHDB Beef & Lamb-funded project, was initiated to develop best practices for managing replacement ewes and how this can affect their lifetime performance.

A large component of this project monitored the body condition score (BCS) and weight of ewes throughout the breeding cycle.

Thriving lambs

Castration in lambs

There are various options when it comes to castrating ram lambs.

Reviewing and, where practical, reducing the need to castrate lambs, alongside replacing and refining the method used, will help you optimise the welfare and productivity of your flock.

Colostrum

Measuring and monitoring colostrum quality immediately after birth ensures your team give lambs the best start in life.

This reduces lifelong levels of disease and reduces the need for medicines while minimising the environmental impact and enhancing flock welfare.

Colostrum provides lambs with essential immunoglobulins that help protect them against diseases and is crucial for lamb survival.

Remember the three Qs: Quantity, Quality and Quickly.

Mastitis

Mastitis is inflammation of the mammary gland, often caused by a bacterial infection; it can present as subclinical infection or clinical disease.

Mastitis is painful, leads to loss of udder function and reduced milk production, which will hinder growing lambs and can be fatal for the ewe.

Collaborative flock management (health planning)

Collaborative health planning with your vet and advisers to plan ahead and make informed decisions can support optimal health and welfare for your flock.

Creating an active, flexible and bespoke health plan allows you to improve the effectiveness of disease control on your farm by managing protocols, product choices and time of application.

Positive welfare

Positive welfare ensures all management decisions are made with a commitment to welfare and are considered through the eyes of the flock.

This includes positive social interactions with other sheep/lambs, as well as humans, and an appreciation of sheep behaviour in all areas of flock management.

Some key areas include gathering, handling, transport and housing.

Sheep comfort

Building design

Good stockperson training and skills, as well as the environment, buildings and handling equipment, need to be maintained to optimise sheep comfort.

Proactive pain management

Ensuring you have a proactive pain management plan is important to maximise the comfort of your sheep and help them overcome disease and injury.

These plans should include achieving rapid detection and treatment, with prompt and effective decision making for pain relief and euthanasia, where necessary.

Further information