Winter management of sheep requires careful attention to nutrition, shelter, and health monitoring to maintain welfare through challenging conditions.
Winter sheep welfare is primarily determined by nutritional management and shelter provision for pregnant animals. Late gestation ewes carrying twins or triplets have energy requirements that outdoor winter grazing cannot meet, requiring targeted supplementary feeding. Pregnancy toxemia — caused by energy deficit in late pregnancy — causes profound depression, inability to stand, and death without prompt treatment, representing significant acute welfare harm that is entirely preventable through appropriate nutrition management. Shelter provision on hill farms where exposure to wind and rain increases energy expenditure is an important welfare measure. Regular body condition scoring through winter provides early warning of nutritional inadequacy before clinical disease develops.