Sheep Nutrition and Welfare: Meeting Seasonal Demands

Sheep nutritional management must track seasonal production demands; inadequate nutrition around tupping, lambing, and peak lactation causes preventable welfare problems.

Key Facts

Ewes require 50% more energy in late pregnancy than in mid-pregnancy
Twin-bearing ewes are particularly susceptible to pregnancy toxaemia from energy deficit
Body condition scoring of ewes six weeks before mating guides supplementary feeding requirements
Metabolic disease from nutrition mismanagement is both painful and preventable

Welfare Considerations

Sheep nutrition management is a proactive welfare tool when implemented effectively and a source of preventable suffering when neglected. Pregnancy toxaemia from energy deficit in late gestation causes progressive neurological signs, recumbency, and death — one of the most distressing welfare conditions in sheep. Regular body condition scoring before and during key production phases provides early warning of nutritional risk and guides supplementary feeding decisions. Targeted nutrition improvement at high-risk periods dramatically reduces metabolic disease incidence.

What You Can Do

Support producers using systematic body condition scoring to guide nutrition management
Advocate for nutrition management requirements in sheep welfare assurance standards
Choose lamb and wool products from farms with documented nutritional monitoring programmes