Footrot causes severe lameness in sheep and is the leading welfare-significant disease in the UK flock, with evidence-based management strategies that dramatically reduce its prevalence.
Footrot welfare harm is both painful and prolonged: infected sheep cannot bear weight normally, reducing grazing ability and nutritional intake while experiencing chronic pain. Detection delays in large flocks mean many animals suffer for weeks before treatment. The Five-Point Plan for sheep lameness — including vaccination, treatment speed targets, and culling of persistently lame individuals — provides farmers with a practical welfare improvement framework that has measurably reduced lameness prevalence on adopting farms.