Sheep welfare across farming systems is shaped by husbandry practices that vary enormously between extensive pastoral and intensive indoor systems.
Sheep welfare is complicated by their prey animal psychology — sheep mask signs of illness and pain more effectively than most domestic species, making welfare monitoring particularly demanding. Good sheep welfare requires trained stockpeople who know normal behavior, regular health monitoring, and rapid response to illness. The scale of global sheep production and the extensive systems in which many are kept make individual welfare monitoring challenging but not impossible where management commitment exists.