Shearing is a necessary husbandry procedure for woolled sheep but causes significant acute stress and injury risk when performed by unskilled or rushed shearers.
Shearing is unavoidable for most domestic sheep breeds due to the selective breeding that produced wool that grows continuously without shedding. The welfare challenge is to minimise the stress and injury associated with an inherently stressful procedure. Skilled shearers who handle sheep confidently and efficiently cause significantly less stress than unskilled handlers, and the industry-wide quality of shearing directly determines the welfare experience of tens of millions of animals annually. The move toward mulesing-free wool is welfare-positive as mulesing causes significant pain even when performed with pain relief, but shearing itself remains a welfare event requiring attention. Post-shearing weather protection, especially for ewes near lambing, is a simple welfare measure that prevents hypothermia mortality.