Accurate pain recognition in sheep is essential for timely welfare intervention. Recent advances including the sheep grimace scale are improving pain detection in this traditionally underserved species.
Sheep are among the most stoic of farm animals, having evolved to minimise visible pain expression to avoid predator attention. This prey-species trait means that by the time a sheep is visibly lame or distressed, it is often in significant pain. Facial action coding systems like the SGS bypass this masking by reading involuntary facial muscle tension that reflects pain even when behaviour remains normal. Training sheep handlers and veterinarians in SGS use substantially improves pain detection and treatment rates. Painful procedures including castration, tail docking and dehorning are routine in commercial sheep production and largely performed without analgesia in many countries. Providing meloxicam or other appropriate analgesia for these procedures represents a highly cost-effective welfare improvement.