Farm Sheep Lambing Season Welfare

The lambing season is the highest-welfare-risk period in sheep farming, with hypothermia, mismothering, and neonatal disease causing significant mortality and suffering.

Key Facts

Lamb mortality in the first three days of life accounts for over 70% of all losses in UK sheep farming systems
Hypothermia is the most common cause of early lamb death, often combined with starvation from mismothering
Ewes with multiple lambs have higher rates of mismothering, particularly with triplets where one lamb is often rejected
Adequate colostrum intake within 6 hours of birth is critical for immune protection and neonatal survival
Shelter provision during lambing significantly reduces hypothermia mortality, especially in outdoor spring-lambing systems
Regular lambing checks, particularly at night, allow early intervention for ewes with difficulties and chilled lambs
Ewe body condition score at lambing is a strong predictor of lambing difficulty, lamb vigor, and milk production

Welfare Considerations

The welfare challenges of the lambing period are intense, time-compressed, and affect thousands of animals per farm. The suffering associated with hypothermia — where lambs progressively lose the ability to regulate body temperature and die — is severe. Mismothered lambs that starve despite having a mother present face a prolonged welfare crisis. The solutions are well-understood: shelter, body condition management, adequate lambing checks, and rapid intervention skills. Farms that invest in lambing management infrastructure and training show dramatically lower welfare-significant mortality rates.

What You Can Do

Support farms that invest in lambing shelters, dedicated lambing paddocks, and staffed night checks
Choose lamb products from farms with documented lambing welfare protocols and low mortality targets
Advocate for lambing welfare being included in sheep welfare certification standards with monitoring requirements
Support agricultural training programs that teach lambing intervention skills to new farmers
Donate to veterinary outreach programs that support small-scale sheep farmers with lambing protocols and equipment