Lameness is the most significant welfare problem in sheep, affecting 2-10% of flocks at any time, and the development of validated scoring tools has enabled systematic monitoring and management.
Lameness in sheep causes real and measurable pain that is often undertreated due to stoicism, the cost of individual handling in large flocks, and a cultural tendency to accept a degree of lameness as normal. Sheep with foot rot have painful necrotising lesions in the hoof that worsen rapidly without treatment. Severely lame sheep are unable to move to pasture normally, causing nutritional deprivation that compounds their welfare compromise. Lameness reduces reproductive performance in ewes and growth in lambs. The development of validated mobility scoring systems has transformed lameness management from a subjective assessment to a measurable welfare indicator with clear intervention thresholds. Farms that implement regular scoring, rapid treatment protocols, and vaccination programs achieve substantially lower lameness prevalence without increased costs when improved productivity is accounted for.