Ultrasound pregnancy scanning in sheep allows accurate prediction of litter size, enabling targeted nutrition management of individual ewes that substantially improves both ewe and lamb welfare outcomes.
Pregnancy scanning transforms the welfare of individual ewes and their lambs by enabling precise nutrition management during the most metabolically demanding period of a ewe's life. Without scanning, farmers must feed the flock to the average requirement — leaving single-bearing ewes overfat (increasing lambing difficulty) and triplet-bearing ewes dangerously under-nourished (causing pregnancy toxaemia, weak lambs, and mismothering). With scanning, ewes are separated into groups by litter size and fed accordingly: single ewes receive maintenance-level supplementation, twins receive moderate supplementation, and triplets receive intensive feeding that prevents the energy deficit responsible for most metabolic disease in late pregnancy. The downstream welfare benefits cascade: scanned and properly managed flocks show lower rates of metabolic disease in ewes, higher colostrum production, heavier and more vigorous lambs at birth, and better maternal behaviour. The economic case is equally strong — every correctly fed triplet ewe that avoids pregnancy toxaemia represents the cost of a season's supplementary feed saved in treatment and losses.