Cold stress is a significant but often overlooked welfare concern for farmed sheep, particularly newborn lambs and recently shorn adults in winter conditions.
Cold stress causes significant preventable suffering in farmed sheep. Hypothermic lambs experience progressive muscle weakness, collapse, and loss of consciousness — a distressing process that can take many hours. Cold stress in adults causes shivering, reduced feed intake, and immune suppression. Poorly nourished ewes give birth to smaller, weaker lambs with reduced survival chances. Shearing timing that leaves sheep exposed in cold weather — sometimes driven by labor scheduling rather than welfare considerations — causes acute suffering. The welfare problems are largely preventable through adequate winter shelter, pre-lambing nutrition management, and careful shearing timing. Low-input extensive systems in harsh climates face particular challenges when shelter provision is inadequate.