Adequate nutrition is fundamental to sheep welfare, yet nutritional deficiencies and imbalances remain common causes of suffering in sheep farming, particularly during pregnancy, lactation, and winter.
Nutritional welfare in sheep is a preventable welfare crisis. Pregnancy toxaemia causes ewes to become recumbent, disoriented, and unable to eat, often dying without prompt treatment. The suffering involved is significant and largely preventable through proper body condition scoring and late-pregnancy supplementation. Trace element deficiencies causing white muscle disease lead to lambs that cannot stand or nurse, suffering from muscle degeneration. Farmers who understand sheep nutritional requirements, monitor body condition regularly, and act proactively during critical periods dramatically improve the welfare outcomes of their flocks.