Lameness affects a significant proportion of sheep in commercial flocks, causing chronic pain and reduced welfare that is frequently underestimated and undertreated in pastoral farming contexts.
Sheep lameness represents one of the most pervasive welfare problems in commercial pastoral farming — a painful condition affecting millions of sheep annually that is frequently normalized in farm culture. The welfare harm is substantial: chronic lameness causes pain throughout the day during grazing and locomotion, reduces the ability to compete for food and social access, and when untreated, causes progressive tissue damage. Research on shepherd perception of sheep pain consistently finds underestimation relative to objective pain indicators. The five-point lameness plan — a structured prevention and management approach — has demonstrated meaningful reductions in lameness prevalence on farms that implement it consistently. Cultural change in sheep farming that takes lameness pain seriously is as important as technical knowledge.