Sheep welfare science is advancing beyond minimum standards to identify positive welfare indicators that reflect genuine flourishing, providing farmers with practical tools to assess and improve flock quality of life.
The shift toward positive welfare assessment in sheep reflects growing recognition that preventing suffering, while necessary, is not sufficient for genuinely good welfare. Flocks that are disease-free and well-nourished but housed in barren environments without social opportunities or environmental complexity are not experiencing positive welfare. Practical positive welfare indicators including play behavior frequency, ear posture scoring, and qualitative behavioral assessment give farmers accessible tools to evaluate whether their flock is merely surviving or genuinely thriving.