Sheep are managed in diverse grazing systems across the UK and globally. The welfare implications of different systems vary significantly with season, management intensity and landscape context.
Sheep welfare varies dramatically across seasons and production systems. Upland sheep grazing mountain terrain face genuine winter hardship - nutritional stress during periods of snow cover, hypothermia risk in extreme weather, and the welfare costs of difficult births on open hillsides. Lowland ewes in intensive indoor lambing systems face different challenges - high stocking densities, separation from natural outdoor environments and the stress of human management during parturition. Lameness is the most persistent welfare challenge regardless of system, with footrot and scald causing pain that often goes undetected until severely impaired. Fly strike is an acute welfare emergency - blowfly larvae consume living tissue causing rapid deterioration and death without prompt intervention. The welfare of sheep is significantly affected by the attention and skill of individual stockpeople.