Sheep Shearing Welfare and Stockperson Skill

Shearing is a welfare necessity for woolled sheep breeds but the experience for individual sheep varies greatly depending on handler skill, equipment and technique.

Key Facts

All woolled sheep breeds in the UK must be shorn annually - failure to shear causes wool blindness, fly strike and heat stress
Approximately 16 million sheep are shorn in the UK annually during spring and early summer
Professional shearers using machine shearing can shear up to 200+ sheep per day
Shearing injuries including cuts to teats, scrotum and skin folds cause welfare harm if not treated promptly
Sheep are restrained in unfamiliar postures during shearing causing some distress in most animals
Acoustic studies show sheep vocalise significantly during shearing compared to other handling procedures
Post-shearing thermal management is important - recently shorn sheep are vulnerable to cold and wet weather

Welfare Considerations

Sheep shearing welfare depends primarily on shearer skill and experience. An experienced shearer minimises restraint time, avoids unnecessary cuts and handles sheep efficiently with minimum distress. Training and certification of shearers is important for welfare quality assurance. Sheep acclimatised to handling through prior contact with humans are less stressed during shearing than those with minimal human contact. Post-shearing welfare includes monitoring for hypothermia in cold weather and treating any shearing cuts promptly. The welfare of shearing is improved through handler training, farm welfare planning and appropriate post-shearing monitoring rather than attempting to develop alternative methods for which there is currently no viable substitute.

What You Can Do

Ensure shearing is conducted by trained, experienced shearers with certification where available
Monitor newly shorn sheep carefully for hypothermia in cold or wet post-shearing weather
Treat any shearing cuts promptly to prevent infection and welfare harm
Habituate sheep to human handling from an early age to reduce shearing stress
Support shearer training programs that include welfare components in their curriculum