Sheep Welfare: Pregnancy Toxaemia Prevention Strategies

Pregnancy toxaemia (twin lamb disease) is a leading cause of ewe mortality. Evidence-based prevention strategies significantly reduce suffering and losses.

Key Facts

Pregnancy toxaemia results from negative energy balance in late pregnancy, most common with multiple foetuses
Twin and triplet-bearing ewes have significantly higher risk due to elevated foetal energy demands
The condition is preventable through appropriate nutrition and body condition scoring in late pregnancy
Body condition scoring at tupping and again at 6-8 weeks before lambing enables targeted supplementation
Ewes below condition score 2.5 at 6 weeks before lambing require additional energy supplementation
Once clinical signs appear, prognosis is poor - prevention is far more effective than treatment

Welfare Considerations

Pregnancy toxaemia causes severe suffering including weakness, recumbency, blindness, and death. The suffering is entirely preventable with appropriate late pregnancy nutrition management. The key intervention points are body condition assessment at tupping to ensure adequate fat reserves, and again in late pregnancy to identify at-risk ewes before clinical signs develop. Shepherds who systematically body condition score their flocks and provide targeted supplementation can reduce pregnancy toxaemia incidence to near zero. This is a welfare problem with a clear evidence-based solution that requires farmer knowledge and monitoring discipline.

What You Can Do

Learn to body condition score sheep and apply this throughout the production year
Support agricultural advisory services that promote evidence-based late pregnancy nutrition
Advocate for pregnancy toxaemia prevention as a core element of sheep welfare training
Choose lamb products from farms with demonstrated flock health and welfare management