Meet sheep welfare requirements on your farm

If you keep sheep, you have legal duties to protect their welfare. This applies whether you farm commercially, keep a small flock, or graze sheep on rented land. Non-compliance can result in prosecution, unlimited fines, and up to 5 years' imprisonment for the most serious animal welfare offences.

Your obligations come from three main pieces of legislation:

• the Animal Welfare Act 2006, the principal law covering all animals, which sets the duty of care and the five welfare needs
• the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007, which set minimum standards for farm animals, with Schedule 1 setting conditions for keeping sheep
• the Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) Regulations 2007, which control tail docking, castration and other procedures

You must also follow the sheep welfare code:

• You must read, understand, and have access to the sheep welfare code
• Anyone working with your sheep must also be familiar with the code
• Welfare codes are not law themselves, but courts can use failure to follow them as evidence of breaching the legislation

The Five Welfare Needs

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 requires you to meet your sheep's five welfare needs. These form the foundation of all sheep husbandry:

• a suitable environment, with appropriate shelter and a comfortable resting area
• a suitable diet, with ready access to fresh water and food that keeps them in full health
• the ability to show normal behaviour, with enough space, proper facilities and the company of other sheep
• being housed with, or apart from, other animals as appropriate
• protection from pain, injury and disease, through prevention and rapid diagnosis and treatment

Stockmanship requirements

The single most important factor in sheep welfare is the quality of stockmanship. You must have the knowledge and skills to care for sheep properly.

Required competencies

You and anyone caring for your sheep must be competent in:

• Recognising signs of good health (alertness, free movement, active feeding, rumination)
• Recognising signs of ill health (listlessness, abnormal posture, lameness, scouring, absence of cudding)
• Vaccination and drenching
• Prevention and treatment of footrot
• Prevention and treatment of internal and external parasites (including scab and fly strike)
• Tail docking and castration (if you perform these procedures)
• Lambing assistance and care of newborn lambs

Training should be from an experienced person on-farm or through a suitable training organisation. Where possible, pursue training that leads to formal recognition of competence.

Inspection frequency

You must inspect your sheep regularly - at least once daily when welfare depends on frequent human attention. During lambing, more frequent checks are essential. The frequency of inspections should increase in difficult conditions such as adverse weather or disease outbreaks.

Flock health planning

The statutory sheep welfare code expects you to prepare a written health and welfare programme for your flock. The code is not law itself, but courts can use failure to follow it as evidence of breaching welfare legislation.

Your written plan should cover:

• The yearly production cycle
• Vaccination policy and timing
• Control of external and internal parasites
• Foot care programme
• Pasture management for disease control

Develop your plan with:

• Veterinary advice
• Technical advice from specialists

Review and update your health plan every year. Keep records of basic flock outputs and health interventions. These demonstrate compliance and help you monitor flock performance.

Biosecurity for new introductions

Sheep introduced to your flock can spread disease. New sheep (including rams) should be:

• Segregated for at least 4 weeks on arrival
• Inspected and treated if necessary for diseases such as sheep scab or footrot
• If newly introduced ewes, segregated again for about 4 weeks before lambing
• Lambed separately, preferably after the main flock, to avoid introducing infectious abortion agents

Shelter and housing requirements

Sheep kept outdoors need access to shelter from adverse weather. If you house sheep, you must meet specific legal requirements.

Outdoor shelter

Sheep kept on pasture should have access to:

• Natural shelter (hedges, trees, walls, banks)
• Artificial shelter if natural shelter is inadequate
• Protection from wind, rain, and extreme temperatures

Housing requirements

If you house sheep, the following standards apply:

Legal minimum requirements:

• Materials used for construction must not be harmful and must be capable of thorough cleaning and disinfection
• No sharp edges or protrusions likely to cause injury
• Air circulation, dust levels, temperature, relative humidity and gas concentrations must not be harmful
• Sheep must have access to a lying area that is well-drained or maintained with dry bedding

Effective ventilation is essential as sheep are particularly susceptible to respiratory diseases. Buildings should permit free air circulation above sheep height while avoiding draughts at sheep level.

Sheep should be both dry and free from footrot when first housed. Treat footrot-affected sheep immediately to prevent it becoming a flock problem.

You may reduce the space allowances below by 10% for winter-shorn sheep. Keep pregnant ewes in groups of fewer than 50 where possible, so each gets individual attention at lambing.

Lambing management

A large proportion of ewe mortalities occur around lambing time. You need specific expertise to manage this period safely.

Pre-lambing preparation

• Scan to identify barren, single, twin and triplet-bearing ewes so you can manage them differently.
• Condition-score the flock and separate thin ewes and those carrying multiples for extra feeding.
• Handle heavily pregnant ewes with care to avoid distress and injury that could bring on premature lambing.
• Treat a heavily pregnant ewe promptly if she needs it, for example for lameness; do not wait until after lambing.

During lambing

• Shepherds must be experienced and competent before having sole responsibility at lambing
• Inexperienced assistance can cause severe damage when helping ewes in difficulty
• Consider indoor lambing to provide closer supervision and reduce lamb losses
• Maintain clean, dry conditions in lambing areas
• Have a plan for orphan lambs, including colostrum supplies and feeding equipment

Colostrum and milk

Classical scrapie can spread through colostrum and milk. If using replacement colostrum or milk:

• Source from flocks monitored for at least 3 years and found free of classical scrapie
• Do not use pooled colostrum or milk for genetically susceptible animals in intensive systems
• Consider using cow colostrum or artificial milk replacers as alternatives

Tail docking

Tail docking is permitted but strictly controlled:

• A trained stockkeeper may dock with a rubber ring only in the first 7 days of life. Other methods, such as a Burdizzo, need an anaesthetic after 7 days, and a vet can dock at any age.
• The remaining tail must be long enough to cover the vulva in females and the anus in males. Docking shorter than that is illegal.

In practice:

• The 7-day limit applies strictly - plan your lambing workload to ensure docking can be completed in time
• For hill flocks lambing outdoors, the 7-day window can be challenging - gather lambs promptly
• Rubber rings cause pain; research into pain relief during docking is ongoing
• Some farm assurance schemes require pain relief for docking - check your scheme requirements

Castration

Castration is permitted but the method and timing are controlled by law:

• A rubber ring, which constricts blood flow to the scrotum, may be used only in the first 7 days of life. A combined clamp and ring has the same limit.
• A Burdizzo (bloodless castrator), which crushes the spermatic cords, may be used without anaesthetic up to 3 months old.
• A stockkeeper may castrate lambs under 3 months with a knife or blade.
• From 3 months old, any method needs an anaesthetic.

The law does not require pain relief for castration within these age limits, but research shows the procedures cause pain and distress. The government's Animal Health and Welfare Pathway includes priorities to improve pain management during castration and tail docking.

Shearing

Wool grows continuously and sheep welfare is improved if they are shorn at least every 12 months.

When shearing:

• Shearers should be experienced, competent and properly trained
• Inexperienced shearers must be supervised by competent staff
• Take care not to cut the sheep's skin - treat any wounds immediately
• Clean and disinfect equipment between flocks to prevent disease spread

Plan around the weather:

• Use weather forecasts to avoid shearing before cold, wet weather
• Provide shelter to newly shorn sheep in cold conditions
• Winter shearing is only suitable if sheep are housed afterwards
• Winter-shorn sheep turned out in spring should have fleece regrown to 15-20mm and favourable weather

Foot care and lameness

Lameness is one of the most common signs of ill health in sheep. It has serious welfare implications and affects productivity. A significant percentage of chronic lameness indicates poor overall welfare standards.

Your foot care programme

A foot care programme must be part of your written health and welfare plan. It should include:

• checking feet frequently during routine handling
• paring only when necessary and with proper technique, as wrong or excessive paring damages feet
• footbathing in a suitable solution at the correct dilution
• treating infected feet promptly
• vaccinating where footrot is a persistent problem
• culling chronically lame sheep that do not respond to treatment

If footrot is a major cause of lameness or normal treatments fail, seek veterinary advice. Foot paring is a skilled procedure - if in doubt, get specialist training.

Pasture management

Total reliance on drugs to control footrot is not recommended. Pasture management is essential:

• Avoid wet, muddy conditions that promote footrot
• Rest pastures to reduce infection pressure
• Maintain well-drained fields and tracks

Feeding requirements

You must provide sheep with access to food appropriate to their age, species and in sufficient quantity for good health.

Legal requirements

• Adequate supply of fresh drinking water each day
• Access to food each day
• Diet must be wholesome and appropriate to the species
• Feeding equipment must minimise contamination and competition between animals

Special feeding needs

Pregnant ewes:

• Ewes carrying multiple lambs have higher nutritional demands
• Separate twin/triplet-bearing and thin ewes for special feeding
• Condition scoring combined with scanning allows targeted management
• Avoid sudden changes in diet, especially in late pregnancy (risk of pregnancy toxaemia/twin lamb disease)

Lactating ewes:

• Peak milk production requires adequate nutrition
• Ewes rearing twins or triplets need more feed
• Poor nutrition affects lamb growth and ewe recovery

Rams:

• Must be in appropriate body condition before tupping
• Good pre-mating management affects ovulation rate and litter size

Housed sheep trough space

Competition for food causes stress and affects welfare. Ensure adequate trough space:

• 450-500mm per ewe (60-90kg) or 400-450mm per ewe (45-60kg) for concentrates
• 10-12cm per ewe for hay/silage fed ad libitum

Transport requirements

Transporting sheep requires compliance with specific welfare regulations.

Fitness for transport

You must not transport sheep that are:

• in the last 10% of pregnancy (about 15 days before the due date)
• ewes that have given birth in the previous 7 days
• newborn lambs whose navel has not completely healed
• ill, injured, infirm or fatigued, unless moving to a vet or the nearest slaughter
• unable to get up without help, or bearing weight on only 3 legs
• chronically lame; slaughter these on the farm if they do not respond to treatment

Do not send slightly lame sheep to market or on journeys likely to make them worse. Between 1 November and 31 March, shorn sheep must have at least 7mm of staple growth and must not have been shorn in the 24 hours before the journey.

Journey times

Transport authorisation

Limited extensions may apply to domestic journeys, and animals must be unloaded, fed, watered and rested at their destination: check APHA's welfare-in-transport guidance for both.

• Journeys over 65km and up to 8 hours need a Type 1 transporter authorisation.
• Journeys over 8 hours need a Type 2 transporter authorisation.
• Business transport over 65km needs an Animal Transport Certificate or similar.
• Drivers and attendants must hold a certificate of competence.

Space allowances during transport

Record keeping and inspections

You must keep records and make them available for inspection.

Records required

• a holding register of all sheep on the holding, movements on and off, births and deaths
• an annual inventory of sheep on the holding on 1 December, returned by 31 December
• movement records with the date, number of animals and origin or destination CPH
• records of veterinary medicines given
• mortality records, including the number of animals found dead
• health records supporting your health and welfare plan

Inspections

APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency) and local authority officers have powers to enter your premises and inspect:

• Your holding register and movement records
• Ear tag compliance
• Animal welfare conditions
• Disease control compliance
• Medicine records

Records must be available for inspection for the retention periods specified above. Obstructing an inspector is a criminal offence.

Scrapie monitoring

Scrapie is a notifiable transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) affecting sheep and goats. You must report any suspicion of scrapie to APHA immediately.

Signs of scrapie

• Changes in behaviour or temperament
• Altered gait (high-stepping, hopping, lack of coordination)
• Trembling
• Scratching and rubbing against objects (hence "scrapie")
• Weight loss despite normal appetite
• Usually appears in animals 2-5 years old

If scrapie is suspected

• Contact APHA immediately on 03000 200 301
• Do NOT move sheep or goats until APHA gives clearance
• If the suspect animal dies, report this immediately
• APHA will impose movement restrictions pending investigation

If classical scrapie is confirmed

• Your holding joins the Compulsory Scrapie Flocks Scheme (CSFS)
• Movement restrictions apply for at least 2 years
• APHA may order genotyping of your flock
• Genetically susceptible animals may be culled
• Milk/milk products from affected animals cannot be used as feed for animals on other farms

Prevention through genetics

You can reduce scrapie risk by breeding for genetic resistance:

• Sheep with ARR/ARR genotype are highly resistant to classical scrapie
• Genotype testing identifies resistant and susceptible animals
• When buying replacements, request genotyping certificates
• The Scrapie Monitoring Scheme (SMS) provides flock certification

Penalties for non-compliance

Animal welfare offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 carry serious penalties, substantially increased by the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021. Cases can be tried in a magistrates' court or, for serious offences, the Crown Court.

Under the Animals (Penalty Notices) Act, fixed penalty fines of up to £5,000 can be issued for certain welfare offences without court prosecution.

If you are concerned about the welfare of livestock on another holding, contact APHA on 03000 200 301 or customeradvice@apha.gov.uk.

Next steps

To ensure you meet your sheep welfare obligations:

1. Read the Code of Recommendations for the Welfare of Livestock: Sheep.
2. Write a health and welfare programme with your vet.
3. Bring your holding register and movement records up to date.
4. Identify training needs for you and your staff.
5. Check housing, handling and feeding equipment meet requirements.
6. Make sure competent staff and adequate facilities are ready for lambing.