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This book features four peer-reviewed reviews on improving the health and welfare of ewes and lambs.
The first chapter provides a comprehensive overview of some of the major welfare considerations affecting ewes, including longevity, mortality, undernutrition and body condition score, environment and housing, lameness and foot rot, ectoparasites and on-farm euthanasia.
The second chapter explores the role of precision livestock farming (PLF) and other digital technologies in addressing key health and welfare challenges faced by sheep. The chapter summarises the range of PLF technologies, from automatic feeders and accelerometers, to GPS collars and proximity sensors.
The third chapter examines the main issues affecting the welfare of lambs, including the handling and training of lambs from birth, causes of lamb mortality, techniques for marking lambs, as well as issues regarding the weaning of lambs and the control of infectious diseases in the lamb population.
The final chapter discusses neonatal lamb mortality and the factors that can contribute to the death of newborn lambs, including dystocia and colostrum intake. The chapter also reviews the impacts of internal factors (genetics, ewe parity, litter size, lamb gender) and management interactions (nutrition, lambing environment, fostering/artificial rearing) on lamb survival.
- 1.Improving the welfare of ewes: A. L. Ridler and K. J. Griffiths, Massey University, New Zealand;
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Longevity, mortality, undernutrition and body condition score
- 3 Environment and housing
- 4 Lambing management and dystocia
- 5 Vaginal prolapse
- 6 Lameness and foot rot
- 7 Ectoparasites
- 8 On-farm euthanasia
- 9 Summary and future trends
- 10 Where to look for further information
- 11 References
Chapter taken from: Greyling, J. (ed.), Achieving sustainable production of sheep, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2017, (ISBN 978 1 78676 084 5)
- 2.The use of precision livestock technologies in managing sheep health and welfare: Claire Morgan-Davies, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), UK;
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Addressing health and welfare challenges: parasites
- 3 Addressing health and welfare challenges: mastitisand lameness
- 4 Addressing health and welfare challenges: nutrition,grazing, heat stress and water intake
- 5 Addressing health and welfare challenges: socialinteractions and parturition
- 6 Case study: using TechCare to improve smallruminant welfare
- 7 Summary: how research can contribute to enhancedand sustainable livestock production
- 8 Future trends in research
- 9 Where to look for further information
- 10 References
Chapter taken from: Stubbings, L. and Phillips, K. (eds.), Advances in sheep production, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2025, (ISBN 978 1 80146 802 2)
- 3.Improving the welfare of lambs: K. Stafford, Massey University, New Zealand;
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Handling and training lambs
- 3 Lamb mortality
- 4 Marking of lambs
- 5 Growing lambs
- 6 Summary and future trends
- 7 Where to look for further information
- 8 References
- 9 Where to look for further information
- 10 References
Chapter taken from: Greyling, J. (ed.), Achieving sustainable production of sheep, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2017, (ISBN 978 1 78676 084 5)
- 4.Advances in improving lamb survival and health: C.M. Dwyer, Scotland’s Rural College, UK;
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Neonatal lamb mortality
- 3 Risk factors for neonatal lamb mortality
- 4 Lamb health
- 5 Lamb welfare
- 6 Case study: the role of lamb behaviour in survival
- 7 Conclusion
- 8 Future trends in research
- 9 Where to look for further information
- 10 References
Chapter taken from: Stubbings, L. and Phillips, K. (eds.), Advances in sheep production, Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2025, (ISBN 978 1 80146 802 2)