Sheep are emotionally complex animals who build strong bonds with their lambs and even have best friends – bonds that can last entire lifetimes! The farming of sheep is considered more natural than other forms of farming, simply because most individuals are housed outdoors – but this comes with its own shortcomings, such as a lack of shelter from adverse weather and risk of disease. There are around 31 million sheep in the UK, all of whom will still be subjected to cruel procedures and mutilations, and eventual slaughter.
Most lambs are born in the spring, but many are born earlier in the winter months in order to supply the lucrative Easter market. Lamb mortality is extremely high with more than 10% dying within their first month of life. With around 16 million lambs born in 2021, this accounted for 1.6 million deaths due to exposure, disease and malnutrition. Contrary to what some farmers believe, fox predation accounts for less than 1% of lamb mortality and those killed by foxes are likely to be already weak or sick. Those who survive will be slaughtered at around 4 months of age.
Shortly after birth, lambs are subjected to two painful mutilations: castration and tail docking. The industry says that castration is necessary to reduce aggression and prevent unplanned breeding, yet lambs are typically slaughtered before reaching sexual maturity – in reality, it’s done to encourage quicker weight gain and ‘better’ carcass quality. The most common method of castration is to restrict blood supply to the testicles using a tight rubber ring, causing them to wither and drop off. If the ring is applied when the lamb is less than seven days old – which it usually is – there is no legal requirement to use anaesthetic.
The same method is applied to tail docking, which the British Veterinary Association claim is the “only practical means” of managing fly infestations (known as ‘fly strike’ or ‘blow fly’) – and yet, populations of wild sheep have no need for either mutilation. Again, there is no legal requirement to use anaesthetic and even where pain relief is provided, these mutilations can lead to blood loss, infection, and chronic pain – so much so that lambs may stop feeding.
Once mutilated, some farmers will forcibly wean lambs as early as 8 weeks of age, because feeding them grass encourages quicker weight gain. In natural conditions, lambs would suckle and stay with their mothers for 4-6 months.
The number of ewes giving birth to triplets (and even quadruplets) is increasing due to selective breeding, because more lambs equal more money for the farmer. But ewes only have two teats, so the ‘spare’ lamb is typically removed and given to another lactating ewe with a spare teat (one who has birthed a single lamb, for example). If she doesn’t readily accept the young interloper, she may be tethered in an ‘adopter box’, which is a kind of medieval stock that allows the orphaned lamb to suckle.
The alternatives are equally disturbing, such as feeding the ‘spare’ lamb with a tube that’s threaded down their throat and into the stomach (known as ‘gavaging’), which is extremely stressful for young lambs and likely to cause injury. Another method is for the farmer to simulate birth by inserting his hand deep into the ewe’s vagina, tricking her into thinking that she has given birth to the ‘spare’ lamb. In some cases, where the adoptive mother’s own lamb has died, farmers will remove the skin of the dead newborn and cover the ‘spare’ lamb with it – the familiar smell tricks the adoptive mother into thinking the lamb is her own.
Despite these disturbing efforts, lamb mortality continues to increase as ewes give birth to more lambs, with only a 67.5% chance of survival for triplets compared to 89.5% for single lambs.
Industry demand for high rates of reproductivity and for lambs to be born at the same time (which is more convenient for farmers) means artificial insemination is becoming more common. This invasive procedure involves upending the animal onto her back and placing her on a rack while semen is inserted directly into her womb. Disturbingly, to acquire semen in the first place, male sheep are either masturbated by hand or have an electric probe inserted into their anus which stimulates ejaculation by administering an electric shock. This process (known as ‘electroejaculation’) has been shown to cause stress even in individuals who are regularly abused in this way.
The physical burden of birthing so many lambs, plus being housed outdoors in all weathers, takes a physical toll on sheep. Infections and miscarriages are common, while lameness is endemic with an estimated 3 million sheep in the UK being lame at any one time. As there is less human contact with sheep than other commonly farmed species, sheep can die alone and unseen, taking hours or even days to die because the farmer simply hasn’t noticed. At least 1 in 20 adult sheep die every year before reaching the slaughterhouse.
Farmed sheep have their woolly coats sheared at least once a year because, unlike wild populations of sheep, they no longer moult naturally. As prey animals, the experience of being handled and forcibly restrained is incredibly stressful – and with no legal requirement for shearers to be experienced or qualified, there is a high risk of injury and spread of disease if equipment is not sufficiently cleaned. In fact, shearers are actually incentivised to rush the process by receiving ‘piece-rate pay’ (paid per animal) which increases the chance of cuts and injuries. It’s common for countryside fetes and fairs to run sheep-shearing competitions – some even let members of the public ‘have a go’.
Once upon a time, wool was a main source of income for sheep farmers but now it’s merely an inconvenience with wool as a material making very little profit, if any. Hence, little attention is paid to monitoring the practice or to the animal’s welfare.
Slaughtering sheep and lambs
Like most female animals in modern farming, a ewe will be culled once her fertility decreases, or she starts needing assistance during birth. She’ll then be transported to the slaughterhouse to be killed, butchered, and sold as ‘mutton’ between 3-6 years old, despite a natural lifespan of well over 10 years.
Her lambs will either replace her as part of the breeding flock or will be sent to slaughter between 6-7 months of age. Sheep are most commonly stunned using electric tongs, which are placed on either side of the animal’s head. Another method is the penetrative captive bolt, which is shot into the sheep’s skull. The effectiveness of both methods is precarious, depending largely on accuracy, time taken to death, and how many attempts it takes to work – all causing immense suffering. Sheep are then shackled by the hind leg, hoisted into the air, and ‘bled out’.
UK law states that all animals must be stunned before slaughter. However, there are exceptions, such as non-stun slaughter for religious purposes. In 2022, 23% of the 219,000 sheep slaughtered were not stunned prior to killing making them the second most commonly non-stunned species after goats (25%). Sheep may also be exported live to other countries where they’ll be subjected to conditions and slaughter methods even worse than those described here. A 2019 freedom of information (FOI) request revealed that 30,980 sheep were sent to countries over 2,000 miles away. For consumers, there is no way to purchase sheep and lamb products without also supporting live animal exports.
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