Insights into the behaviours and attitudes of UK sheep farmers towards preventative health and breeding practices

The Flock Health Checklist online survey was designed to gather information directly from UK sheep farmers to identify key challenges. The survey received 966 responses from individual sheep farmers. Data were analysed to identify common behaviours across a range of farming practices. For example, 37% of farmers did not have a flock health plan, 42% did not know their lamb loss rate and 31% did not know their ewe barren rate. The findings can be used to identify areas requiring improvement within the sheep farming sector and to inform recommendations such as promoting systematic record-keeping, encouraging the adoption of best practices and leveraging government support through initiatives such as the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway and the Food Animal Initiative Farms Five Point Plan for lameness, to improve overall flock health and productivity.