Falklands : Sheep Welfare Issues in the Falkland Islands (Part 1)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 09.08.2009 (Article Archived on 23.08.2009)
During the recent Farmers' Week presentations in the Town Hall I gave a talk on welfare issues with regard to the rearing of sheep in the Falkland Islands.
rticle (c) Wool Press
SHEEP - WELFARE ISSUES IN THE FALKLAND ISLANDS (PART 1)
By Steve Pointing
As Published in the Wool Press
During the recent Farmers' Week presentations in the Town Hall I gave a talk on welfare issues with regard to the rearing of sheep in the Falkland Islands. Unfortunately due to a combination of factors I ran out of available time and also encountered technical problems with the projection equipment. I do think it is important, however, that some of my concerns in this area are fully discussed - even though they may make slightly uncomfortable reading for some of you.
Why is animal welfare an issue at all in the Falkland Islands - I can hear some of you asking? Well there is our own Falkland Islands’ legislation covering welfare issues - much of it originally based on UK legislation in this area and, in particular, the 191 1 Cruelty to Animals Act from which many other pieces of legislation flow. World-wide, welfare considerations are becoming increasingly important for the keeping and farming of animals. Practices that were once considered acceptable are now being re-assessed and modified or abandoned according to new knowledge and changing attitudes in society. Increasingly our access to international markets depends on our ability to provide quality assurance in a whole range of factors but, amongst these, demonstrably high animal welfare standards are a vital part of that assurance.
More and more of you are having to diversify our farm business in order to make ends meet and one of the growth industries is in farm tourism. This means that members of the public have ample opportunity of observing some of the practices that occur on farms throughout the year and whereas they may be second nature to most of you many of these people will be seeing these practices for the first time. Try and put yourself in their shoes and imagine how they might react to something which is commonplace to you.
Bearing the above in mind I will now draw your attention to some areas of sheep farming in the Falklands that need to be considered. Underlying all the welfare considerations are a set of 5 basic requirements - the so called 5 freedoms:
. Freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition
. Freedom from discomfort - the provision of appropriate comfort and shelter
- Freedom from pain, injury and disease - the prevention, or rapid diagnosis and treatment
of injury, disease or infestation with parasites
. Freedom to display normal pattern of behaviour
. Freedom from fear and distress
Under normal Falkland lsland farming practices I think all of the first 3 freedoms mentioned above could be said to be compromised to some degree or other at different times of the year. Let us explore some of these issues in more depth.
Food and water
The minimum standard is that sheep must be provided with access to a diet which is nutritionally adequate to maintain health and meet the appropriate physiological requirements of growth, pregnancy, lactation and to withstand cold exposure. Sheep must always have access to water even if they don't appear to want to drink it very often (this is greatly affected by the moisture content of the grass they are eating). Finally where provisions for health and vitality cannot be met sheep must be moved, sold or slaughtered on site to prevent any further suffering.
Feed
We know from various studies carried out in the Falkland lslands and from farmers' personal observations that many sheep lose weight during the winter months - some to such an extent that they will not survive the winter period. In effect these sheep are starving to death. You might say that you have seen them eating and that grazing is available but if the nutrient content of winter pasture is insufficient to meet the sheep's needs then they will surely lose weight and if this happens in a pregnant ewe it will affect the growth rate of the lamb in utero and the ability of the ewe to produce sufficient milk after birth. You might not be able to manufacture more feed for your sheep over winter but, at least, you can make sure that those sheep that require it most have access to the best feed on your farm during critical periods.
Water
Sheep should not be deprived of water for more than 24 hours, and in hot, dry weather for no more than 12 hours. Is this usually the case on your farm?
Shelter
Shelter should be provided for sheep especially in cold, wet and windy conditions (the typical Fl climate for several months of each year), at lambing and after shearing. Very young lambs are particularly susceptible to hypothermia especially if they are born in wet or windy conditions. You should also be aware that if ewes are inadequately fed prior to lambing they may choose to graze soon after lambing rather than seek out suitable shelter for themselves and their lambs thus exposing their lambs to the full effects of inclement weather.
Lambing
The main cause of neonatal lamb mortality is starvation and/or hypothermia and/or mismothering. All of the aforementioned are interconnected to some extent. Lambing paddocks should be chosen so as to provide good shelter and be easily supervised. How often do you go around your lambing paddocks in the lambing season? lf the ewes are in good body condition when they lamb the chances are that they will produce an adequate supply of milk thus giving their lambs a better start in life. That first feed not only provides the lamb with antibodies against various diseases that it might encounter but is also an essential fuel to help keep it warm.
Castration/tail docking
Both of these procedures should be carried out as humanely as possible before lambs reach 10 weeks of age. The preferred method of tail docking is to use a rubber ring or hot searing iron - the latter appears to be the most popular method used in the Falkland Islands and almost certainly gives less pain to the lamb for a shorter period of time than using a rubber ring. Remember not to cut the tail too short - it should be left long enough to cover the vulva in a ewe lamb and the equivalent length for a ram lamb.
This is as far as I got with my presentation during Farmers' Week. I will continue with the rest of this article in September's Wool Press. As always I'd be very interested in receiving any of your comments about any of the issues raised so far.
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