National Organic Standards Board

Livestock Committee

Proposed Discussion Document

March 28, 2012

Guidance for Assessing Animal Welfare on Organic Sheep Operations

The following is provided to aid in assessment of whether or not the 

requirements of § 205.238-241 are being met sufficiently to demonstrate 

adequate animal welfare conditions on organic sheep operations.

Nutritional requirements 

Body condition scoring of sheep

Because wool covering makes visual examination of sheep body condition 

more difficult than with other species of livestock, body condition scoring may be 

helpful in determining whether the nutritional requirements of the ewe flock are

being met and also in assessing the health status of sheep.

Estimated external fat cover is used as a base for estimating body 

condition. The fingertips are used to palpate fat cover over and around the 

vertebrae in the loin region. The best area to palpate is just behind the last rib. 

The spinal column has a vertical process at the midpoint of the back and a 

transverse process horizontal to the back and just below the loin. The 

prominence of these two points, or their lack of prominence due to fat cover, is 

helpful when estimating body condition. The recommended scoring system uses 

body condition scores ranging from 0 to 5. A condition score of 0 indicates 

extreme emaciation; a score of 5 represents excessive obesity. A condition 

score of 2.5-3 is considered as a medium fat-condition score for a healthy ewe at 

breeding and starting into the late gestation stage of pregnancy. If, within a 

“uniform” group or flock, several or more ewes differ from the majority in body 

condition score it may mean they are parasitized, diseased, aged (lacking teeth) 

or have other non-nutritional problems. As a rule, no more than 5% of the ewe 

flock should be below target body condition scores for the stage of production.

Scoring:

1. Feel for fullness of muscle and fat cover. (illustration)

2. Feel for the spine in the center of the sheep’s back behind the last rib and 

anterior to the hipbone. (illustration)

3. Feel for the tips of the transverse processes. (illustration)

Target body condition scores based on stage of production

Dry Ewe 1.5-2.0

Breeding 2.5-3.0

Early Gestation 2.0-2.5

Late Gestation* 2.5-3.0

Early Lactation* 3.0-3.5

LC 1 Animal Welfare-Sheep
Late Lactation, Weaning 2.0-2.5

*Add .5 to the target score for ewes expecting or nursing twins.

Body Condition Score 0: Sheep is extremely thin, unthrifty and weak. Skeletal 

features, such as backbone, shoulder blades and ribs, very prominent. Wasted 

muscle tissue evident. Eye socket is prominent and sunken. May be humped 

back and isolates self from flock (illustration)

Body Condition Score 1: Sheep is extremely thin, unthrifty but agile. Skeletal 

features are prominent with no fat cover. No apparent muscle tissue 

degeneration. Has strength to remain with the flock (illustration)

Body Condition Score 2: Sheep is thin but strong and thrifty with no apparent 

muscle structure wasting. No evident fat cover over the backbone, rum and ribs, 

but skeletal features do not protrude (illustration)

Body Condition Score 3: Sheep are thrifty with evidence of limited fat deposits 

in fore rib, over top of shoulder, backbone, and tail head. Hipbone remains 

visible (illustration)

Body Condition Score 4: Moderate fat deposits give the sheep a smooth 

external appearance over the shoulder, back, rump, and fore rib. Hipbone is not 

visible. Firm fat deposition becomes evident in brisket and around the tail head

(illustration)

Body Condition Score 5: Sheep are extremely fat with the excess detectable 

over the shoulder, backbone, rump, and fore rib. Excess fat deposits in brisket, 

flank, and tail head regions lack firmness. Sheep appear uncomfortable and 

reluctant to move about. Quality fleeces are generally found (illustration)

Other areas of importance in providing adequate nutrition to sheep:

• Sheep need to be provided with enough roughage in the diet to ensure 

proper rumen function. After weaning, 70% of daily dry matter fed should 

be long fiber roughage/forage.

• There should be sufficient access to forage when fed that all sheep have 

sufficient access to meet their nutritional requirements within 24 hours.

• If supplementary concentrates are fed, all animals in a group should be 

able to eat at the same time.

• Ewe lambs should not be bred unless they have reached 70% of their 

mature body weight. If ewe lambs are bred to lamb before they are 18 

months of age, they may need to be fed separately from the ewe flock to 

ensure adequate nutrition during gestation.

• Lambs should not be weaned before 5 weeks of age. Early weaned 

lambs need a high-protein ration and should not be put on forage only.

• If culling does not remove older sheep with damaged or missing teeth 

from the flock, attention should be given to providing sufficient feed of a 

type these sheep can eat and digest.

LC 2 Animal Welfare-Sheep
Sheep health

When managed in a pasture-based or range system as required by 

organic production, with attention to suitability of species, and selective breeding 

for desirable traits, sheep can require few health inputs, require little lambing 

intervention, operator- or veterinary-provided health treatment and yet display 

optimal health. 

Internal parasites

It is necessary for special attention to be given to managing internal 

parasites on organic sheep operations. If breed selection, pasture management, 

supplements and allowed treatments are not successful in keeping sheep 

parasite loads from impacting well-being, individual animals need to be given 

conventional treatments. Lambs are more susceptible to parasites than ewes. 

Lameness

Sheep hooves should be examined periodically or at least once yearly, 

and trimmed if necessary. 95% of the sheep should walk with no obvious limp. 

Animals with chronic or infrequent trimming management will be seen grazing on 

their knees and often will have grass stains on their knees. To simplify 

assessment, sheep can be classified as either lame or not lame. On a 5 point 

lameness scoring system, sheep that score as 3, 4, or 5 would be classified as 

lame. 

Score 1. Completely normal walking 

Score 2. No obvious limp, but may have slight gait abnormalities. 

Score 3. All sheep that walk with an obvious limp. Sheep with a score 3 are able 

to keep up with their flock mates when the group is walking. 

Score 4. All sheep that walk with an obvious limp and refuse to bear their full 

weight on one or more legs. Score 4 animals are not able to keep up with their 

flock mates when the group is walking. 

Score 5. All sheep that have great difficulty walking. Score 5 sheep are barely 

able to walk. 

Physical alterations

Tail docking should only be done if needed for prevention of fly strike. 

When necessary, tail docking should be performed by suitably trained and 

competent individuals on lambs that are between 24 hours and 14 days old. Tails 

should not be docked shorter than the distal end of the caudal tail fold.

If castration is necessary to avoid breeding by ram lambs, banding should 

be done by suitably trained and competent individuals on lambs that are between 

24 hours and no more than 30 days old.

Sheep living conditions

Flocks may be managed with only natural shelter, depending upon 

climate, breed and lambing season. If sheep are housed or fed in lots, conditions 

should be such to maintain a cleanliness score or 1 or 2 for 95% of the flock.

LC 3 Animal Welfare-Sheep
Cleanliness Scoring 

Fleece maintenance is necessary to prevent manure from accumulating 

on the back end, rear legs and tail if present. The presence of manure in the 

fleece is an indicator of poor management that can lead to low conception rates 

and harbor external parasites. Messy rear ends may be due to washy forage 

growth or may be from untreated internal parasite loads. Excessive wool growth 

is problematic for newborn lambs to find the nipple and receive the valuable 

colostrum. 

Score 1. The entire sheep is clean except its feet and lower half of the legs. 

Animals on lush green pastures may have some soiling of the rear legs. 

Score 2. Both the upper and lower legs are soiled and the body/breast and sides 

are clean. 

Score 3. Both the legs and belly are soiled. 

Score 4. The legs, belly and sides of the body are soiled. 

95% of the sheep should have a cleanliness score of 1 or 2. 

Space allowances

If sheep are confined in buildings or lots during the non-grazing season, 

the following minimum space allowances should be met. Because the standards 

require outdoor access for organic livestock unless weather conditions would be 

injurious to animal health, and because sheep tend towards respiratory 

difficulties when confined unless ventilation and moisture control is optimum, it is 

important than confinement of sheep to buildings be of a temporary nature—for 

treatment of illness, or shelter due to inclement weather, winter lambing or postshearing—and that outdoor access be provided as soon as possible.

Livestock Indoor Floor Space Outdoor Space 

Sheep and goats 

(pounds)

Square feet / animal Square feet / animal

Sheep and Goats 16.0 30.0 

Nursing lamb or kid 4.0 8.0 

For ewes with lambs add 5 square feet for lambing percentages over 170%. 

Ewes lambing in confinement should be provided with a dry, bedded area for 

lambing and should be checked at least 3 times daily during lambing time for 

lambing difficulties or unclaimed lambs. Lambing jugs (pens) as small as 16 

square feet in area may be used for up to three days for a ewe and her lamb(s) 

to separate them from the rest of the flock for a period of bonding and 

observation.

LC 4 Animal Welfare-Sheep
Pasturing sheep

Important factors in managing sheep on pasture:

• Pastures need to be rotated and rested to minimize parasite infestation.

• Sheep need to be protected from predation.

• If electronet fencing is used, it should be kept properly energized.

• Sheep on pasture should be checked at least twice/day during lambing, 

once/day otherwise.

Humane handling of sheep

Sheep should be handled quietly and firmly, with care taken to avoid 

unnecessary pain or distress. Sheep should not be caught by the fleece, or lifted 

or dragged by fleece, limbs, ears or tail. Electric prods should not be used on 

sheep.

Mortality rates in sheep production

In assessing the level of animal welfare that is met on an organic sheep 

operation, mortality rates and causes should be examined and considered. 

Mortality in sheep production is generally looked at in terms of lamb mortality 

before and after weaning and ewe mortality. 

Lamb mortality rates are impacted by the prolificacy of the ewe breed 

(multiple births=higher mortality rate) and lambing conditions. The primary 

causes of neonatal lamb death are starvation and hypothermia. A lamb survival 

rate of 95% at weaning is considered to be a goal by many sheep producers. 

Similarly, a death loss of 5% or less in weaned lambs or ewes is 

considered to be indicative of good management. Weaned lambs in organic

systems are impacted most greatly by parasites or predation. The mortality rate 

of ewes is affected by culling rate; if older ewes are kept on the farm, the 

mortality rate could be higher.

 Committee vote:

Motion: Wendy Second: Colehour

Yes: 8 No: 0 Absent: 0 Abstain: 0 Recuse: 0 

LC 5 Animal Welfare-Sheep