Humane Treatment of Sheep at Stockdog Trials
By Mike Neary, PhD
Issue 69
As the sport of sheepdog trialing continues to grow and the general public becomes more aware of the sport, attention to matters that we have historically taken for granted or not deemed important will require increased attention. One of these areas will be humane treatment of animals; specifically dogs and sheep. I will confine my comments to the sheep aspect of this for this specific article.
First, it is hard to craft any hard and fast guidelines when approaching subjects like this, as animals are pretty unpredictable. I guess my first comment would be to try to blend together common sense with sound Animal Science principles when drawing up guidelines for humane treatment of sheep. However, it is not easy due to the many inherent differences between dog trials and it is a challenging task to get any black and white scenarios when dealing with subjects such as this.
Certainly, the more well cared for the sheep, the better the trial, and the fairer the competition.
Some of the following is pretty much based on facts, while some is based on my lifetime involvement with sheep (educated opinions).
Types of sheep
Ideally, all sheep should be sound and fit, of reasonable uniform age, sex and reproductive status. Older animals that may not stand up should be sifted. Very young animals may need to be sifted, or at the very least, allocated fairly between packets of sheep. Rams should not be co-mingled and run randomly with packets of sheep, unless there are enough for one for every packet. Rams are always causing troubles; trying to breed ewes, fighting with other rams, or more apt to fight a dog. They also cause troubles in the holding and exhaust pens, stirring up the other sheep and not allowing them to rest.
I consider it inhumane to run ewes in a trial that are in the last 1/3 of gestation (last 30 to 45 days). They tire easily, are heavy, have more elasticity in joints and ligaments due to impending lambing. Running ewes during early and mid-gestation, provided they are not rerun an inordinate amount of time is probably alright, without undue heat stress being present. Especially if they would be used for open classes, with dogs under reasonably good control.
I also consider it inhumane to run ewes in early lactation in trials. They are already under great physiological and nutritional stress due to recent parturition and early lactation. It can cause udder problems for ewes and it certainly looks painful to see a ewe running with her udder flopping from side to side and banging off her legs. Early lactation would be considered anytime in the first 30 days.
Running ewes in late lactation can be acceptable, again, provided they are well cared for and not rerun too much. Of course, there are logistical problems running ewes with lambs, especially if a shed is required. Sheep should not have more than a 12 month fleece on them when running in trials. Especially if they are running in a trial where hot weather is likely or heavy rain is likely. For hot weather trials, I would suggest no more than 6 months growth of wool. Less would be better.
Weather
This is where common sense comes into play. There needs to be a balance between weather, size of the course and breed of sheep used. A trial in July, on a small course, running hair sheep with a limited amount of reruns is distinctly different than a big course in July, using unshorn wooled sheep, with 4 or 5 reruns in a day. Again, the course size, the type of sheep, and the number of reruns need to be balanced. During hot weather, sheep need access to fresh clean water in both the holding pens and the exhaust pens. During cool weather, in all actuality the sheep won’t drink much, however, for people perceptions, sheep should have access to water even then. During hot weather, sheep need access to shade, regardless of their physical location. Also, insects can be a problem in holding pens that become heavily soiled.
Number of reruns
This can be a real problem, especially as the entries increase in all classes. Personally, I really hate to see sheep re-run more than 3 times in a day. This is not always possible, but we should strive for this. Actually, we should probably strive for no re-runs, but that is not possible in many situations. Again, it depends on other factors also – weather, skill level of dogs, fitness and health of the sheep, size of the course, etc. The fewer the number of re-runs the better, balanced with reality and common sense is what should be strived for.
Facilities
Adequate sheep facilities are crucial to success of trials. The more well cared for the sheep, the better the trial. Some considerations include; adequate shade, adequate protection during bad weather (this depends on fleece length), adequate feeding (about 8-12 linear inches of trough space per ewe if in short fleece) and watering space (a ewe will drink about a gallon of water per day, a bit more if she is eating a lot or it is hot), adequate amounts of square footage in holding areas (a dry ewe needs about 15 square foot of space). It is also nice to have workable sheep handling facilities for the benefit of sheep and people. They don’t have to be fancy, just set up well enough to minimize stress and movement.
Nutrition
Sheep need to have a full belly at least once per day to run right. Most sheep at trials are underfed, they seem to get forgotten during the rush or folks simply don’t know better. I will assume that forages will be fed to sheep. Mature ewes of about 150 pounds will need to eat 3.5 to 4 pounds per day of a good quality of hay at around 110 relative feed value. If they want to consume more and it is available, then by all means let them have access to it. Ideally, ewes will be fed well the night before the trial and then each evening after the trial. If they are to be allowed to graze or to get feed, that is fine, if there is enough forage of adequate quality. A ewe will need to graze for at least 3 to 4 hours to get adequate intake on a daily basis. Longer if they are being re-run a lot. They should be left as undisturbed as possible while grazing. Don’t overlook night water for sheep in a convenient location. Sheep do most of their water intake during the evening or early morning. Adequate numbers of troughs of enough gallons to serve all sheep is important. Again, figure about 1 gallon per day intake.
Predation Control
I have seen trials where campers, dogs, trailers, etc., were only a few hundred yards from the sheep pens and coyotes came in at night and killed a ewe or two. It is always a concern with sheep that predators can attack. Domestic or wild. Plans should be made keeping in mind the likelihood that a dog or coyote attack is possible. There is nothing like a predator attack to really mess up a trial, as well as being cruel to the sheep.
Vet Care
I think it prudent that a veterinarian be on call during a trial for both dogs and sheep. I don’t think it necessary they be present, but certainly it would not be too much to ask contingency plans be made in case animal medical help is needed.
Summary
If people just remember the sheep are the most important thing for a trial, then all should be well. If you take care of your sheep, they’ll take care of you.
