Sheep pregnancy scanners urged to help farmers spot fertility issues ahead of breeding season

With the breeding season fast approaching, Ruminant Health & Welfare (RH&W)’s Bluetongue Working Group is calling on the network of the UK’s sheep pregnancy scanners to help share clear, practical information about fertility problems and to encourage farmers to speak to their vet if scanning results are lower than expected

Phillipa Page, President of the Sheep Veterinary Society (SVS), said scanners are uniquely placed to flag potential issues early.

She said: “Pregnancy scanning can reveal fertility problems before they’re obvious day-to-day on farm. Higher barren rates, or an unusual shift towards singles, can be early indicators of an underlying issue.

“Scanners are often the first to spot those patterns and can help farmers take action in good time.”

She added that concerns around bluetongue mean early conversations matter more than ever.

“Bluetongue serotype 3 is presenting a real challenge and, in cattle herds, we’ve seen substantial impacts on fertility. We need more evidence to understand what this could mean for sheep flocks.

“If farmers raise concerns early, vets can support them sooner and we can build a clearer picture of how significant bluetongue-related fertility impacts may be ahead of the next lambing season.”

RH&W is producing resources specifically for sheep scanners to use to support confident, useful conversations on farm. These materials are designed to help scanners understand what high barren rates might indicate, highlight common causes and support consistent messaging and myth-busting during a busy scanning period.

Resources for scanners this season

A podcast chaired by Dr Page, with practical discussion and on-farm pointers and insights from APHA Small Ruminant lead Rudolf Reichel, as well as specialist sheep vet Dr Fiona Lovatt from Flock Health, is now available.

To listen, use the following links on Spotify or Apple. Further resources will be made available during January 2026 on the RH&W sheep scanner webpage.

“Scanning is a high-pressure time,” Dr Page added. “Often the most helpful step is to reassure the farmer, step back and suggest they contact their vet as soon as possible.

“Sometimes the explanation can be something as simple as poor ewe body condition, including the knock-on effects from last summer’s drought.

“Early investigation helps everyone.”