Discourses of positive welfare by UK sheep farmers and industrial actors

Muhammad, Mukhtar (2023) Discourses of positive welfare by UK sheep farmers and industrial actors. Doctoral thesis, University of Gloucestershire.

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Abstract

Farm animal welfare science promotes positive welfare to facilitate positive experiences for animals instead of focusing solely on minimising negative experiences that can only achieve the concept is still in its infancy, it is communicated and interpreted differently by the scientific community, farmers, other industry actors (veterinarians, farming organisations, and advisors), and the public. There are growing numbers of studies exploring the impact of this development in the veterinary and critical social science literature, which explore the framing and perceptions of positive welfare. Previous studies have focused more on content-based analyses and have not unravelled the complexity of the discourses, and the meanings of positive welfare. Furthermore, there is less focus on what positive welfare means for extensively reared outdoor livestock such as sheep. This study explores the views, meanings and understanding of positive welfare by sheep industry actors in the United Kingdom (UK) using a participatory research methodology. Taking a close look at how farmers and other industry actors view, understand and articulate positive welfare, the study found a series of counter-narratives regarding the concept of positive welfare. The study also highlights evidence that shows the adoption of positive welfare in practice, even though the practices are not necessarily narrated as being positive welfare by those actors. This study is of value to policy makers and industry actors in how they frame and facilitate positive welfare in extensively reared livestock systems. It demonstrates the importance of a participatory, co-design approach mobilising those affected by a societal issue in order to empower farmers and industry in implementing social change.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Additional Information:	Award conferred by the University of Gloucestershire in partnership with the Royal Agricultural University.
Keywords:	Positive welfare, Good husbandry, Good welfare, Higher welfare, Industry actors, Sheep farmers, Language, Discourse
Divisions:	Agriculture, Science and Practice
Depositing User:	Ms Rachael Preen
Date Deposited:	08 Dec 2025 15:55
Last Modified:	08 Dec 2025 15:55
URI:	https://rau.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/16977

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