Welfare
All sheep in the Scottish Highlands and Crofting counties are managed and supervised under the code of recommendations for the welfare of sheep published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and reinforced by regular communications from the Crofters' Commission. These codes, backed up by the law of the land, are intended to encourage those responsible for looking after these animals to adopt the highest standards of husbandry.
The codes take account of five basic animal needs: freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition; appropriate comfort and shelter; the prevention, or rapid diagnosis and treatment of, injury, disease and infestation; freedom from fear; and freedom to display most normal patterns of behaviour.
The main sheep breeds which thrive in these areas are t
he Scottish Blackface and North Country Cheviots. The former is a horned, handsome beast, the latter, a heavier, shorter stapled sheep with a noble, almost Roman outline to the configuration of the head. Both sheep are very hardy and thrifty, capable of surviving under harsh, demanding conditions.
In general terms the management of sheep in the open country and temperate climate of the Scottish Highlands permits a lower stocking rate than in many sheep farming areas and animals reared under these natural conditions could loosely be termed "organically" produced. Certainly the meat produced on Skye has a characteristic and sought after taste which combines the natural heathers, herbs and sea salt carried on the winds.