Sweden has an estimated population of 600 000 sheep, of which approximately 300 000 are ewes and rams.
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The Gotland pelt sheep is the most common breed in Sweden. Photo: Bengt Ekberg/SVA
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The average herd size is around 30 ewes and rams. The production is mostly on a small scale and is based on home produced feed.
The health situation is good, but e g parasites and feeding related disorders may cause disease. Some important infectious diseases are supervised in national control and surveillance programs. Such diseases are maedi-visna, bovine virus diarrhea/border disease, paratuberculosis and scrapie. Moreover, a control program on foot rot started in 2009.