National Sheep Association (NSA) is asking everyone planning a celebration to think about the sheep in the fields around them, and to choose the time, place and type of fireworks with livestock in mind.
Bonfire Night falls in the middle of the sheep breeding season. Many flocks have rams running with ewes or have only recently taken them out.
The first weeks of pregnancy are when ewes are most sensitive to stress, and sheep advisers recommend keeping disturbance to a minimum during this period. A badly frightened ewe can lose an early pregnancy and be found empty when scanned in the new year.
Sudden bangs and flashes can also cause sheep to bolt. A flock that panics in the dark can pile into a corner, push through a gate or fence, or end up on a road. Spent fireworks and sky lanterns landing in fields leave debris behind, and the wire frames of lanterns are a known danger to grazing animals if eaten or chopped into winter forage.
Phil Stocker, NSA chief executive, said: “Bonfire Night is a much-loved tradition, and NSA wants everyone to enjoy it. The ask is simple: a moment’s thought for the sheep in the next field. This is one of the most important times of the sheep farming year, because the ewes carrying next spring’s lambs are at their most sensitive.
“Choosing the right spot, the right time and quieter fireworks can make a real difference, and a quick word with the farmer next door is always welcome.”
NSA offers six ways to help protect livestock this Bonfire Night:
- Go to an organised public display where you can;
- If holding your own display, set fireworks off well away from fields with livestock in them, and aim them away from farmland;
- Choose low-noise fireworks;
- Let neighbouring farmers know your plans so they can check on their stock;
- Stay within the legal hours. In England and Wales fireworks must not be set off between 11pm and 7am, with the cut-off extended to midnight on November 5. In Scotland fireworks can only be used between 6pm and 11pm, again extended to midnight on Bonfire Night. In Northern Ireland a licence from the Department of Justice is needed to buy and use most fireworks; and
- Celebrate without sky lanterns, and clear up firework debris the next morning.
NSA also encourages sheep keepers near towns and villages to check local display dates, talk to organisers where it helps, and look over stock and boundaries the following morning.
