Sheep travel as a flock or not at all, and their preparation follows a fixed order: fitness first, paperwork and pens next, loading last. Working through the four stages below, in the order given, means that by travel morning nothing remains except the calm movement of a group that is already gathered, already checked, and already expected at the other end.
Stage One: Several Days Ahead
Walk through the group and check every sheep for fitness to travel. A sheep that is lame, freshly lambed, ill, or injured should not travel, and separating it now is far easier than at the loading pen. Trim and treat problem feet while you have days in hand, since sore feet worsen quickly on hard trailer floors, and check that ear marks or tags identifying the group are present and legible. Move the travelling group into the field or pen next to the loading area, on their familiar forage, so gathering on the day is a short walk rather than a morning of chasing sheep across the farm. Count the group, write the count down, and use that figure at every later stage.
Stage Two: The Day Before
Settle the gathered sheep with familiar hay and constant access to water, and keep handling to a minimum so they go into the journey rested and fed rather than already stirred up. Complete the movement paperwork that this journey requires and put it where the driver will carry it. Check the trailer itself: a clean, dry, non-slip floor with bedding where you use it, working ventilation, gates and partitions that fasten securely, and ramps or a loading bank in sound condition. Ring or message the destination and confirm the receiving pen is genuinely ready, with shelter available, hay in place, and water filled, and agree the expected arrival window. Decide the loading groups now as well, keeping sheep of compatible size and age together and keeping any sheep that bullies or is bullied out of a mixed pen on the trailer.
Stage Three: Travel Morning
Gather the sheep into the handling pen quietly, using the race or alley they already know, and work in small groups rather than flooding the pen at once. Let sheep follow sheep: a steady flow of a few animals at a time up the ramp loads faster and with less bruising than pushing a packed group that turns back on itself. Load each decided group into its own partition, check that every sheep has room to stand naturally and brace, and fasten every gate before the next group comes forward. Count onto the trailer against the written figure from stage one, and count again before the doors close. Travel in the cooler part of the day where the schedule allows, drive smoothly, ventilate the trailer well, and at any stop check through the sides that all sheep are standing or lying comfortably without opening up and unsettling them.
Stage Four: Arrival and Settling
Unload promptly at the other end, down the ramp and straight into the prepared receiving pen, in the same small groups they travelled in. Count off the trailer against the travelling figure before the trailer leaves the yard. Leave the group together in that pen with hay, water, and shelter, and resist mixing them with resident sheep straight away, since strangers added at arrival turn a tired flock into a fighting one. Watch from outside the pen for the first while: sheep that begin eating, drinking, and lying down to rest are settling, while a sheep standing apart, not feeding, or breathing hard after the others have settled deserves a closer look and, if it does not improve, advice from a vet. Hand over the paperwork, note any sheep that travelled badly, and keep the group on familiar feed for the first days. Passed through KinsLe ahead of the journey, a Care Pass gives the receiving farmer the group count, the loading groups, and the notes on any sheep to watch, in writing rather than in a shouted conversation over a pen gate.