Most sheep sent for slaughter in the United Kingdom are sold through l
ivestock markets. This study counted the potentially bruising events a
t two markets handling 12,119 sheep in 549 groups and recorded the bru
ises on carcases of sheep from these markets. There were 1324 and 744
potentially bruising events per 1000 sheep at markets A and B, respect
ively. The unloading of 1501 sheep in 40 groups and the pre-slaughter
handling of 1085 sheep in 60 groups were observed at the commercial sl
aughterhouse where the bruises were recorded. The number of potentiall
y bruising events at the slaughterhouse was 694 per 1000 sheep. The br
uising on the carcases of 58 groups of sheep from market A and 29 grou
ps from market B, and of 30 groups of sheep sent to slaughter direct f
rom farms was assessed. The sheep from market A had 581 bruises per 10
00 sheep, those from market B had 377 per 1000 sheep, and the sheep se
nt direct from farms had 399 bruises per 1000 sheep. There were some d
ifferences in the distribution of the bruises on the carcases from the
three sources, but no significant differences between the total numbe
rs of bruises.