I was recently reading quite a lot of articles about sheep farming in Poland.
It's really really bad to be honest! In 1980s there used to around 5 million sheep over there, nowadays there are only 200k!
In the mountains there are wolves, bears and lynx waiting to eat them every day, so the shepherds are guarding them all day with their big dogs and lock then up at night. All of their sheep are milked - and only give around 200ml of milk a day - rubbish! All their milk is made into fantastic smoked cheeses though.
Anyway, those sheep are on pasture only for 5 months a year! Even in lowland areas with no wolves they are locked up in the shed for 7 months a year!!!! Some people keep merinos indoor the whole year round because the wool could get wet and matted
I am Polish so I am allowed to say that - I believe they are stupid! They treat sheep as if they are made of sugar, spend so much money feeding and housing and the worst bit is that virtually no one east lamb or mutton in Poland! All of their meat is exported to Italy or Germany (light lambs 20kg live weight!) Then they complain that without subsidies they can't afford it - said a guy who keeps 50 pure breed SUFFOLK ewes and SEVEN rams!
It's bizzare!
I saw a beautiful farm in the mountains, 15 mins from the border with ukraine - maybe I should buy it and teach them how to farm sheep properly!