Lameness in adult ewes can result in reduced prolificacy, lower milk yields and a reduced wool yield (Anon, 1992) and a report by DEFRA (2003) showed 90% of sheep farms had lameness problems. The profiles of fatty acids found in claw lipids from lame cattle have been shown to be different to those in sound animals (Offer et al. 2000). Although the underlying mechanism behind this remains unclear, this offers the possibility of influencing the degree of lameness by manipulating claw lipid composition (Offer et al. 2000). Inoue et al. (1986) have shown that human epidermis with higher levels of lipid also has higher moisture content and bound water content. As water is known to modulate the mechanical properties of claw horn (Baillie et al. 2000), it may be postulated that a change in lipid content through supplementation may allow manipulation of the biomechanical properties of the claw. This may be important in lameness where brittle claw horn is manifest. This study investigates whether a dietary lipid supplement, protected against rumen fermentation, may be a useful tool in controlling the properties of the sheep claw.