Author Topic: Wool slip? (Read 1677 times)

milliebecks · « **on:** March 20, 2017, 05:29:15 pm »

About 3 weeks from lambing and my ewes are beginning to look much more 'rounded'

One, however, seems to be losing fleece - I can roo handfuls of it.
They were all Heptavac'd, wormed and Crovected just over a week ago.
I know wool slip can be a sign of stress, but how do I know whether this is as a result of being handled (they're quite a tame lot really, although this ewe is one of the flightier ones) or some sort of nutritional stress? They are on lamber nuts and grass and have a mineral bucket, and I'm keeping a regular check on condition.
It's probably worth mentioning that they are Shetlands and this particular ewe has previously tended to roo her fleece herself before I get round to clipping - but it's only March and I'm in the north of Scotland .....

shotblastuk · « **Reply #1 on:** March 20, 2017, 09:12:30 pm »

One of my Cotswolds shed most of her fleece a year ago during the coldest part of the year naturally. I never got to the bottom of the reason for this. Anyway, I bought her a thermal dog coat (extra large)! which she wore for a month until some wool started growing again. This seemed to do the trick, produced two fantastic ewe lambs this year so well worth the expense and effort. You can buy tartan ones as well so she wouldn't look out of place up there

Marches Farmer · « **Reply #2 on:** March 21, 2017, 09:30:06 am »

Several of my in-lamb ewes did this a few years ago in late pregnancy when the weather ripped in with three days of continuous rain and high winds. I put them in the shed and gave them extra feed and they recovered well.

Coximus · « **Reply #3 on:** March 21, 2017, 11:40:16 am »

Ive just had this with some Drafts and they turned out to be Cobalt and selenium deficient, the whole group were bolused and within 5 days the wool no longer came from the body easily.

bj_cardiff · « **Reply #4 on:** March 22, 2017, 12:09:15 pm »

I had this with some Mules, it started when I turned them out after lambing and they lost pretty much all of their fleece. The 4 mules it happened to were sisters and 6/7yrs old the first time it happened. It happened again the following year and I culled them - because they had lost most of their teeth.

I think they were older ewes and very milky and lost condition too fast after lambing.