The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Ottospig on May 22, 2025, 05:12:16 pm
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Hi, I'm new to the forum and looking for some advice. We have 2 Soay Wethers one was hand reared. We took him on when he was about 2. He often has scours and I'm finding it difficult to keep him clean. I have treated him with Clik but I'm still seeing flies around his bum. He lives purely on grass in a one acre paddock, The grass is really long currently and looks good. Every few days I give them a small amount of sheep mix. He is good in himself and in good condition other than the constant dirty bum! The other Soay has no problems at all. Just wondering if anyone has any advice? I'm wondering if he did not receive enough colostrum as a newborn but not much we can do about that now. Thanks in advance!
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Things you can try :
- worm him, might also need to give him a flukicide
- stop the feed, wethers won't need feed as well as grass or hay especially at this time of year and especially primitives
- have himalyan rock salt always available, and give them a drench of a good chelated mineral drench once or twice a year
- reduce the amount and/or richness of the grass. Soay are more used to "severely disadvantaged" type ground, rushes and heather with poor moor and marsh grasses.
- put them on bare ground and feed very poor hay, and not much of it
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As always, Sally makes a good reply :wave:
I would just like to add that at one point we kept several Soay (we still have three). In our flock we had those who scoured and those who didn't. I felt there was a genetic element to it, judging from our small sample. My action was always to put them on sparse grass and hay, with plenty of water. Also, frequent washdowns of the rear end with soap and water kept the scourers clean. The upside with Soay is they have lovely short tails and self rooing fleece, so if necessary you can remove the offending wool without daggers :hugsheep:
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Agree with what Sally and FW have said. We keep just a few Soay and they get fat on fresh air. Our pasture is really poor (and almost non existent currently due to the ongoing lack of rain) but they still get fat! They get no extra food apart from a bit of hay over winter.
In case you haven't already done so take a poo sample to the vet for analysis. They can then tell you a) if he needs worming and b) if he does then what sort of wormer to use.