The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Carter on December 28, 2012, 01:53:32 pm
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Happy Christmas to all !!
A new member to this site wandered whether anyone may be able to comment on the behaviour of one of our ewes. We have a small flock of 2 young ewes and a castrated male and recently one of the females seems to be sitting down every time I look out the window . She gets up and feeds when I go outside and has her handful of sheep mix , no loss of weight if anything she is the largest of the 3 . Today I noticed a magpie land on her back , she eventually shrugged it off her neck , this happened a couple of times , wandering whether the bird can sense something ?
Wormed with drench 6 weeks ago , land extremely wet and they don't seem to use the field shelter .
Am I over reacting or could she be sick ?
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hello, welcome to tas!
im no sheepie expert, i suspect someone will be along in a mo with more knowledge.
have you had a good look round her? maybe the magpie has spotted a wound or something else? have you checked her feet?
just a few ideas.
anybody?
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Hello Carter and welcome :wave:
Am no expert as I only have a handful of sheep but if this was one of mine I'd check their feet and I'd go through their wool to check for wounds as DITW said. I know flystrike is incredibly rare this time of year but we had to put a cockerel out of his misery who was full of maggots not that long ago so it can happen.
We do have magpies and blackbirds land on our sheep from time to time and most of that is for no reason other than being annoying or wool pinching, they do also single out unwell sheep so worth keeping an eye. If a sheep is sitting down and only rising for her feed, I'd be inclined to double check her especially with this rotten mud as it plays havoc with their feet.
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With the weather we've had this year I'd be inclined to give anything looking a bit off colour a shot of antibiotic. A lot of mine have a wodge of mud between their clees and as soon as I hook it out another forms. I got rid of footrot by vaccinating in 2007 (Hurrah!) but when I get them up for scanning I'm going to spray their feet with Footmaster Violet to try and prevent scald. Their feet are completely denatured by the wet weather.
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I have one grey faced Dartmoor ewe and she is the only one in the flock of 12 ewes + one ram (they are other breeds, not Dartmoors) who very often lies on the ground for a very long time ... I only got her in October and I first thought there had to be something wrong with her ? but maybe/hopefully it's only her habit?
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Greyface Dartmoors are very laid back and generally don't give a toss when magpies etc land on them. In my experience the birds just pick ticks and things off, especially around the faces. GFDs are also heavy on their feet and when bogged down with wet fleeces tend to lie around much more. Take her temperature and if normal don't worry about her, she's just being a typical Dartmoor! :thumbsup: