[Michelle.L.]

Hi all,

We've just moved ourselves and our animals from the Isle of Skye to Perthshire. Everyone is doing fine apart from one of our pet wethers. He seems depressed and doesn't eat very much. Usually he digs into grass pellets or hay with great gusto, comes running if he even as much as suspects there might be food. Now he barely nibbles on any offering. His companion was a bit out of sorts for a day or two after the move as well, but is back to his usual self. Any advice what I could do to help him adept and entice him to eat more? Or should I get the vet out to have a look at him?

Thanks for any advice!

[Rosemary]

Not eating is bad for sheep as the gut bacteria, on whihc they rely, die and it's hard to get them back. I always found ivy to be a good appetite stimulant. One year I had a ewe that was unwell after lambing - I made her green shakes with grass, dandelion, ivy, pureed and drenched it into her. She survived.
If he was n otherwise good health, maybe try that for a couple of days?
But sheep are funny buggers.

[Bishybarneybee]

Sorry, only just seen this. Hopefully he's got through and is back to normal by now.

I had a ewe last summer who was just picking at her food but otherwise seemed well my vet suggested Provita Rumen Stimulant. It's for cattle, sheep and goats. Comes in 100g sachets.

For sheep it was quarter of a sachet (25g) mixed with 250ml cold water and given as a drench once a day for 4 days. It seemed to do the trick.