[dixie]

Some advice please, I have an elderly ewe she can nibble grass but doesn’t seem to eat hay anymore, what would be best to feed her and would I need to feed her separately or just feed them all together and hope she gets enough?

[shep53]

Check her mouth or ask vet ,to see if she has slack teeth or bad molars ( do NOT put you fingers in with out some form of gag ) old sheep do better with no teeth only gum on gum than wobbly or missing middle  teeth , normally the 4 middle teeth get long and slack or some fall out .  Feed her separately if you can as it will take her longer to eat and the stronger / younger sheep will push her out  ,  maybe lamb pellets / coarse mix / soaked beet pulp so easier to grind up or swallow

[Fleecewife]

First of all, you need to identify precisely what the problem is:
How old is elderly, Dixie?  Has she lost her front teeth?  Has she lost any back teeth, all back teeth or does she have an infected or overgrown back tooth/molar? Without risking your own fingers, you can run a hand over the outside of her cheeks to feel any sharp bits of tooth sticking out to cause pain and any gaps, or to see if she reacts to pain when you touch a tooth.  Don't ask me how many molars they have, but it's 'some', perhaps 3 on each side?  Everyone knows how to check front teeth for missing or wobblies, but molars are often overlooked.
As Shep53 says, don't put your finger in her mouth to check back teeth, as you won't get it back! Sheep have very powerful jaws!


Our most recent elderly ewe, Zanfara Elfilda, Elfi to her friends, finally died last week at 18.  She was blind and had no front teeth, but she had enough molars to chomp on 'Tup and Lamb' coarse mix every day.  She could rip grass without front teeth and chew it with the back teeth.  Her favourite treat was pieces of digestive biscuits (McVities only!) but unfortunately that is also the favourite treat for the rest of the flock, so Elfi was always fed alone.  In fact being blind, she preferred to have a tiny paddock to herself, with the Crow family and our JRT as her friends, as the other ewes would knock her over.  She lived like this very contentedly for several years and maintained surprisingly good condition. It was a recent storm that finally got her. As an occasional seasonal treat we would feed her cow parsley shoots, holding them in our hands so she could rip them against resistance.  She would also eat willow leaves sometimes.  Elfi did eat hay.  I think perhaps your ewe has a wobbly or perhaps an abscess which makes pulling or chewing hay painful.  Often it's best to remove a wobbly front tooth to allow the animal to pull grass. Once it's really wobbly, just lift it out and she will start eating again within hours. If it's an abscess on a molar, she will need antibiotics.  Once a ewe starts to lose teeth, we opt to not breed from her again, but she is welcome to end her days here.

[dixie]

I’m so sorry I thought I’d replied to your replies and help, obviously I didn’t, so apologies. Old lady sheep is 11 years old, she has no front teeth, I feed her extra separately and she gained weight nicely, last week she had twins all by herself and is feeding them well, obviously keeping a close eye on her and the lambs, yes this will be her last lambing but if she’s still around next year she’ll be sad without lambs, she’s a super mum.

[Fleecewife]

We have found that our elderly ewes don't pine for a lack of lambs of their own, but they do help their daughters in particular with their lambs.  This is why we keep more than one generation of families.  It can be very helpful to a first time lamber to have her mum around.


Lovely to hear that your elderly ewe has lambed successfully and is rearing them well.  Keep an eye on her and them as they grow bigger in case she is struggling to eat enough to keep the milk flowing as demand increases. Digestive biscuits are good for crunch, a bit of sugar and some roughage, all of which stimulate the appetite.  Willow branches and leaves are good too for providing extra trace elements, also any orchard tree! Hopefully she has all her molars so she will be able to eat coarse mix type feeds, where nothing is too big or hard like rolls.


Thank you for the update