[plumseverywhere]

Before we had sheep here I remember so many people saying that sheep are born to die, they just drop dead etc etc but its got me to wondering, why? there must be reasons (apart from getting old) and I wondered what the most common reasons you have found for a sheep just dying.
we had one that looked and seemed well and happy 2 days ago, yesterday morning found her dead (well daughter noticed crows on a 'lying down sheep' which obviously triggered the alarm!)  she did have bloody mucous around her vulva which looked more like products of conception than it did crow pecking.

another query - not sure of the correct terminology but when a sheep gets stuck on its back (is it 'cast'?)  am assuming this is less of a problem for hill farmers? just wondering because ours graze on a hill and i've never seen them do the turtle on its back thing here (yet)

[robert waddell]

no cast is when they are sold as old sheep    recurrent bad feet broken mouth (teeth missing)mastitis of both teats etc etc        on there back is coupit 

[woollyval]

Sheep are prey animals and if ill will not show that they are ill until they are VERY ill. So therefore once you notice a sheep looking a bit off it is usually going towards serious, and if you don't act quickly and sometimes if you do it is already too late!
This is why we are supposed to keep an eye on them and know what is normal.....because then if we see any odd behaviour such as hanging back or looking preoccupied we know something may be amis.....

On the topic of cast sheep, it is much more likely for a lowland breed in a flat field to get cast as they have dense fleeces, are very square and flat backed and tend towards fatness!

Sorry about your ewe.....

[woollyval]

no cast is when they are sold as old sheep    recurrent bad feet broken mouth (teeth missing)mastitis of both teats etc etc        on there back is coupit 

Well we call it cast on their backs, on their backs or just cast down here.....old ewes are drafts......

[colliewoman]

I don't really have any experience regarding sheep dropping dead, so won't imput on that.
Regarding sheep stuck on their backs, it depends where you live!
I am in Somerset and a sheep on its back is 'cast', when a sheep is sold on for age/teeth/tits/toes reasons then she is a 'cull'.
Sorry you lost your ewe x

[colliewoman]

Well we call it cast on their backs, on their backs or just cast down here.....old ewes are drafts......

There really should be a book! I'm not that far from you, and to me a draft ewe is one brought down from the hills for a few more years on easier grazing
I'm sure it is a special secret language that changes with the weather 

[plumseverywhere]

I think I'll just have to call it 'on their backs' until I find out the official Worcestershire/Cotswolds colloquiallism!!
thanks for the tips though. I have to say, I 've been out there with the sheep every day as I am with the goats and this really took me by surprise as all of them were so well the day before. because there are only a handful you tend to get to 'know' them I suppose whereas the larger flock keepers must find it much harder (unless they have more than one person?)
I think she aborted but there was more to it hence her dying too. Have been out with the others today, all 5 are fine (or seem to be - see I'm paranoid now LOL!) 

[woollyval]

Well we call it cast on their backs, on their backs or just cast down here.....old ewes are drafts......

There really should be a book! I'm not that far from you, and to me a draft ewe is one brought down from the hills for a few more years on easier grazing
I'm sure it is a special secret language that changes with the weather 

Yep local speak is very funny!!! I have always known those who are going to kebabland as culls, those who are getting sold on as still able to breed but aged as drafts, fulls, brokes, etc depending on exactly where they are coming from!!!! A book on local terminology would indeed be a hilarious if informative publication....I remember some folks a few years back listening to a few of us deep in discussion over sheep asking why we were discussing pigs......I will leave that one to your imagination

[jaykay]

A sheep stuck on it's back hereabouts is rigg-welted or just rigged (hence the name of the Jennings beer, the strength of which causes similar symptoms in humans  )

Round here, a draft ewe is one which is being sold from the hill to a lower farm - she will have several years breeding left in her but not on the top of the fell anymore. As cast ewe is one you sell to the mart at the end of her useful life, a cull ewe is one you don't even do that with but send to the hunt kennel.

As for why do they drop dead. Apart from the fact that they can ( ) coccidia, clostridia, nematodirus, listeria........

I've just come home to find my 'top' cockerel lying dead in the byre, keeled over this afternoon apparently and not a mark on him  He was definitely 'cock of the walk' so now there'll be some fighting in the chookyard!

[SallyintNorth]

I've just come home to find my 'top' cockerel lying dead in the byre, keeled over this afternoon apparently and not a mark on him  He was definitely 'cock of the walk' so now there'll be some fighting in the chookyard!

Oh no!  jaykay!  I'm so sorry 

[SallyintNorth]

A sheep stuck on it's back hereabouts is rigg-welted or just rigged (hence the name of the Jennings beer, the strength of which causes similar symptoms in humans  )

Round here, a draft ewe is one which is being sold from the hill to a lower farm - she will have several years breeding left in her but not on the top of the fell anymore. As cast ewe is one you sell to the mart at the end of her useful life, a cull ewe is one you don't even do that with but send to the hunt kennel.

I'm just a little further north, but not quite so upland.  Draft is the same.  Cull and cast are more or less interchangeable, both likely to go to the mart, but cull definitely has the connotation she'll not be breeding again.  Someone else mentioned 'fulls and brokes', which I read as full-mouthed and broken-mouthed; we have 'sound above and below', 'sound below only' and 'not warranted'.  Then there's cast ewes versus feeding ewes (former ready to butch, latter need feeding up.)

As to being on their backs, I know the term 'cast' as being down, usually a horse cast in its box, but that's from 'dahn sahth'.  Up here, a ewe on her back is 'kessin''.  And yes, a slope can help her right herself - but if she can find a ridge, a molehill, or anything to wedge herself against or in, she'll do it.     They're most likely to 'kess' when full of lambs and / or when fully fleeced and itchy with the heat of it.

And as I've quoted before, "A sheep's only got 2 hobbies.  What it can eat and what it can die of."  (Mind, that was Leicesters being farmed in Exmoor, so they probably did drop dead a lot!  )

[jaykay]

I've just come home to find my 'top' cockerel lying dead in the byre, keeled over this afternoon apparently and not a mark on him   He was definitely 'cock of the walk' so now there'll be some fighting in the chookyard!

Oh no!  jaykay!  I'm so sorry  

Thank you  Bit of a mystery. He was 2 1/2 years old and definitely the boss - if it had been one of the lower ranking cockerels I might have understood - perhaps it's stressful being at the top! Fortunately, I have three of his sons still (good job I was less efficient at putting them in the pot) so I can pick the best one to replace him. Got one of the Buff girls indoors feeling sorry for herself too 

[thenovice]

daaaaan saaafff here its cast on its back, draft older ewe unwanted sold on/ bought in, and cull ewe to the abatoir 

[Hermit]

When I lived in Yorkshire and then here in the Shetlands an on its back sheep is cast. But have heard it for old ewes as well   You should here the cattle terms, they are confusing.
Sorry about your cockerel , that happened to me with my stonking Indian Game cockerel. He was fine during the day and then dead at locking up time. I have two more now( one just in case) as I was told the finer bred cockerels can die suddenly.

[plumseverywhere]

Our first cochin cockerel dropped dead - possible heart attack because he was a big bird trying to service lots of ladies!