[kanisha]

In one paddock of ewes I keep finding little wadges of dried grass these are often to be found in the same area as if somone has been cudding and then spat out the contents. anyone any clues as to what it might be or a possible reason?

thank you

[woollyval]

ah ha!!!!!.....you know that skinny ewe? You might have the answer here!!!! I had some wensleydales many years ago that had a problem with this and one had to be pts because of it....cud spitting, often caused by excessive or uneven wear on the back teeth. Evidence is exactly as you describe and you have to play detective to find out who is doing it! Cud spitters appear to graze normally but the problems arise when they cud as they cannot chew and therefore it goes the wrong way. Loss of condition, sometimes dramatically results

[kanisha]

hmm yes thanks I was wondering if  there might be a connection.
Is it possible to rasp a ewes teeth? It seems to me they can't open their mouths nice and wide like a dog but i remember with guinea pigs we used to be able to rasp their molars. as shes only a youngster it would be a shame to have to PTS without at least trying.

[jaykay]

It's done with horses so I don't see why not with ewes.

I think they're as capable of opening their mouths as anyone but that might be construed as co-operation, which goes against the National Union of Sheep's constitution 

[woollyval]

YES! .....The ram I had with it was done with a horse rasp however it only worked for a while and then happened again, we had them rasped a few times but it was not even 50% successful and we could never get the weight back on him.....

[VSS]

Have a look to see of any of your ewes have got greed staining around their mouths. If there is one, it is probably that one that is spilling cud.

[suziequeue]

but that might be construed as co-operation, which goes against the National Union of Sheep's constitution   

 

see of any of your ewes have got greed staining around their mouths

What is greeed staining VSS?

[woollyval]

they dont all have green staining......!!!! just the messy ones

[kanisha]

thanks will take a look this evening and see if I can spot anything.

[Emmam]

The vet rasped one of my ewes for me a couple of years ago which helped gain some weight for a while.

[suziequeue]

Oh green staining.

Sorry

[kanisha]

just checking would there be any other reason for cud spilling? This has only been noticeable very recently ( couple of weeks max  ( every now and again) and with regularity  only in the last couple of days.

[kanisha]

Have managed to rule out my skinny ewe through a process of seperating out some ewes and working out which paddock has the cud spiller in.  I have my eye on another couple of potential candidates. As this is a relatively recent event and it is proving difficult to determine the culprit I am wondering if this could be related to a temporary problam ie would a loose tooth or perhaps infection cause this type of problem?

I have yet to shear and with the large majority of the ewes with lambs it makes determining any loss of condition due to cud spilling difficult I am looking for anything else which might point to the sheep with the problem.

[Fleecewife]

We see this in very old sheep which are starting to lose their molars.  They get some nutrition from chewing the cud before they drop it, but eventually they waste away.  You can feel their back teeth from the outside so you might be able to feel any gaps and you might also pick up any abscesses or similar problems, before you have to look into the back of their mouths which they resist like mad  If you can watch your sheep while they are cudding you may well pick out the problem one as she will have the wodge of cud hanging out of the side of her mouth some of the time.

[kanisha]

Thanks Fleecewife<. The oldest sheep in the paddock is a wether of six years or so. The ewes are all younger. Will have to have a good look at a few of them. so far its not been possible to spot the problem sheep but its getting worse:-(