[Emma]

  I rescued a poll dorset ram who is in very very poor condition, and we have named him Larry, iv had him for approx 8 weeks and i think he is just over 3 years old from his teeth. He was extremly under nurished he has got no meat on his back. And he has got black scabs on his ear. Parts of his wool on his body (especially on his sides and belly) are starting to fall off in clumps from the skin and it looks really soar. So far i have wormed him, cleaned and cut his feet, cleaned his bum up. I have fed him hay, pristeege nuts, rolled oats, ewe nuts and i also got him a vitamin lick called molasses. (excuse the spelling) but everything i am trying is not helping him gain weight. Any advise would really be appresiated. Thankyou. 

[jameslindsay]

Emma I have no knowledge of sheep but about 18 months ago I rescued 2 old goats, when I saw them I almost "died" as they were in such terrible condition. Their ribs were sticking out of their skin, they could hardly walk for various reasons and they actually looked miserable and always hung their heads as they had no energy to hold it up. I instantly had the vet out to see them and I was told that these goats were here to die. For over 3 years they had had no shelter, little food and little human contact and no love.

We treaded them for all the medical conditions and the rest was just giving them so much love, regular feeding, a warm and clean bed and just so much "tlc" and it worked. Rosies fur was falling out in clumps, she had big sores all over her body and she was just a mess. After a few months the change in them was remarkable and from being unable to walk all of a sudden they could jump 4ft fencing! The vet was gob smacked at the change in them - but it can be done. Hang in there and keep doing all you are, the rewards are just wonderful. All the best for you and your ram.

[morri2]

Hello Emma.  I think you need to rule out Sheep Scab (plenty on internet about this).  It is serious and  highly contagious, if you have your ram with other sheep or other sheep nearby, it could cause untold problems.  Might be an idea to have either a vet or an experienced stockman/woman to look at him.

Otherwise, as already said above, it could be just the poor condition he's ended up in. Incidently if you want any company for him - I'm selling off some of my poll Dorsets, ewes (in lamb) and rams.
Good luck.

[Roxy]

Well done on rescuing this ram and giving him a chance.  Over the years, I have rescued many ill treated animals from dogs up to big horses.

You have wormed him which is the first step.  No amount of  feeding will do any good if they are carrying a worm burden.  As he is under nourished he will be lacking in vitamins and minerals, which is probably why his fleece is coming off.  It takes quite a bit of time to get weight on any under weight animal, and at this time of year, with grass not being plentiful, it is hard to get them looking good.  But I have found the secret to feeding them, is little and often.  Their stomachs are not used to food basically, so they cannot cope with large meals, and its likely to come out of the other end pretty fast.  So, I would split the feeds into three or four meals a day if thats possible. 

[Anke]

It is very difficult at this time of year to improve on a bad body condition. If his fleece is coming off - he will spend even more energy on keeping warm. You definitely need to rule out scab, or he could also be heavily infected with lice?

Also i would bring him in, so that he does at least not get wet all the time, with other wether for company and feed on good hay and hard feed.

But if you don't know much about his background - this may be a very hard task with not a happy outcome... He could be ill with something that is either VERY expensive to sort out, infect the rest of your flock (with scab for example) or even incurable (Johnes).