[Declan]

I have a couple of Zwartble ewes-. Any time I try to see to them -one of the blighters can jump clear over the galvanised sheep hurdle no bother. I thought it was only goats got up to this carry on.

Moving on- over the winter months I have been feeding them hay- as much as they want and giving them a handful of ewe mix- but the other day when I went to clip their feet i got the shock of my life. The one that I caught seems quite thin under the fleece. Now when I say thin- I mean scoring 1 or 2- you can feel the ribs without pressing too hard. What am I doing wrong? As for the other one I haven't been able to corner him yet to check him out.   
I'e boosted the ewe mix to see if that improves the situation any. Overall they are in good enough form. Quiet and seem quite content with their lot but I am feeling a little deflated as I thought I was keeping them well. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Declan

[Rosemary]

Are they in lamb? Have they been recently wormed?

[morri2]

Hello Declan.  Some of these pure breeds have a habit of being very nimble.  I had a couple of hardy Welsh mountain sheep and they were exactly the same.  If they could not jump the fence, which they invariably could, they'd make a hole in it - I sold them in the end as I was sick of getting phone calls to say they were in someone else's field!!

Anyway, I know how you feel as regards the shape your sheep are in.  I have fed and fed and fed and its cost me a fortune in good hay and dried feed (coarse ration and nuts) and mineral licks and my ram lambs are still thin.  My ewes have just lambed and a couple of them are looking thin too.  Heaven only knows why because they've been fed everyday for months, and for the last four weeks my ewes have been fed twice a day with dried food with unlimited hay.  It is disheartening I know, but I put it down to the bad winter and hope that the new spring grass will sort it.  

[morri2]

Forgot to say, they've been wormed too.

[Hellybee]

Getsomehigh energy feed  blocks  in with them to supplement them further, hope all goes well 

[shetlandpaul]

don't think you have done anything wrong its just been a very long hard winter. even our fat shetlands are down to the normal weight.

[VSS]

also zwartbles are not a "fat" type of sheep. If they have lambs at foot I wouldn't worry too much of they are CS 2.5 or so. They are more likely to be fit if they are lean. Far more problems are caused by being overweight. The grass is coming and they will soon gain in condition.