[lars64]

First of all, I am pretty inexperienced with sheep, having kept a small flock for a couple of years. So that may explain if this is a bit of a naive question.

I've got a mixed flock, Lleyn, Romney, Ryeland and "Kerry". Well I say Kerry, they were sold to me as such and I think they have a bit of Kerry in them, but also a mix of many other breeds. The Kerrys were my first and they are big brutes, easily 70-80KG and have always been very healthy. However, this year they seem to be struggling. The Romneys (reared from lambs) are like enormous puffballs of wool and the others seem fine as well, but the wool just doesn't seem to have grown back very well on the Kerrys and they seem to me to have lost a bit of weight. They have plenty of grass and "treats", i.e. bucket fed concentrates twice a week (I don't have a sheepdog so need them to follow the bucket when I move them). I had a fecal egg count done last week and it was <200 so the vets recommended no worming.

What should I do next? They are not struggling, so haven't called the vet out, just not doing as well as the rest of the flock. I'm going to get them a mineral lick today as I don't think that will do them any harm and might be helpful.

[shep53]

You don't say what age the Kerry are ?  are their teeth ok ?  sounds like you need to speak to your vet again , don't know your field type,  wet ?  if so then do your sheep graze together or keep to breed type , then maybe the kerrys have fluke from grazing wet areas . You can test for this .     Blood tests would show if your kerrys are low in any minerals that only affect them , so I would hold back your mineral lick until tested .   Was the FEC a group one or only from the kerrys ??

[Sbom]

Have you had them rested for fluke?

[lars64]

The kerrys are 2, 6 & 6. kerrys, romneys & lleyn  stick together, but the ryeland keep separate  (newer addition). No wet ground at all. For the FEC I put them all in a pen on concrete for 30 minutes or so, then scooped the poop & took it to the vet.

Will a mineral lick do them any harm?

I'll speak to the vet about a fluke test as they've not mentioned that before.

Thanks for the advice.

[twizzel]

I was going to suggest fluke too.

[shep53]

The mineral lick will not harm them but if you are going to blood test them for a mineral deficiency a lick will affect the results .    Maybe  you could separate the kerrys and get a sample from just them for FEC since only they are not right .   At the age's mentioned  teeth should not be a problem but its easy to check for 8 solid teeth

[DartmoorLiz]

if its all about their wool, have you considred lice or even scab.  Don't know why some would be affected and not others but its worth looking into.