That is a good point. Its an older pasture so it is mostly orchard grass, alfalfa, and clover but since it hasn't been used for awhile, i'm not completely sure what else has made its way in there. No trees but I'll have to take a look around.
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You have a good point. Hindsight is 20/20, i wish i had done any of those things.
Edit: Or i guess I wish that I had considered making the change easier for them. They had been in a small paddock so were grazing on similar pasture, I just assumed it wasn't enough for them and that they ate more hay than the grass - due to the size of the paddock. So it wasn't like they were on hay and grain only. I felt like all i did was move them to a bigger pasture. So for more info: I have 6 sheep. They were on 0.25 acres of pasture previously to moving them. The pasture I moved them onto an acre of land with similar pasture (same grasses forage etc). What should I have done differently? I just want to understand so I don't find myself in a similar situation.
Should I have roped off small sections first? If i did, it would have mimicked what they were in before but I can also see how this could help. And if so, when should I have let them out into the rest of the acre?
Would doling out some of the new pasture be better even if what they had been eating was similar? I can see that there could be changes and that this may have helped.
Just trying to learn
I appreciate all the responses. Thank you!How much baking soda do you usually offer free choice?
Other than diarrhea, are there other things to look out for with coccidiosis? Is the diarrhea distinctly different than like the runny poo from eating more grass now?
What sort of things make you think urinary calculi? I appreciate the input, I will have to look into it.I would look out for urinary calculus to , purchasing ammonium chloride wouldn’t hurt to put in their grain . It will prevent and help break down any crystals or stones forming . Just another input
Is the amount of grain I'm feeding too much? I know that technically they don't necessarily need it. We've gotten them recently (maybe 4-6 weeks ago) and they've looked underweight* so that is why I have been keeping up with the grain. I've been hoping that getting them to a better pasture would be helpful in the weight department. But I didn't give them any grain today and I can hold off for another day or two, probably won't hurt.I've not had an issue with urinary calculi, haven't heard of it in females.
I think that she probably has a gut issue, and she just needs to get things moving through - and it sounds like she's made some progress, however messy, in that department.
If it were my gal, I'd hold off on grain for a couple or three days, keep her on hay and water only, and then, if you feel she needs the grain, reintroduce slowly.
Glad to read that she's improving! Thanks so much for updating us.
*Underweight as in can feel pelvic bones easily and kind of sunken in around the pelvic area -- reminds me a little bit of a jersey cow look. Not emaciated or anything and cant feel ribs or anything like that. They are supposedly Awassi sheep and im not sure if this is just how the breed is. Just hard for me to tell with how the wool is coming in too.
Just reading now about the body condition score and would guess that they're 2.0-3.0.
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