# Orange sheep pee?



## Cotton*wood (Jan 16, 2022)

What does it mean when a ewe's pee is orange?  (I only know because the snow drifted so high on the electric net fences that they're all shorted out, so I had to move the sheep into the duck yard, where I can see their pee.)


----------



## Ridgetop (Jan 16, 2022)

Concentrated color in urine usually means dehydration.  If it is super cold, are they drinking enough water?  If your water barrels are too cold, they may not be drinking enough water.  Super cold temps requre ivestock to drink more just like super hot temps.  This is because in super cold temps livestock will often refuse to drink much icy water. Maybe give them some warm water and see if they drink more.  If you have electricity in the barn you can buy water bucket warmers that will keep the buckets from icing over.


----------



## frustratedearthmother (Jan 16, 2022)

X2


----------



## Cotton*wood (Jan 16, 2022)

Okay.  That's a little weird, because they're now in a yard that has a heated water tank, unlike out in the pasture where the water is a whole lot colder..... Maybe it was from yesterday when they first came in.....


----------



## Ridgetop (Jan 16, 2022)

Probably.  If they did not have heated water before moving them to the new pen, they didn't realize the water there is warm so might not have been too quick to drink.


----------



## mysunwolf (Jan 16, 2022)

There's a reason for orange urine in the snow across multiple species, and I can't remember the science behind it. Something to do with the snow. Usually it's nothing to worry about.


----------



## Ridgetop (Jan 16, 2022)

I do remember hearing that if you are marooned and have to use snow to survive NOT to use the yellow kind!


----------



## Alaskan (Jan 17, 2022)

Also.... check the heated water...

We once had a short and were actually electrifying the water.   

Other possible cause of orange pee is if they got into copper.  I once had a goat crunch up a copper bolus, it made her pee orange for about a day.


----------



## Cotton*wood (Jan 17, 2022)

Alaskan said:


> Also.... check the heated water...
> 
> We once had a short and were actually electrifying the water.
> 
> Other possible cause of orange pee is if they got into copper.  I once had a goat crunch up a copper bolus, it made her pee orange for about a day.


Can't imagine where they'd get copper.  Nothing but grass, hay, water, and sheep minerals in the pasture.  Uh, hope the water's not electrified.  Naw....I did see them drinking out of it.....


----------



## farmerjan (Jan 18, 2022)

If they increased their water intake because it was warmer and therefore more to their liking, the increase likely flushed out their kidneys better.  It will probably take a day or 2 and then the color should go back to light yellow.  With that much cold they just probably were only drinking what they had to and not what they really wanted because of the cold.


----------



## Cotton*wood (Jan 19, 2022)

farmerjan said:


> If they increased their water intake because it was warmer and therefore more to their liking, the increase likely flushed out their kidneys better.  It will probably take a day or 2 and then the color should go back to light yellow.  With that much cold they just probably were only drinking what they had to and not what they really wanted because of the cold.


Oh sigh.  This so seems true.  Tonight it's going down to 4F again, and since I just don't have it in me to carry buckets of hot water 1/4 mile out to where they are, I brought them in again, and they were all sucking down the heated duck-tank water.  Alas.  Two nights of these temps, and then it will be above freezing during the day again.


----------



## Mini Horses (Jan 19, 2022)

Problem solved.   🤗


----------



## LisaManahan (Jan 21, 2022)

Cotton*wood said:


> What does it mean when a ewe's pee is orange?  (I only know because the snow drifted so high on the electric net fences that they're all shorted out, so I had to move the sheep into the duck yard, where I can see their pee.)


Read all the comments. Just curious, What color are they peeing now?


----------



## Cotton*wood (Jan 22, 2022)

LisaManahan said:


> Read all the comments. Just curious, What color are they peeing now?


Can't really tell--the snow melted.  But I assume it's normal, as they've been drinking a lot from the heated duck tank.  It's back out to the pasture today, where they'll have cold(er) water, but that's just the way it'll have to be.  For most of sheep's history, they have not had heated water, and most of the people I know who keep Katahdins just do what I do--break the ice in the morning, bring out buckets of hot water, etc.


----------

