Elderly Ram (UPDATE)

[Queen Mum]

I have a very elderly ram. He's all by himself in a big herd of goats. Any suggestions from you sheeple (sheep people) about what I can give him to keep him happy and well fed. He doesn't like hay and the grass is about gone right now because we have a drought. He likes sweet feed, but it seems I should be giving him some supplemental feed. Can I give him alfalfa and how much? Apples, oranges, veg scraps? I know he loves bananas. Other feed supplements?

Also he has NO wool left except his undercoat. Does he need vitamins and supplements?

Sara
Queen Mum

 

[SheepGirl]

I'm confused as to what you mean that he has no wool left except his undercoat...what breed is he? Can you post a picture?

What kind of hay are you feeding? Alfalfa is good, but it is better to just give rams just plain old grass hay. You don't need to give him any sweet feed. Figure out how much he weighs and then give him about 2% of his body weight in hay. (If he weighs 200 lbs, give him 4 lbs of hay.)

 

[Queen Mum]

I'm confused as to what you mean that he has no wool left except his undercoat...what breed is he? Can you post a picture?

What kind of hay are you feeding? Alfalfa is good, but it is better to just give rams just plain old grass hay. You don't need to give him any sweet feed. Figure out how much he weighs and then give him about 2% of his body weight in hay. (If he weighs 200 lbs, give him 4 lbs of hay.)

Here is a picture.

He has grass hay. I was thinking I should ADD alfalfa to bring his weight up. He's not getting any alfalfa now. He weighs about 100 pounds. He just recovered from pneumonia and lost a TON of weight but he is very old, about 13, I think. As you can see from the picture his wool is about gone.

He's a love and deserves a great retirement. Also, despite 10 days of antibiotics, he constantly has a runny nose.

Any suggestions?

Sara
Queen Mum

 

[SheepGirl]

He looks like an American Blackbelly, which is a hair breed. So for him to look like (wool-wise) that is normal. If he has a runny nose, I'm thinking he's got nasal bots.

Sheep 201 states:

The sheep bot fly is a fuzzy, yellowish-gray or brown fly that deposits tiny larvae on the muzzles or nostrils of sheep. The larvae migrate into the nostrils and head sinuses and develop. A snotty nose is the most common symptom. Animals will hold their heads down or in a corner to escape the flies. Weight reductions of up to 4 percent have been attributed to bot infestations in some studies. The highest bot levels are seen in November and December. A systemic insecticide formulation containing ivermectin is effective against larval stages of the nasal bot.

About his weight...I would continue giving him grass hay, and because he has a very low body condition score, I would give him about a 1/2 lb per day of sweet feed in addition to 2 lbs of grass hay. The sweet feed is extra feed, since the hay counts towards his entire ration, so it will help get his weight up. Also make sure you have sheep-specific loose minerals available to him and make sure there is plenty of fresh water.

 

[Ms. Research]

Hoping you find a way to make this " love" have a great retirement.

Feel the same way about those "loves" too.

 

[Queen Mum]

Nasal bots, who knew? That makes sense. I hope that is the problem. I would love to clear up whatever is making this old fella so miserable. And thanks for the breed info. I'll get on it right away to learn more.

Sara

 

[goodhors]

You may want to check his teeth. If his teeth are bad, worn to nothing, then the best feed is
not going to improve him much. And much as you like him, it may be time to let him go.

You can try going to a pelleted feed, adding water, see if he can eat and gain condition on
that softer diet. Wet beet pulp (sold as pellets or shredded) when used as part of the forage needs
in grazing animals seems to make almost every animal improve to a point. Perhaps a mix
of wet beet pulp and wet alfalfa pellets, or wetted hay cubes, would allow him to get more
nutrition into him.

I used the wet beet pulp and wetted hay cubes for some elderly horses
with lost teeth, and they held their weight well, had a nice shine to them. Grazing animals
NEED to have roughage going thru their digestive system to keep it working correctly. The
addition of the wet hay cubes to diet helped a lot, horses improved after adding them to the meals.

Check his teeth first, see what you are dealing with there. Check the fronts and molars, to
see if he can actually bite off and chew hay, to make small enough pieces to digest. If elderly,
he may be down to stumps, not much to chew with, so the wet feeds will not choke him.

I use hot water to wet the feed things. Hot softens faster, plus the animals seem to like warm feed,
so they eat it better. I put the hot water in an insulated drink cooler, put in the feed things, leave
the lid on for about an hour or until mushy. Doesn't matter if barn is warm or cold, the cooler
keeps the water warm and softens the feed stuff for you. Squeeze the beet pellets with your
hand, should be no lumps when ready to eat. Pellets do soak up a lot of water, shreds usually
get mushy faster, but can cost more to purchase. Some animals can take a little time to get
used to eating wet beet pulp, so start with tiny amounts if they are not enthused and mix with
a bit of grain they like.

You need to kind of experiment with amounts of water in the mix, each kind of dried item,
pellet feed, pelleted beet pulp, hay cubes, will need a different amount of water
to get to the mushy stage. Some animal like the feed wet but not runny. Others don't care how
runny it is, just love the flavor!

After the teeth check, you will know what you have to work with, to go to the extra measures
of feeding if needed. It can be work, you have to set stuff to soak way before feeding, so it
gets soft and edible. If animal can't chew, the stuff is softened enough to just swallow without
choking him. Hay cubes wetted, break apart, with fibers very short, easier to swallow. Some
of those complete diet feeds, made mushy with water, will contain the needed grains and
vitamins, while the wet beet pulp and wetted hay cubes give the roughage needed to help him
bulk up a bit more with a working digestive system.

Good luck with him.

 

[Queen Mum]

He eats dried hay cubes if I break them up. I mash them with a hammer. He likes sweet feed and seems to have no trouble chewing them but just doesn't seem enthused about dry hay. He does have teeth in the front. (Not down to nubbins yet.) He loves grass, but with the drought, we just don't have any on the ground right now that he can eat. There are patches of it, here and there, but it's hard to take him out, because he doesn't lead well. He also eats cactus. I'm definitely going to add beet pulp and some of the other things to his feed to bulk him up a bit.

He's a survivor. He's never been really bulky. (He came to us as a "reject".) But he's got such a hearty soul and is a real sweetheart. He can't mix with the goats anymore because he can't compete with the younger bucks for feed. So we have him with a couple does for company.

Thank you so much for the help. I'll keep you all posted. We have reserved a "retirement center" for our older animals in one corner of our ranch. I'm kind of taking over the husbandry. But it's a learning experience.

Sara

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I agree with goodhors. I was going to suggest he may not be able to chew hay well enough to digest it. His front teeth don't really help much for that, since the molars do all the chewing. I'd recommend getting a pelleted feed and wetting it, and also give him lots of soaked alfalfa pellets or cubes. It needs to be really easy for him to eat. goodhors had some great tips.

 

[SheepGirl]

I didn't even think about the teeth, goodhors. That's a very good point.

But since he's about 13, he's more than likely a gummer and doesn't have any teeth. Wet feeding will hopefully make it easier for him to eat. Unfortunately he will have a harder time eating roughage since you can't wet feed it...and sheep need forage at least four inches long in order to keep their rumens working properly.