Eye bothering sheep

[patterpaws]

Hi everyone!
I'm a new sheep owner- 2 sheep, a romney and a romney/shetland cross. I've only had them for a few weeks, and overall they seem to be doing great. However one of them, the romney, seems to be having an issue with her eye. The eye that is bothered doesn't look different from the other one, other than she's squinting it and scratching at it. It doesn't' look like pinkeye- it seems to me like she might have gotten a bit of something caught in it, or scratched it somehow while foraging.

They're still very flighty although slowly learning to trust me. I don't know if I should catch her to get a better look at her eye and possibly try washing it out? Or wait and see if it gets better on its own? I'm hesitant to try to catch her before they've learned to trust me, and then start over with taming them, but if I need to then I will. Hoping for some advice from people with more experience!

 

[SheepGirl]

I would catch her to look at it. You don't know what you're dealing with unless you have a hands on exam.

I don't think her trust will be damaged. Let her eat grain out of your hand and scratch her brisket. Sheep love that.

 

[Roving Jacobs]

I had one that needed an eyelid sewn back on and then medication put in it twice a day, she's still as tame as any of the others. I would definitely catch her and treat the eye if it needs it.

 

[patterpaws]

Thank you for the input! I went out to check on the sheep right after this post, and she wasn't squinting anymore, and has shown no signs of trouble since. The next time I see something I'm worried about, I'll be more proactive about restraining her and examining it.

I'm also happy that the last few days I have made huge progress with taming her. Now she'll let me pet her all over while she's eating her daily alfalfa treat. I'm able to get up right next to her face to get a better look at her, too. I think the curiosity is mutual, too- since she's getting more relaxed around me, she'll examine me too- give me a good look-over and come up to sniff me.

Very glad her eye seems to be doing fine now, and many thanks for the support here.