Feelin' a bit sheepish...

[Kusanar]

I've had people argue vehemently that it just doesn't happen...that the brown wool doesn't turn back to black but I've seen it happen on Shine, though hers didn't shed out, it just turned back to black, as this was at the beginning of summer.

Could it be possible that the red bleached wool is weaker and it is just breaking off at the tips and the healthier wool is coming in behind it? I know with horses if you get one with a real bleached out coat that the hair is brittle and almost crunchy as opposed to another horse in the same pasture (same sun exposure) that did not bleach and has a softer coat.

 

[Baymule]

Ewenique is my mostly black ewe and is a healthy black color. When shedding, she tinges brown, but has black hair underneath.
@Kusanar hair sheep actually need a little more copper than what most wool sheep can tolerate. It’s a delicate balance.

 

[Kusanar]

Ewenique is my mostly black ewe and is a healthy black color. When shedding, she tinges brown, but has black hair underneath.
@Kusanar hair sheep actually need a little more copper than what most wool sheep can tolerate. It’s a delicate balance.

Understood, horses do the same thing. Dark colored horses will bleach if their diet isn't right and there is at least one supplement "black as knight" that is to keep them dark and glossy and it's pretty copper heavy. But when the coat gets unhealthy and bleachy their hair also gets crunchy and is prone to being rubbed off by tack. So, it seems like that nearly instant color shift could be caused by the unhealthy tips being rubbed out through natural wear and tear and the healthier and jet black hair coming in behind it.

 

[Beekissed]

Could it be possible that the red bleached wool is weaker and it is just breaking off at the tips and the healthier wool is coming in behind it? I know with horses if you get one with a real bleached out coat that the hair is brittle and almost crunchy as opposed to another horse in the same pasture (same sun exposure) that did not bleach and has a softer coat.

Not in this case....she started getting a red tinge to her spring to summer wool when I was out of minerals for a time, then turned quickly back to black wool when the minerals were replenished~all of this happened in a few week's time. This sheep has a very short, nappy wool/hair coat, so doesn't have long threads at all~1/4 in at its longest at that time of year. Since it was the hair/wool on the top of her back and wouldn't have broken off unless she rubbed it on something and I would have noticed her doing so....they were right here in the back yard at the time and I'm out there every day for most of the day...I'm doubting it became brittle or broke off. Hair sheep don't produce much wool as it is and it doesn't grow much in the spring/summer months at all...they usually stay pretty slick and shiny then.

Right now my mineral mix is off a bit and she's showing a little red tinge in the creases of her legs where they join the body(not much hair there at all and hardly any wool fibers), but not along her back where most sun fading would take place. Just a little redness around the edges of her body, not much, which tells me her copper intake is less, either in the graze in that field or in her mineral intake.

 

[Beekissed]

Update on Pinky....she's doing MUCH better this evening, following the lambs all over this brush paddock beside the house and barking just fine when I called her for her meds....came down the hill, acting as per usual and I can't see any residual swelling left. She had eaten her food and also ate her med laced weenie just fine.

Final analysis of her bee event is likely yellowjackets. I found small pink dots on her muzzle, one on the nose, one on her lip, one on the folds of her lip and she whimpered this morning when I passed the brush over one of her hips, which she has never done. Yellowjacket nest....we'll look for it and destroy it so we won't get into it when we mow that paddock and so the animals won't have to get stung again.

So glad that is all it was and so glad Pinky is back in the pink. Heh, heh!

 

[Baymule]

I’m so glad Pinkie is so much better. Fipronil or however you spell it will wipe out a yellow jacket nest. It’s the drops you put on dogs for fleas. Find the nest. Mix the fipronil fog flea drops with canned cat food, a few drops to a small amount of cat food. Put it up high to keep other animals out. Make sure the dogs can’t get to it. Put out fresh each day. They take it back to the nest, feed it to the larvae, the Queen and workers.

 

[Mini Horses]

Hopefully you will be able to rotate flock to another field and then go after the yellow jackets.

Glad Pinkie is doing well.

Question....did Pinkie come from a litter in WV? I'm looking .

 

[Beekissed]

Hopefully you will be able to rotate flock to another field and then go after the yellow jackets.

Glad Pinkie is doing well.

Question....did Pinkie come from a litter in WV? I'm looking .

She came from one up in OH, about 3 hrs from us here. Seems like any and all Anatolians are 3-4 hrs from us here, which is why I'm interested in breeding these two every now and again....once, for sure, to bring up some replacement/extra help here and also so folks won't have to go so far to get a good Anatolian that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

In Beverly WV, I do believe the Teter Farm raises up batches of pups now and again and they seem to have a GREAT reputation, I just never needed a dog exactly when their pups have come available...they seem to be like me in that they only breed for when they need extra dogs themselves.

Teter Ranch | SHEEP

teterfarm.com

Seems to be quite a few Anatolian breeders in VA, but not sure about their dogs and reputation.

 

[Beekissed]

I’m so glad Pinkie is so much better. Fipronil or however you spell it will wipe out a yellow jacket nest. It’s the drops you put on dogs for fleas. Find the nest. Mix the fipronil fog flea drops with canned cat food, a few drops to a small amount of cat food. Put it up high to keep other animals out. Make sure the dogs can’t get to it. Put out fresh each day. They take it back to the nest, feed it to the larvae, the Queen and workers.

We normally just pour gas or kerosene down their holes and later on, set it on fire. This is one reason folks shouldn't be in a hurry to kill skunks...skunks LOVE to dig up and eat yellowjackets and ground hornet nests.

I've not located the nest, even after observing that spot in the paddock for some time, to see if I can see the bees coming and going.

Side note...put out more of the fly traps, but this time we ordered the reusable containers(plastic jar) instead of the throw away pouches. I don't see a fly one on the dogs or stock since putting up the new traps yesterday morning...but the traps are doing brisk business, with an inch or so of flies in the water already. Will keep these jugs and reuse them for as long as they hold together.

 

[Beekissed]

Never did find that yellowjacket nest. That field has a large leach bed in it that isn't working properly, so there were two paddocks that had sopping wet ground and even water standing on the surface....NOT clean water. One of the sheep got hoof scald shortly after grazing the first paddock for 4 days and was walking on her knees in the second paddock, though all feet were affected....I caught her up and took a whiff of the area between the hooves and it smelled like fungal rot.

At the time I didn't have anything with me to treat it, so I sloshed some ACV on the areas as best I could, as I had a jug of it on the water wagon. By the next day she was off her knees but still hobbling along, limping still. They rotated out of that paddock by the next day, so that had to help also.

Eli was off work by the day after that day, so I had him help me catch her(she's one of the wildest ones and I only caught her by myself due to her being on her knees)and I sprayed the area with an iodine solution. Two days later and she's no longer limping at all, fast as a deer and looking well.

Big Red also showed some effects from those bad paddocks....noticed one of his testes was just the tiniest bit lower than the other. Every time I've seen that in these ram lambs, it means they had worms of some kind....in this field, not having been grazed for 25 yrs except for by deer, the likely culprit is barber pole worms. Caught him with the use of a peanut butter dog biscuit, clipped him to the 4 wheeler, checked eyelids and they were a bit more pale than I would like to see, so I dosed him with ACV w/mother, garlic juice, walnut/wormwood/clove extract and a dab of soap. He gagged it down and I felt sorry for him, as it had to be some NASTY stuff. But...his balls are hanging even once again and he's feeling more dauncy, I can tell, as I can't catch him even with the lure of a biscuit. I'd like to dose him again for good measure, but even Eli couldn't catch him....I see that as a good sign and will leave him alone.

We will no longer let them graze that part of the field and will try to load that part up with mulch round bales so we won't have to take the tractor in there to keep it cut down. The round bales should be able to absorb all that surface water and also effectively suppress any grass or weed growth there.