Felicity...emaciated hogget

[Sheepshape]

Do others use the term hogget...a quaint term used over here to describe a sheep between 1 and 2 years of age?
Well, I have a small group of about 15 hoggets who were sheared a few days ago. Most were pretty well covered in meat.....one was not.....bones absolutely sticking out everywhere...about as thin as I have seen. (I've taken pics after a couple of days of hand feeding, but haven't yet worked out how to upload them from my new computer). She has had all the treatments that the other ewes have had and equal access to food. She has no overt signs of any illness, so maybe this post should be under 'Everything else sheep'.
So....I ask myself...why? then I recognise who she is.....the shy and retiring little hogget who will never push through to ewe pellets when they are being fed. The little girl who lies under a tree by herself. the only one who didn't ravage my garden when the gate was left open. One of those who doesn't take biscuit treats from my hand. So we chose a name for her...Felicity.
So I am wondering if she has an appetite. I sidle over to her with biscuits and throw them down in front of her when I happen to find her alone under a tree....she wolfs them down. The next day I find her under the same tree and she plucks up the courage to take them from my hand. The following day she gets up and comes over to me and seems to have a huge appetite. I am now on day 5.
I really believe that she is a 'shy and retiring' ewe who is thin only because of her reticent nature. To test this theory I will continue to hand feed her and see what she is like in a couple of weeks (I should have worked out how to post pics. by then, too).
Does anyone else have any similar ewes?

 

[secuono]

No one uses that, I thought you were confused [hogget, hog/hoglet] about what section to post in. We call them yearlings.

Could be worms, parasites etc. I'd rather have her tested than hope she doesn't die from starvation. An animal being taken over by parasites will still eat, but all the nutrition goes to the bugs.

 

[SheepGirl]

A ewe like this should not be kept because she isnt even capable of fighting to make sure she gets enough food to survive. Granted, she could be parasitized or diseased (and that would explain her symptom of a lack of appetite), so you would probably would want to look at that.

 

[Sheepshape]

There does seem to be a whole language of local terms inr animal husbandry here, with 'hogget' for a yearling and 'tup' for ram always being used (hence the ewe is 'put to the tup' etc). Probably the other most common one is New Forest Disease for chlamydial eye disease, but there are many.

Felicity has been wormed and treated for fluke (fluke being a big problem in this neighbourhood), but I'll take a faecal sample to the vet if she doesn't bulk up quite quickly.

Her appetite seems to be absolutely excellent.

Being a completely 'soft touch' I don't cull anything unless I absolutely need to. I have a number of ewes who will be going to market soon, but they all have some problem that can't be fixed....very old plus broken teeth, prolapse during lambing etc. If Felicity went to market with them, she would 'spoil the crew' as they say locally.....a term for including an animal in a group for market who is in some kind of bad condition and will lower the price in the auction.