Udder and eye questions

[TeamChaos]

Hi there-
I am new to sheep so any wisdom/insight from this group is much appreciated!
We've got a 3 or 4 yr old ewe on our farm that came to us last year; we had to dry up her milk and we did so without any problems.
Today, as I was massaging her (doesn't everyone massage their sheep on their lunch break?!) I was rubbing her belly. She hunches up when I rub her belly, but that's nothing new. As I was removing some of lanolin build up, I found two "pockets" that had black and yellowish "scabs" over them. I carefully pulled them out and saw pink skin but no blood or obvious wounds underneath. Any thoughts on what this could be? She does not have sores on her mouth, nose or ears.
The only thing of note is that she has had eye discharge for the past few weeks. The discharge is not yellow or green, nor is her eye irritated. I have felt confident that it is not pink eye.
Thanks for any thoughts on the matter!

 

[SheepGirl]

Hunching up when you touch a sheep's belly is normal.

Where were you removing the lanolin? Where did you find the pockets? If you are talking about the udder, that is sometimes normal. Some sheep don't have these 'pockets,' but others do. I think three of my ewes have them. The black/yellowish scabs--are you sure they're scabs? Could be a mixture of dirt/lanolin/mud that has hardened.

Any pictures of what you're talking about?

 

[Shelly May]

Yes, these pockets are normal, they are just what you said lanolin build up with dirt mixed in, My daughter shows for 4-H and before they show their sheep they have wash their sheared sheep before entering the show ring, they have to make sure they get this area exspecially clean, If the judge gets any of that lanolin and dirt build up on their fingers (bad marks are wrote down for that show person). Then the judge has to go wash his hands , Think of it like having a arm pit and deoderant build up

 

[TeamChaos]

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=17656 Hey! I found pics on here that is almost *exactly* what I'm talking about- except it's on a sheep and she's not in milk. *whew* Thanks all!