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old sheep
Author: vicki 
Date:   11-28-17 15:03

About 2 months ago my 9 yr old sheep started chasing, harrassing and butting her best friend who is 11 years old. I had read that it could be a reorganizing of pecking order, but its gotten worse and now i have to keep them separated. I know, 11 YO is OLD but having had to put to sleep my llama and my cat recently, I can't bear another death. Any suggestions? they used to be inseparable. thanks.

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Re: old sheep
Author: gordon 
Date:   11-28-17 15:51

I would try putting a ram shield on the 9 yr old ewe. This will make it so she can no longer see forward and should leave the other one alone.

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Re: old sheep
Author: vicki 
Date:   11-29-17 13:02

Well, Thank You for replying Gordon! I really didn't expect it! But why is she doing it? The 11 YO did push her away from her grain for years but always was the 9 YO's obvious protector. I adopted them and the previous owner wanted to get rid of her becuz she was too bossy. , Maybe now that the older one is, well, old, it's payback time. But this butting business (not head-butting) is causing injuries so I've separated them. The vets I've had out over the years are always astonished to see such old sheep - do you know the human equivalency?

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Re: old sheep
Author: gordon 
Date:   11-29-17 15:29

People change as they get older. Sheep can also change.If you separate them for a while they might start to miss each other and then be fine together again. Sheep do not like to be alone.
As for the age equivalency to people. There are not many sheep that live past 12-14 years so that would make her 85-90 now.

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