# Sheep losing wool -- help?



## GoatGirl123 (Jan 23, 2014)

This morning I noticed that Lulu, a Shetland sheep ewe who is almost 2 years old, had a large patch of wool missing right above her back left leg. I checked her over and that was the only spot with missing wool. She didn't seem off or have any other warning signs, so I let it go and assumed she'd somehow rubbed it off or something. But I checked again later, and she's missing even more wool, still in the exact same spot! She lives with 6 does and 2 kids, and I know sometimes the goats try yanking her wool off as well as Lily's (an Angora goat) but Lulu is spunky and doesn't let anyone push her around. Anyone know anything that might have happened? Does she maybe have some sort of biting bug?
Thanks!
GoatGirl123


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## notwyse (Feb 16, 2014)

Fever causes wool fibers to break. This may be evidence that she HAD a fever....not that she currently does.


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## GoatGirl123 (Jan 23, 2014)

But why would she get a fever? She doesn't seem to be sick at all.


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## lambs.are.cute (Aug 15, 2010)

Stress (I.e. Transportation, new owner, new flock, loud noises, being chased, etc), poor nutrition, illnesses (sheep are very good at hiding illnesses), genetic predisposition, skin disorder (ie ring worm, a fungus, etc), rubbing, little squirts chewing, or maybe a few others I've forgotten can cause wool loss. Is it bald like a billard ball or is there peach fuzz or more?


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

It is coming off all the way back to the skin? Does it look like a break or a cut? 

I'd pull on her fleece and see if more is coming off but just hasn't yet. Breaking their fleece is a sign of stress. I had one do it last year after a hard birth of twins. But she started breaking under her neck and along her back first. I don't know about breaking along a leg.


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## GoatGirl123 (Jan 23, 2014)

If I remember correctly, it is very close to the skin but there is some short fuzz. Callieslamb, I tried getting close enough to her to try pulling off some wool but she is very skittish toward people and kept running away.


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## Rosepath (Feb 18, 2011)

If you've had her for more than a year, did she do this last winter?
Some Shetlands, mostly "from the Isles" meaning over in the UK, do what's called rooing: they rub their fleece off. Spinners used to collect the rooed fleece from heather, other bushes, stone fences, wherever it stuck after being rubbed off.
Their Shetlands all grew new wool the following spring. Maybe your girl is closely related to some of her kind just off the boat, LOL.


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## GoatGirl123 (Jan 23, 2014)

Hmm. I just thought of maybe looking around the yard for the wool that came off -- if it's by/on something she could have rubbed on she might have rubbed it off, if it's just in random places it fell off.


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## GoatGirl123 (Jan 23, 2014)

I looked around and didn't see any wool stuck anywhere or on the ground. I got a picture of it in case that helps.


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## GoatGirl123 (Jan 23, 2014)

I just realized that it's a little hard to see the bald spot, so I enlarged it.


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## RovingAcres (Mar 3, 2013)

I'd check carefully for lice. They can flare up over the winter and cause wool loss like that. Last year just about every farm I visited to shear had at least one case of it.


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## Carol K (May 10, 2002)

It looks pretty much like the skin is clear, is that correct? Like no pimples or flakes? I was at first thinking a fungus, it may be wise to catch her. Pull a little hair from around the edges and run it into a vet who could look at it right away and advise. Keep an eye on the others that they don't start with the same thing.
Also, you mentioned that the goats try and pull her fleece out? Google sheep wool pulling, and read up on that. Do your animals have a mineral block or receive loose minerals?
Anyway just a few ideas I thought of, 

Carol K


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## GoatGirl123 (Jan 23, 2014)

Yes, the skin is clear. The goats do sometimes try to pull her wool out, but I am very skeptical about that being the reason -- they haven't done it in a long time, and they only pull a tiny bit at a time, and certainly not all in the same spot even if they did decide to do it a lot. I'll keep trying to see if more will come off easily.


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