As I look at the sheep flock walking by, one of the young ewes whole backside is covered in poo, she is the third one in less then two weeks to have this happen..the first time I was O  my gosh and we cleaned her off and checked her all over,  took temps and found her in perfect shape but with loose stools..huh.. ok..

The pasture is growing and they are on eating lots of fresh stuff, so these things can happen.. then about a week after that, I could not help but notice that in my smaller flock, who is on  different pasture also had a very runny covered butt, and this was strange to me as the day before all was well and again she seemed perfectly healthy and in fact both girls have seemed really bouncy after about 24-48 hours.. and I have been keeping a close eye on them trying to figure out what is the cause..

Then I saw it, one of my girls pushed her way though the sheep fence and the green fence to nibble -Wait for it.. rhubarb leaves, not alot, she took maybe three bites and then walked away.. and yup, she now had very loose stools but otherwise is bouncing around and good mood.. are they self-medicating somehow? and if so, for what!

I have a small area that I grow a number of self-medicating plants for the sheep and they get limited graze in their off and on, the last time I put them in, they all wanted burdock and wormwood, along with some nettle and then headed back out to the main pastures.. hmmm, according to my books, they should not! want to get rhubarb leaves and I am NOT recommending you ever feed them to anything!..

But I am finding it very interesting that they are making this choice, they have good pasture, plus hay, so trust me this is not about wanting fresh greens, this is something else..  Its certainly a intense choice for a spring clean out and I will need to consider putting up a layer of green fencing along the sheep side to keep them out.