Heavy Breathing

WolfeMomma · Sep 5, 2017

Noticed that while my sheep were in their pasture they were breathing quite heavy and laying down. The paddock did have full sun all day, however it has not been that hot, maybe 80 degrees if that. We are located in maine. We put them back in their stall in the barn just to be safe. Do we need to worry about this? is a shelter from the sun a must? we do rotation grazing so they don't always have a shelter from the sun. Can they handle direct sun all day?

Baymule · Sep 5, 2017

My sheep also breathe heavy in the heat. I have mostly trees, so there is lots of shade, but they still get hot. Of course it is hotter here than in Maine, but as our sheep are acclimated to the weather where they live, for yours, 80 degrees might be a heat wave, while for mine, it could be a cold front! :lol:

Sheep do need shade from the heat. As I type this I am thinking about the huge sheep ranches that probably don't have a convenient tree lurking about.

Since it would take too long to grow a handy tree, you might look into building them a shelter of some sort.

mysunwolf · Sep 5, 2017

My black wool breeds do so poorly without shade that I built them a mobile hoop that I move around for shelter/shade. Just 4'x8' for maybe 8 sheep. I'm building a bigger one for next year when I'll have more sheep! If yours are white hair breeds, you might get away with no shade in reasonable temps as long as you provide fresh water.

goatgurl · Sep 5, 2017

I agree with @Baymule. I also live a ways away from maine on the Arkansas/Oklahoma border and here it is hot and humid. I raise hair sheep, not woolies and I see them laying out in the sun panting like road lizards on a hot rock. do they have shade? yup, lots of it but they pant whether they are in the sun or shade. I think its pretty normal for them. as long as they look and act ok I wouldn't worry about it.