The fleece never retires
A Merino's defining feature becomes her biggest senior management task: the fine, dense fleece keeps growing whether she is two or twelve, and it grows over skin that in many Merinos falls into wrinkles holding moisture and dirt. Shearing therefore stays on schedule for life, and the handling around it needs more care with an older ewe, who tolerates being tipped and held less easily and whose skin nicks more readily and heals more slowly. Plan shearing for mild weather, because a newly shorn senior with little body reserve chills quickly, and provide shelter and extra feed access in the days afterwards while she adjusts to the sudden loss of insulation.
Flystrike prevention becomes daily business
Dense wool, skin folds, urine staining and any scouring around the tail create exactly the conditions blowflies seek, and an older ewe who moves slowly and grazes head-down for hours is less able to escape attention. Keep the breech area clean and crutched, dag soiled wool away promptly, and in risk weather check susceptible sheep closely and often, parting wool around the tail, belly and any fold. A ewe standing apart, stamping, shaking her head or showing a discoloured, foul-smelling patch of wool may already be struck, and that is an emergency needing immediate treatment and veterinary involvement, because strike progresses with shocking speed in warm conditions.
Mouth, grazing and condition under all that wool
You cannot judge a Merino's condition by looking at her; the fleece can make a thin ewe look substantial, so condition scoring by hand over the spine and loin is essential senior practice. Her teeth wear like any sheep's, and a broken mouth on short, dry pasture means she grazes all day and still falls behind, so give older ewes access to longer pasture and supplementary forage they can chew without competition from the main flock. Watch the mob at feeding: the ewes who arrive last and leave first are often the old ones, and they may need drafting into a smaller senior group where feed lasts long enough for them.
Feet, shelter and flock decisions
Lameness in a wool sheep is easy to miss until it is advanced, so catch and check feet when sheep are in for shearing or crutching, trim as needed and note repeat offenders. Older Merinos benefit from shelter against both driving rain and harsh sun after shearing, dry lying ground and wind protection, because thermoregulation is harder work for a thin senior animal. Decide breeding retirement on condition and mouth rather than age alone, since carrying and feeding lambs is the heaviest demand you can place on an aging ewe, and a ewe who cannot recover condition after weaning has given her answer.
Shearing and health history in one record
Shearing dates, strike incidents, mouth scores and condition trends are exactly the facts a new manager or vet needs and exactly the ones usually held in someone's memory. KinsLe keeps them written down together with Pet Passport, so an older Merino's fleece and health history can be handed over as one clear packet at sale, shearing or a veterinary visit.