Winter exposes every weakness an old ewe was carrying quietly through autumn. Cold weather burns energy she can no longer spare, frozen ground and short days shrink her grazing, and a mouth that coped with summer grass may fail completely on dry winter forage. The sheep in front of you is not simply old — she is an individual whose teeth, weight and shelter needs have to be read together, then adjusted week by week as the season bites.
Start with her mouth, not the feed bag
Weight loss in an elderly sheep is a dental story until proven otherwise. Front teeth wear down to pegs or drop out entirely, and the back teeth she grinds with develop sharp edges, loosen, or go missing, leaving gaps where fibrous feed packs and rots. Watch her eat: quidding — dropping wads of half-chewed forage — slow chewing, spilled cud, or a ewe who mouths hay and walks away are all mouth complaints, not fussiness. Ask the vet to open her mouth properly at the pre-winter check and record exactly which teeth are worn, loose or gone, because that finding decides what she can actually eat for the months ahead.
Feed her where she cannot be bullied
A thin old ewe at a shared trough loses twice: stronger flock mates shoulder her aside, and what she does reach may be forage too long and stemmy for worn teeth to process. Feed her in a pen or corner of her own at ration time, with softer, leafy hay she can pull apart easily and shorter-chopped forage where length defeats her. Any concentrate ration should suit her condition and the forage she is on — build it up gradually, keep it consistent, and change it only for a reason you have written down. Check daily that she has actually eaten, not just stood at the feed: an untouched ration in a sheep who was keen last week is information, not a phase.
Shelter, bedding and warmth she does not have to earn
Cold and wet together drain a thin sheep faster than cold alone, because a sparse, aged fleece holds less lanolin and dries slowly. Give her a windproof shelter she can reach without crossing deep mud, bedded deep and dry so lying down does not chill her underside or soak her fleece. A well-fitting sheep coat is worth using on a genuinely thin ewe through the hardest weeks — check under it regularly for rubbing, and for the weight change your eyes might otherwise miss. Feet suffer in winter mud too, so pick them out when you handle her and watch for lameness that keeps her from walking to feed.
Score her by hand, every week
Fleece hides weight loss scandalously well, so judge her by touch, not by looking across the yard. Once a week, run your hand over her spine and loin and give her a condition score, feeling for the sharpness of bone that says fat cover is going. Write the score down with the date, alongside what she is eating and any change in appetite, droppings or mobility. A steady score on easier feeding means the plan is working; a falling score despite softer feed and shelter, a ewe who stops eating, or one who struggles to rise needs the vet promptly rather than another week of watching — teeth, parasites and longer-standing illness all belong in that conversation, and only an examination separates them.
None of this needs a complicated system — it needs the same facts, kept where anyone can find them. When her weekly scores, the state of her mouth and what she is fed sit in her KinsLe Pet Passport, any vet can read a season of scores in a minute, and a helper covering for you feeds the ewe in front of them, not the sheep they remember from summer.