Practical clinical examinations of ewes and rams

Background: All veterinary surgeons undertaking any level of clinical work with small ruminants should be confident and competent at performing a detailed clinical examination of the individual animal. Moreover, they should be familiar with the ‘normal’ and standard reference ranges, to be able to interpret any deviations from the norm that warrant further consideration and/or investigation. Before any examination, a thorough, up-to-date and detailed history should be taken, and approaches to this are well documented in the literature.

Aim of the article: This article discusses the clinical examination of the adult sheep, including special considerations for adult males. Future articles will consider the clinical examination of lambs and kids at both the neonatal and growing stage.