On Thursday April 19th, someone unknown dumped dates (fruit) on our farm. The following morning four sheep were severely ill. Seventy two hours later we had lost two of our prime ewes.

Sheep are ruminants. They eat plant-based food digested in stages, in the first phase food is fermented and then is re-digested when the sheep chews its cud. Grain, apples, carrots and other non-plant foods are tolerated, but any large quantity can be toxic. Sugar-filled dates proved to be deadly.