Ram questions

[nobleknight]

We are raising Jacob sheep. I'm trying to start a new flock. My rams have begun to fight each other. Rut is beginning. I separated them, and they are still trying to get at each other. I think the larger ram wants both ewes.

Any suggestions?

Tom

[Little RedRidingHood]

Out of sight out of mind!
I use to raise sheep and only kept one ram with the ewes I wanted bred to him. The other ram was kept on the other side of the barn with his own herd of ewes.
What is happening is only natural and will keep happening until they can no longer see each other. If you allow them to continue to fight one will surely get hurt badly or both will get injured.
When the rams are busy fighting each other ... you are losing time, money and upsetting the ewes. Right now the only important thing to be thinking about for those ewes is a good ram ready to get down to business, and flushing those ewes to have doubles for you instead of singles!
Move that extra ram today or get rid of him. Do you have a pen, stall, horsetrailer to put him in? What about a friend who has someplace SAFE to put him. Do this until you know that the ewes are bred to the ram you want them bred to. Then, you can turn the other ram back out or bring him back to your place.
Your time is limited on getting these ewes settled ... Don't waste it!

[Disastercat]

We used to have Jacob's and Jacobs crosses and the only way to keep rams from hurting each other is to keep them apart and/or keep one in the freezer. Seriously, the best thing to do is to neuter all the boys, unless you want one specifically to run through a different flock (and have another place to keep it) and/or are planning to retire daddy (sell him, eat him, whatever).

A big problem with sheep is that they will happily keep inbreeding as long as you will let them, so changing rams every few years is a good idea. If you have semi-wild sheep who need a good leader, you can "trick" him by giving him his own pasture and a couple of non-related ewes for the Season while borrowing someone's non-related ram to service most of the flock. Then remove your borrowed fella and replace him with the regular ram.

Some farmers with large flocks (and docile breeds) will paint the rams with different colors so they know who has "covered" the ewes, that way you can mix the ewes together and still have a pretty good idea of whom "did" whom.

As for castrated males, they make the very best fleeces, to the point where you can tell when an ancient people started spinning wool because you suddenly have entire herds of them. Castrated males will just blend right in with the ewes, provide a limited protection for them and sometimes even make friends with lambs (most castrated mammals will do this to some degree). They tend to get even larger than rams and if you want a pet for your kids, they are the ones who are most likely to be trained to a lead, fetch your newspaper and even unlock the kitchen door and sleep with the dogs (I'm not kidding).

So, if you have hand spinners in your family or ready to buy your wool, castrate your boys. If you have fighting rams separate them right away, if you only have space for one; keep the best (or least related) one and sell, give away, trade or eat the other guy. Every three to four years (at most) rotate your rams or you will have sheep making sheep with their great-grand daughters.

Hope that helps,
DC

[natty threads]

Disastercat, are you saying that castrating male sheep and spinning wool came about at the same time?

That is interesting.

Bless up.
Love,
Natty

[nobleknight]

Thanks for all the information. I had a feeling, but I just was not sure. I'll separate them for the season, and switch them next year.

Tom

[Animal Lover]

Listen to these folks. And, keep your wife and girls away from the rams at ALL times. They are not to be trusted...IMO ever. We had 110 suffolk females and one exquisite ram but he was vicious around me and my DD. Had him locked up at all times that he was not in his own very safe pature area. AL