[Beeducked]

Things are going slowly here lambing wise. 1 of the 5 has lambed and another looks not too far off. They have now been in the lambing barn for a little over a week. I put the tup in with them when they first went in and initially he was good as gold but he has started getting a little feisty and I guess bored with the confinement. Today he started chasing the ewes round the barn and they are obviously not in the slightest bit interested but don't really want them worked up when they are due to drop.


I've thrown him out into the field but he seemed very stressed out there alone. I guess the ideal would be a wether or barren ewe to keep him company which I can work out for next year but wondering what others do?


Maybe he will calm down after a time out sand a bit of a run about.

[in the hills]

We found that both Soay tup and Soay wethers 'hassled' the ewes as they got close to lambing time. Must admit that I didn't expect it from the wethers. They chased, pushed, followed and were a general nuisance and hazard I think. Couldn't leave them in the same field. We lost our first lamb in the first year we lambed ...... good chance it was due to the tup interfering.

Personally would never have tup or wethers in with ewes as they got near lambing time. Others may have different experiences .... guess Soay could be feistier than other breeds but wouldn't risk it.

[Ladygrey]

I dump my rams somewhere where they don't cost me anything for the winter 

I put them to go graze on poor rubbish somewhere,

I gathered them up yesterday and they are all still in lovely condition, when I had just one ram I gave him a wether as a friend, now I have more than one so the wether has lost his job title and as he has started jumping every fence in sight he will go become a kebab this summer

[Beeducked]

Ours are Castlemilk Moorit so similar.
If he's not going to play nicely he will be staying out. I guess if he got really distressed he could go into an individual pen so he's close to the girls without being able to interfere or injure them or the lambs. I think I am probably being overly sensitive on his behalf and I'm sure he will cope with a couple of weeks out.


Will get  a companion for next year.

[jaykay]

Yeh, he needs a wether to hang out with. I always have at least one (depending on your tup, three males can be better than two, they can't spend all their time crashing heads that way) since I take my tups out after a couple of cycles, to keep lambing tight. So I have a 'boys field' and the tup lambs join them in it, when they're getting too big to behave themselves any more.

[Daisys Mum]

My tup is in the same field as the ewes and he has started to get a bit stroppy, not with the ewes but with me, he got my oh a cracking blow to the leg last week but has been as good as gold with me until this morning when I went in to feed them, just a bit pushy but then backing off and lowering his head so I think that I need to find some summer quarters for him as he is a very big boy.

[Bionic]

My tup is in the next field. I did put him in with the girls but he was a real nuisance to them and I was worried for the mums to be. He can see them but can't get to them. The lambs have been under the fence to him a couple of times though and he doesn't take much notice of them.

[Hellybee]

we have three and they have grown up together, so they are great company for each other, they only go near the ewes at tupping, we dont run them with them at any other time x

[Helen Wiltshire Horn]

I was given a ram who was surplus to requirements.  He lives in the next door field with my Dexter cattle and seems extremely chilled.  He was very interested in the ewes that lambed out in the field and had a good look through the fence and was quite vocal.  He will be joined by some boys in due course but at the moment seems to be happy with seeing his lady friends through the fence.  Not what I envisaged when I hired him last November but all seems to be ok for now. 
Helen

[Foobar]

If your ewes are indoors can you section off a bit of the indoor space just for him?  So he can see and sniff the girls but can't hassle them.

[ZaktheLad]

My ram goes in the adjacent paddock with his two wether companions.

[feldar]

I have quite a few tups so i just pen them tight for a while to let them fight it out, but not having too much room to get a good run up and do any damage. Then i just let 'em go in the paddock. I always have to take them out when the girls are near to lambing as they get a bit feisty with us too!

[SallyintNorth]

Definitely wouldn't keep a tup indoors with lambing ewes.

In cattle, the pheromones around calving time are similar to those when they're bulling, so other beasts (males, whether castrated or not, and females too) can start wanting to mount them.  I wonder whether there is a similar thing with sheep, and that's what makes the males chase the lambing ewes about?

We do sometimes leave Texel tups with lambers outside, and in fact one of our tups is called Big Daddy because he protects the flock, especially the lambs.  (Awwww )   Texels are generally so lazy they only move for feed, really, outside of the tupping season. 

You could see if the tup would behave himself with lambed ewes?  Assuming you have a field you are putting ewes-and-lambs in once they've mothered up.  But if he bashes the lambs, which he may do at feeding if not at other times, he'll have to go where he can see and smell other sheep but not be with lambers or lambed ewes.

[Beeducked]

Well he is definately not going back with the ewes and will have to put up with being lonely for a little while. Will ask round my neighbours and see I anyone has a wether I can borrow to keep him company. He is currently testing out our new pig enclosure!

[ZaktheLad]

Where abouts are you?