[danconfessed]

Just wondering if there is anything i can do with my two year old Ram? other than to mince him!!!

When he was young we halter trained him and he was great.  He then went out with the ewes and i left him to it for a few months.  Since then not only has he got really big but he is a spiteful sod!

you cant go in the field with him and it takes at least two people to move him about.  Any given opportunity he will ram you.

Any thoughts or is it too late now?

Thanks
Dan

[Fleecewife]

My view is that once a tup has gone that way, then no matter what you do to change his behaviour, you will never be able to trust him again.  The risk of injury is very real - plenty of people are killed by sheep, improbable though it seems.
Were he ours he would be in the pot by now.

[Anke]

Curry.... as Fleecewife says - you will never be able to trust him again and he knows it!

[Foobar]

Kill him!

[Marches Farmer]

If he's like that at this time of year what's he going to be like in the Autumn when the hormones really get going....?   The first time any of ours take a couple of steps backwards and lower the head is also the last.  They go to the next cull market.

[silkwoodzwartbles]

Ditto the others, life's too short to have an aggressive animal about, and do you really want to be breeding that temperament? Best place for him is likely to be your freezer, there are plenty of good natured rams about (our two are often better behaved and easier to handle than the ewes! )

[danconfessed]

Thanks guys.  I was pretty sure this was going to be the answer.  Can I cull a ram or is there a risk of any taint??

I'm going to see him out until tupping then his off.  I dont keep any lambs for breeding, they will all be off to the freezer so wont have to worry about passing the temperament on

[silkwoodzwartbles]

No personal experience of eating rams that have worked but I'm sure lots on here will have. Good luck with him til tupping and enjoy shopping for a replacement for next year

[Foobar]

I'd get rid before the autumn to avoid any taint.  Any time between now and mid-summer would be ideal.

[Penninehillbilly]

I have the same problem with a Zwarble cross, 18 month old. I take a stick when i go in the field, I just presumed it was because he was handled so regularly he has no respect and wants to rule the roost. hes lovely and friendly when I have hold of him. When he does get uppity I get hold of his horns and twist his head round, hold him there for a few minutes, makes him back off for a while.
however I've already decided the same thing, when he's done his job this autumn he goes.
On the plus side, anyone trying to come off the footpath and up the wrong field may get a surprise :-)

[Old Shep]

If you are going to keep him until after tupping then you are going to have to boss him now.  I hate it but its you or him - he needs a really good lesson.  If you don't want to do this then get rid now.

[Timothy5]

I have to agree with 'Old Shep', he may have been a sweet, lovable little bundle as a lamb, but things have changed.

This is where I find horns are great handles. When he tries to butt, sidestep, grab the horns, and flip him onto his back as though you were about to shear him.

He has to learn that you are 'top dog' not him. It may sound harsh, but if you want to keep him, you have to impress upon him that you will not stand for it. The only other solution is the slaughterhouse.

[SallyintNorth]

Agree your sentiment, Timothy5, though perhaps not your technique.  I don't like to see animals hauled around by their horns - steadying, or guiding, is one thing, but pulling or flipping them over is another.

[pgkevet]

My view is that once a tup has gone that way, then no matter what you do to change his behaviour, you will never be able to trust him again.  The risk of injury is very real - plenty of people are killed by sheep, improbable though it seems.
Were he ours he would be in the pot by now.

I thought i'd try and check that out. I did find a claim that some 650 odd died in the US from sheep... but that appeared to be as a result of infection from sheep bite rather than direct trauma.
The Guardian Newspaper published some stuff from the UK Office of National Statistics:

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2011/10/28/Factfile_deaths_2_2011.pdf

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/oct/28/mortality-statistics-causes-death-england-wales-2010#data

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HUbeksH1HI63e2lgj_ZmfnVYc0S4tP0pauXqSfOeh2I/edit?pref=2&pli=1#gid=13

The interesting thing here is that it does list causes of death from Dog bites and rat bites etc but nothing sheep related. Having said that it doesn't appear to list other farm-like injuries and there's got to be a few tractor and machinery deaths per year - that leaves me sceptical on the data but equally I cannot find any UK deaths-by-sheep.

Personally before killing what was a friendly sheep (or any other animal) I'd probably spend a few sessions over the gate or in the field with a bucket of nuts and chatting to him. But then animals generally like me - something no-one whose met me understands.....

[Fleecewife]

There was the woman who was pushed over a cliff on her quad bike by sheep, another washed down the river, a lady knocked backwards by a flying Shetland sheep so she banged her head and died, in fact I can think of another one of those - Soay sheep that time.  Presumably these deaths are not caused by a direct attack, but those happen too.  A friend was knocked down by a charging tup and well butted before someone rescued her - and she had some whopping bruises to show for it.  Those are just the deaths and injuries I can think of off the top of my head.  In fact speaking of heads, I was whacked on the head by an overexcited Jacob tup many years ago, and only just made it out of the field before collapsing.