The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: sheeprm on March 07, 2023, 12:28:33 pm
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I’m after a bit of advice please. We have 5 rescue ewes approx 5yrs old.
We’ve taken on a make lamb. He’s been castrated. He’s now 1 month. There ewes are showing him aggression by head butting him. I’m always there to supervise but I’m not sure how to progress his outdoor time with the risk of him being hurt. It tends to happen more near the barn area not so much on the open field. I tried putting him in a hurdle pen in the barn but he stuck his head through and they tried to head butt him then too.
Does anyone have any advice on how to go about this please?
Thank you very much
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In an ideal world you would get a second lamb , roughly the same age to be his friend and comfort him , the ewes and he need to sort out a pecking order and head butting is the method , so keep introducing him a little bit and over time he will find his place in the flock and maybe one of the lower ranked ewes MAY befriend him
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I agree with Shep53 - you will have to get a second lamb. For a sheep, as they are flock animals, being effectively alone is extremely stressful. The ewes are keeping him at bay even though they don't have lambs of their own - that's their innate behaviour towards a lamb which is not their own. A stressed sheep of any age will not thrive.
Once your TWO lambs have grown beyond a few months they will gradually mix with the rest of the flock of their own accord.
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What Fleecewife said