[BillF]

I live in France and have just 4 ewes (charollais X) with the aim to produce meat for family use.  The original plan was to beg, borrow or rent a ram but this has not worked out.  The new plan is to buy a ram but the economics of more than one ram or a ram and a wether don't really look attractive.  Ideally, I want to get a ram, keep him in with the ewes all year (shepherds here talk about "family groups"), removing ewe lambs as they are weaned.  I don't mind if lambing is spread over the year.  I plan to keep them outside all year round - I live in the Dordogne which generally(?) has mild winters.

I have read that pure charollais lambs are a bit delicate for the first week and crosses are better so I am looking at a ram breed like Rouge de l'ouest or charmoise.

I know this may be a bit different to what one would do in the UK but any thoughts would be gratefully received.

[Marches Farmer]

We always separate the rams after tupping.  Apart from certain breeds like the Dorset the ewes will only cycle as the days grow shorter, which will see them lamb as the grass growth begins again in Spring.  Charollais tups were popular around here for a while but the lambs proved very thin-skinned and many farmers have returned to using Suffolks.

[BillF]

Thanks for your reply MF.  If the ewes are not cycling why do you remove the tups?  When you say the lambs are thin-skinned do you mean that literally and what are the problems?  As you can probably tell I am a beginner.

[YorkshireLass]

I don't see why you couldn't try the system, as long as you make an "escape plan" to safely separate them (sell the tup?) if things did go wrong.

My understanding of "thin skinned" is more that they wouldn't be able to cope well with the weather, the fleece is too thin or not water proof enough, or they don't put on enough weight quickly. It's possible they mean thin-skinned literally, as in easily getting cuts and scrapes, but I haven't heard it in that context.

[Melmarsh]

The main problem I see here is a safety one. If you are checking your ewes twice a day as a minimum you need to be aware that it may not be that easy with a ram in the field. To check your animals properly you need to be close to them. If you have to buy a ram why not get it for tupping then keep next too the ewes but fenced off. Once you've had lambs , if he needs company keep one of your own wethers in with him. You could still send the wether when you have a replacement and eat as hogget or older. Just a thought.

[BillF]

I repeat I am a beginner.  Our first year we bought 2 ram lambs to fatten and never had any problems with aggression.  Is this the norm or unusual?  Is age an issue (the rams not mine)?  Are different breeds more aggressive/dangerous than others?  Does it depend on how you treat the rams?

[kanisha]

all of the above and none of the above Rams  are not called rams for nothing.... In with a group of females irrespective of how you treat them they may become dangerous.

[nimbusllama]

Why not buy a ram lamb, use him and then eat him?

[Marches Farmer]

We generally keep rams only two years or they'd be tupping their own daughters.   In the past we've found rams over three years old often want to dominate the humans in their territory all year round.  When one takes three steps back and lowers its head to me it finds itself at the next cull market.  They're also very pushy around feed and shouldn't have the feed given to ewes in the last six weeks before lambing as it can cause urinary calculi in rams.  At this time of year our rams are in a bachelor group away from the ewes, lazing around, but by mid-September they'll be split up as the hormones start revving up.